The Environmental Sustainability Lead has submitted a presentation on the Energy Efficiency Update.

The Panel is asked to note the presentation and agree any recommendations.

The Energy Efficiency Officer was in attendance to present the report and answer questions.

Councillor Harley asked if there were insulation checks before heat pumps were installed. The Energy Efficiency Officer responded that there were.

Councillor Miles asked to what extent issues raised by the national press had affected insultation works in this programme. The Energy Efficiency Officer responded that they were not aware of how many problems occurred and reassured them that it was being managed. She also mentioned that there had been no issues in Oxford and they did not expect any.

Councillor Kerr asked how the Council was performing compared to other councils and what more could be done to learn and improve. The Energy Efficiency Officer explained that from a private sector perspective, there had been an update on the local authority delivery grant where performance had been poor due to the off-gas scheme which made it difficult to find participants. As a result, other areas had also underperformed. She stated in terms of retrofit engagement, the Council was performing well with great projects and was improving through collaborations with partners.

Councillor Kerr further asked if there was any way to measure the number of heat pumps installed in Oxford by private providers. The Energy Efficiency Officer confirmed that data was available. She mentioned that, if not already done, they should work on gathering this information through relationships with businesses. The Environmental Sustainability Manager added that a heat pumping exercise would be conducted under the local area energy planning initiative, which would map heat demand across the city. This exercise was expected to take place around the financial year and would provide useful insights.

Councillor Miles suggested it would be helpful for the demand exercise to explore the breakdown of types of entities and properties installing heat pumps, whether they were businesses or residential owners. She also asked for clarification on who needed to go through planning for air source heat pumps and who required approval to install them. The Energy Efficiency Officer clarified that most air source heat pumps could be installed under permitted development. If prior approval was needed, it could be logged, but not all installations would go through that process. With the relaxation of permitted development rights, fewer planning applications for air source heat pumps were expected. Councillor Miles then raised the issue of potential noise complaints and asked whether there was any work being done to assess how this might impact neighbourhoods and mitigate cumulative effects on residents. The Energy Efficiency Officer confirmed that this had been discussed, and the Environmental Sustainability Manager mentioned that a study by local government had been conducted, which she would circulate to Members.

The Panel agreed to make the following recommendations:

1. Conduct a brief assessment of the heat mapping exercise as part of the wider district heating network across the city and confirm when the data will be available.
2. Explore the properties in Oxford that have already installed air source heat pumps, including commercial properties, private landlords and private properties.