On Friday 25th November the Green Alliance and Charlotte Leslie MP hosted a discussion workshop at the Greenway Centre in Southmead with local groups on how the Green Deal, the government’s flagship carbon reduction policy, could work in the Bristol North West constituency.
The workshop was the second in a series of three constituency based workshops being run under Green Alliance’s Climate Leadership Programme, with support from the Pure Climate Foundation. They provide an opportunity for local stakeholders – community groups, housing associations, the council, energy companies and more – to find out more about the Green Deal, and discuss with Charlotte, Green Alliance experts and representatives from the Department for Energy and Climate Change, how it could help improve energy saving in the local area. During the afternoon, attendees had the chance to ask questions, air concerns, and come up with ideas for practical action on the ground in the local area as well as recommendations for the government on Green Deal design.
The Green Deal has the potential to make considerable reductions in carbon emissions, by enabling energy saving improvements to be made to homes and small businesses at no upfront cost. It is due to be available from autumn 2012, and with a period of consultation about to start, ministers are keen to gather evidence about how best to design it. Recommendations from all three workshops will be put forward to government ministers by both Green Alliance and the MPs involved, through meetings in person and in a report which will be published by Green Alliance in the New Year.
Commenting, Charlotte said:
“This was a superb opportunity to have a really detailed discussion of the Green Deal , and what it can do for Bristol North West, the city, and indeed, the entire country. I’m delighted to be working with The Green Alliance, and I’m really proud that Bristol was one of only three areas in the country hosting this type of event – we are a city at the forefront of Green Technology, and with a Government consultation starting on how the Green Deal is to be designed in detail, I can think of no better place to formulate suggestions to go straight into Government.”
