Home Energy Conservation Act 1995
- The Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA)
- Twelfth HECA reporting round
- Consultation on the review of HECA
- Reported HECA data - 2007 data published June 2008
- Additional information
- Enquiries
The Home Energy Conservation Act
The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) requires every UK local authority with housing responsibilities - "energy conservation authorities" - to prepare, publish and submit to the Secretary of State an energy conservation report identifying:
HECA has served to focus the attention of local authorities more closely on the energy efficiency of all residential accommodation, and on developing an integrated approach to their housing and energy efficiency strategies. Improvements achieved through HECA will contribute to meeting the UK's Climate Change commitments.
Consultation on the review of HECA
In 2007, Defra undertook a review of HECA, as implemented in England, to assess its continued success in delivering improvements in energy efficiency for the household sector over the past ten years. The Review also considered options for the future of HECA. On 3 January 2008, a Defra consultation on the future of HECA in England came to an end. The consultation was based on the outcome of the Review. The consultation set out the Government’s preference for the Act to be repealed.
The majority of respondents clearly supported the Government’s preference. However, some respondents favoured other options and some supported the Government’s preferred option of repeal contingent on a range of other developments, notably progress on the new local government performance framework.
Defra Ministers committed to a final decision on the future of HECA by autumn 2008. With the creation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on 3 October 2008, policy responsibility for this area transferred to the new DECC ministerial team. They are currently considering the issues surrounding this in detail and we expect to announce a decision in the near future. This website will be updated in due course to reflect the final decision.
Reported HECA data
Under HECA data as reported by Energy Conservation Authorities in England in the period 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2007, authorities have reported an overall improvement in domestic energy efficiency of approximately 22% as measured against a 1996 baseline. Reported information is available as follows:
Additional Information
Enquiries
If you need further information about HECA that is not covered by these pages, particularly in relation to its application in England, contact us: heca@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
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Page last modified: 19 December 2008