Dorset County Council presented on their work to improve home warmth and health. They found that project-based groups, not just partnerships, can effectively address local issues. Dorset's demographics will resemble the national profile in coming decades with more older residents. A variety of initiatives helped insulate homes and increase benefit uptake. New data and analysis help target support to specific households. Affordable warmth interventions provide health benefits quantified as quality-adjusted life years gained.

1. Summary of Jon Bird’s Dorset County Council presentation to Warm
Homes for Health 16th
July 2013, Islington, including references to useful
new material:
• Partnerships are not the only form of joint working
• Partnerships are not always the best way of working together to make
a difference
• Project-based groups are proving more dynamic and good for smaller,
shorter term action.
• Dorset’s demographics are similar to those expected nationwide in 10-
20 years, with a significant and growing proportion of older people.
• Dorset adopted widespread cavity wall construction in the 1880s
• Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole worked together to deliver many
actions similar to those seen across England, (insulation and heating
repairs, emergency heater loan, home “MOTs”, benefit take-up
support, social inclusion and neighbourhood resilience actions,
emergency cold packs, dedicated support for homeless and vulnerably
housed people etc).
• Innovations included delivering a “lite” version of the Department of
Health’s “9 cost effective interventions” alongside insulation and
heating measures, and a “fund of last resort” to be used only when fuel
supplier or local authority funding was not available for insulation and
heating measures. (How to reduce the risk of seasonal excess deaths
systematically in vulnerable older people to impact at population level,
Dept of Health, page 8)
• While CERT funding was available, insulation was so cheap and cost
effective, and housing data was so poor and relatively expensive it
made sense to channel as much funding as possible toward insulation.
The situation has now changed somewhat:
• Bulk EPC data gives us a clearer picture of about 1/3 of our housing
stock
• There is official recognition of what many affordable warmth
professionals already knew: “The clustering of fuel poverty in specific
areas is uncommon …Targeting specific households …can be a more
efficient means for targeting support” (fuel poverty, a framework for
future action (DECC, 2013), p36) so focus less on area-based
approaches.
• We have the first official attempts to quantify Quality Adjusted Life
Years (QALYs) for affordable warmth interventions: A cavity wall
insulation (CWI) or loft insulation (LI) measure produces approx 1/20th
of a QALY: So a QALY costs approximately £10,000 at £500 per
insulation job. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE) maximum threshold for a value for money QALY is £30,000.
• We have a tentative health value for affordable warm improvements:
Approx £900 for CWI and LI.
• If you have the time look at section 5 and especially 6 of Fuel Poverty:
a Framework for Future Action – Analytical Annex (DECC, July 2013).
If you don’t just look at page 84
• Contact: j.bird@dorsetcc.gov.uk, 01305 221895