Energy company obligation flexible eligibility

Local Authority Flexible Eligibility Statement Of Intent

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a scheme introduced in 2013. This requires energy suppliers in Great Britain to provide energy efficiency and heating measures to homes. Its purpose is to reduce heating costs for low-income, fuel poor, and vulnerable individuals. It also supports the government's goal of achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

The ECO1 scheme ran between 1 January 2013 and 31 March 2015. The ECO2/ECO2t scheme then ran from 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2018. The Local Authority Flexible Eligibility (LA Flex) component of the scheme was introduced as part of the changes to the scheme in April 2017. The ECO3 scheme ran from 3 December 2018 to 31 March 2022.

The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022, or the 'ECO4' scheme, is the new reformed scheme. It covers the period from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2026. Government has committed to a four-year ECO4 scheme worth £4 billion from April 2022 to March 2026.

The main objective of ECO4 is to reduce fuel poverty. This will be done by improving the least energy efficient housing stock occupied by low income and vulnerable and fuel poor households. Under ECO4 LA Flex a participating LA, can refer private tenure households that it considers to be living in fuel poverty or on a low income and vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home. Suppliers can deliver up to 50% of their obligation through the ECO4 LA Flex route.

Wakefield Council's ECO4 LA Flex eligibility criteria is laid out in the Statement of Intent (SoI) (version 4) below. All previous versions are withdrawn. This ECO4 LA Flex SoI aligns with the Council's strategic objectives to: 

• improve local housing
• alleviate fuel poverty
• reduce domestic carbon emissions
• support residents to be healthier in their homes

Fitting the LA Flex SoI criteria does not guarantee that any individual household will benefit from energy saving improvements. The final decision on funding rests with energy suppliers.

The Council’s ECO4 LA Flex SoI (version 4) will be published here when available

Previous ECO LA Flex Sols:

• ECO Flex Statement of Intent April 2019 (version 1) – withdrawn
• ECO Flex Statement of Intent July 2017 (version 2) – withdrawn
• ECO Flex Statement of Intent March 2020 (version 3) – withdrawn

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