As co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Green New Deal, I and Caroline Lucas MP have written to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, demanding him to invest in a Green New Deal and the UK’s infrastructure and services. 

The financial and social cost of underinvestment is seen through the hundreds of pounds a year added to bills as a result of the Government’s failure to invest in energy efficiency measures. This is also leaving many in cold, damp homes. 

The letter asks the Chancellor to use the forthcoming Autumn Statement to:

1. Announce a multiyear devolved funding settlement for local authorities to decarbonise homes in their area, based on need and commensurate with the task of decarbonising all the 26.4 million homes in England and Wales.
2. Devolve funding and powers to local authorities to enable them to develop their own Green New Deal strategies for using decarbonisation to boost quality of life and support the local economy.
3. Initiate the process of bringing the electricity grid and water companies in England back into public ownership.

Read the full letter here. 

Read more about the APPG on the Green New Deal here.