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Much more could be achieved in reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, if councils took a holistic approach to energy-saving, says Betsy Basis. Whatever the composition of the Government after this week, one thing we do know is there will be armour-plated security surrounding the public purse. As a result, budget cuts and efficiency savings will set the tone in local authorities for years to come. But what's new? Local government is already well-practiced in doing more for less. In 2007-8, the sector delivered £3bn of cashable efficiency gains, and has already been asked to increase this to £5.5bn by the end of 2010. Given the state of public finances, ever-more innovative strategies and approaches to delivering efficiencies will be required. The public sector is not alone. Whether in times of recession or growth, the demands of the competitive marketplace require private sector firms to continually re-evaluate the way we provide services and approach various markets. It's said necessity is the mother of all invention, but it sometimes helps to give necessity a hand through a well-known trick – the ‘re-org'. Organisational announcements are often met with much rolling of eyes, but the purpose isn't change for change sake. It's change to reflect new realities and to respond accordingly. Recognising the growing importance of energy issues in local government, we at my company, British Gas, are in the process of reworking our engagement model with local authorities. In recent years, various teams from across the company have approached the sector separately, be it to deliver CERT-funded energy-efficiency measures, respond to central heating tenders, or ‘just' to supply gas and electricity. Individually, these relationships have all delivered good value and met their stated aims. British Gas has, we believe, responsibly discharged its supplier obligations, and local authorities have procured necessary energy services for social housing and their own commercial properties. But, due to its fragmented nature, we believe this model is fundamentally flawed, in that much more could be achieved by taking a more holistic approach to energy issues. If we hope to significantly reduce carbon emissions and tackle the intractable problem of fuel poverty in a rising price environment, energy suppliers and local authorities must start to engage on a different level. At British Gas, we believe the future of energy suppliers is not simply to sell gas and electricity, but to lead the transition to low carbon homes and businesses. But we can't achieve this alone. Given local authorities' position of trust and influence in the community, and their control over planning and public services, energy suppliers must work in close partnership with them. But what makes a partnership successful? First, partnerships should create a critical mass of benefits which result from adopting a holistic approach. Under the banner of our ‘Here to help' programme, we have worked with local authorities and charities to offer free home energy-efficient measures, coupled with a comprehensive benefits checks. Eligible homeowners benefit from a single point of contact to access a wide range of benefits, while the council and its partners enjoy a streamlined route to benefit delivery. To date, this award-winning programme has helped 340,000 homes, made 60,000 charity referrals, and identified £18m of unclaimed benefits. On average, qualifying applicants are more than £1,500 a year better off as a result of the benefit health check. Second, a partnership's impact should not be confined to the partners involved. One way of achieving this is to combine the individual offers of each partner into a single motivation for others to act – the so-called ‘nudge' effect. The council tax rebate scheme we've run with 68 local authorities across the country is one good example. It offers residents a £125 rebate in their council tax payments in return for investing in energy-efficiency measures, such as loft and cavity wall insulation. This is a prime example of how a partner's services can support a council's ability to influence local behaviour, with residents financially motivated to increase energy efficiency in their own homes. Third, successful partnerships share a vision. In Wales, we are playing a role in delivering the Welsh Assembly Government's ‘Heads of the valleys' programme – a 15-year, £150m undertaking focused on the regeneration and sustainable development of one of the UK's most economically and socially-deprived regions. Alongside the regeneration of housing stock, this holistic programme places equal emphasis on the creation of skilled job opportunities in the energy green economy. Under this programme, British Gas has worked with local authorities, JobMatch Wales and JobCentre Plus to create a new green skills academy in Tredegar, which will train at least 1,000 individuals each year, and help create a genuine economic legacy for the region. Our vision is for this training centre to become a community hub for increased economic activity, green living and improvements in household comfort and energy affordability. This general election is being touted as the one which will see the end of one political chapter and the opening of another, in which the only certainty is fiscal austerity. Let it also be the beginning of a new chapter of increased partnership between energy suppliers and local government. Betsy Basis is managing director of British Gas Community Energy

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WHITEHALL

A Total Place approach to energy

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