New support launched by the government today will help banks, building societies and the wider finance industry to create more green finance products for homeowners.

The new products will be designed specifically for those looking to improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

Ministers are keen to scale up the green finance market and provide households with more choice of affordable finance options to retrofit their homes, helping them spend less on energy. It is part of wider efforts towards ensuring as many homes as possible to EPC band C by 2035 as possible.

Up to £20 million is being made available for lenders and other organisations, through the Green Home Finance Accelerator, to develop new lending products which provide upfront and affordable capital to those who can afford it, to help make their homes more comfortable, cheaper to run and with lower carbon footprints.

The funding will be used to support lenders and other providers to develop, test, and pilot new and innovative green finance products that can help a wide range of homeowners overcome the upfront costs of larger retrofit. It also seeks to boost knowledge and understanding about green finance and how energy efficiency can make homes cheaper to run.

It follows the launch of the new Energy Price Guarantee, which has capped the bill for a typical UK household to an average of around £2,500 a year until April next year. It also comes in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all UK households.

20% of emissions come from buildings and nearly 2 thirds of owner-occupied homes are below EPC C rating, meaning their energy bills could be hundreds of pounds more than homes with a higher EPC rating.

The average EPC rating of owner-occupied homes is D. Owners of these properties can help push their homes to EPC C through various measures, depending on the property. This can often be by fitting small things like LED bulbs or heating controls. On other properties it might mean installing cavity wall and loft insulation and possibly insulating draughty floors, which together would cost on average £6,500. But these could save households over £300 a year on their energy bills. The financial products today’s funding will help create would ensure households have access to the money they need to make this kind of investment in their homes.

Minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility, Lord Callanan, said:

Driving up the energy efficiency of homes won’t only reduce our impact on the climate, but will also help houses stay warmer for longer.

Green finance products will allow households with greater means to spread costs over time, empowering them to be able to invest in their properties, improving their energy efficiency and resale value.

Today’s funding will give more companies in the financial sector the opportunity to create and offer these products, and in so doing help households reap the benefits both in the investment to their properties, and in the savings they can make on their energy bills.

Today’s announcement is the latest in a raft of measures designed to help improve the energy efficiency of the country’s housing stock.

The government’s £12 billion Help to Heat schemes includes the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which opened to voucher applications in May 2022. This is already incentivising people to move towards low carbon heating, offering grants of £5,000 towards the upfront cost of the installation of an air source heat pump, and £6000 for a ground source heat pump.

The government is providing £4 billion between 2022 and 2026 to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, with 450,000 low-income households having their homes retrofitted with the likes of wall and loft insulation, solar panels and modern heating controls.

Homes Director for Lloyds Banking Group, Andrew Asaam, said:

Around 2 thirds of homes don’t currently achieve an EPC C rating, meaning millions of people are living in colder, draughtier, more expensive to heat homes than they need to.

We are committed to helping people improve their properties, cut their carbon emissions, lower their fuel bills, and live more comfortably in their homes. We will continue to develop, test, and launch products that incentivise, support, and reward energy efficiency home improvements.

It follows the Green Home Finance Innovation Fund in 2019, which supported the likes of Monmouthshire Building Society and Lloyds Banking Group to develop online home energy saving tools and green mortgages. They help customers work out how energy efficient their homes are and create an individualised plan for improving this, with additional borrowing at preferential rates to existing customers and tailored green mortgages to new ones.

• Funded through the £1 billion BEIS Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, the Green Home Finance Accelerator programme (GHFA) competition opens to applications today (18 October 2022). There are no restrictions on the types of organisations who can apply, other than that they must be UK based businesses; however applicants must demonstrate that their project proposal will lead to a viable green finance product and that they have the resources and expertise to deliver this. Consortiums of different partners (for example a lender and an energy efficiency supplier, installer or advice provider) are encouraged. Information on the competition, including the application form, guidance documents and other resources, are available from the GHFA website.
• the GHFA has an emphasis on encouraging novel and innovative finance product and service proposals which the market is unlikely to deliver on its own, and which will target and support consumer types less well served by existing green finance offers
• energy efficiency and low-carbon heating measure costs and savings will vary by property type and size. Likely bill savings will also be influenced by energy price fluctuation, and the costs and savings detailed above are illustrative only. Individual property owners and households can use the government’s new digital energy efficiency advice service to assess the efficiency of their home and determine suitable improvements. Through the advice service households will be able to obtain information on the estimated costs of installing any recommended improvement(s), how much a measure could save on household bills and get information on next steps if they wish to make the improvement(s)
• the typical UK house price was reported as £273,751 by Nationwide in August 2022.
• a pricing study commissioned by BEIS demonstrated a 5% increase in property value in homes with an EPC Band C rating, compared to those with an EPC Band D, when building size and archetype were controlled for. Similar price benefits were identified by a study commissioned by Monmouthshire Building Society as part of their BEIS funded Green Home Finance Innovation Fund project
• find further information on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and how to apply

The workshop aimed to use art to connect with young people, raise awareness of the issue, change behaviours toward plastic pollution, and protect marine life.

Supported by the British High Commission in Honiara together with the British Council and Dreamcast Theatre Solomon Islands, students aged between 9 to 11 years, worked remotely with renowned UK artist Mandy Barker to create pieces of artwork made from everyday plastics. Their artwork will be exhibited at the Dreamcast Theatre Art Hub from Tuesday 18 October onwards.

Plastics can be detrimental to both humans and marine biodiversity once used and thrown into our waterways, streams, and river systems. While some are recyclable, others cannot, and sadly most waste on land often ends up in our oceans.

In Honiara city, single-use plastics can be seen along the drains, streets, beachfront, streams, and rivers. Whilst there have been significant waste management efforts by the Honiara City Council, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the issue and prevent plastic pollution.

This is why a group of students from schools in Honiara is coming together to create an art exhibition at Dreamcast Theatre turning plastic waste into art.

Themed “Our Ocean and Plastics”, the workshop aims to use art to connect with young people and raise awareness of the issue, changing behaviours towards plastic pollution, and protecting the marine biodiversity in the Solomon Islands.

Mandy Barker is an international award-winning photographer whose work involving marine plastic debris, over the past 12 years, has received global recognition.

Working with marine scientists Mandy’s artwork aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, highlighting the harmful effect on marine life and ourselves.

Acting British High Commissioner to Solomon Island, Nicola Noble said:

I’m delighted the UK is working in partnership with Dreamcast Theatre to support this special program on Ocean Plastics. Over eight million tonnes of plastic are discarded into the world’s oceans each year, putting marine wildlife under serious threat.

This workshop will provide children in Honiara with a unique opportunity to work remotely with Mandy Barker to raise awareness of this important issue through creative art. I very much look forward to seeing the children’s creations at the art exhibition on Tuesday and thank everyone involved in this important work.

The workshop has been developed as a result of discussions by the British High Commission in Honiara, the British Council in New Zealand, Aotearoa, and Dreamcast Theatre Group, and is funded through the UK’s Climate Diplomacy Fund.

Natasha Beckman, Director of the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific said:

British Council New Zealand and the Pacific are very excited to work together on this project with the British High Commission, Honiara, and Dreamcast Theatre Group, and school children between 9 to 11 years old in the Solomon Islands.

We need our children to be aware of the problem of plastic pollution but also to help them have creative ways of dealing with the problem. Our children are our future and equipping them with the right knowledge of plastic pollution, and its effects on marine biodiversity are vital.

Meanwhile, UK artist, Mandy Barker joined the two-day workshop virtually via Zoom and she was excited to be working with children in the Solomon Islands. She said:

It’s a pleasure to be involved in such a unique opportunity and to connect across the ocean from the UK to the Solomon Islands. To be able to share my work, raise awareness, and inform young people about the plastic pollution issue, in a location that is in much need of help, is an honor. I hope it will make a difference in the community and go on to inspire change.

About 30 schoolchildren from Koloale, Coronation, Perch, Tuvarufu, and the Honiara Integrated Community Schools in Honiara took part in the workshop. They had the opportunity to listen to Mandy Barker on creating art out of plastic waste. The students used collected plastic waste materials from the beachfront in Honiara to create art pieces for display.

Their completed artwork will be on exhibition at the Dreamcast Theatre Art Hub in China Town from the afternoon of 18 October (Tuesday) onwards and will be open for public viewing for one week. A film and other informative materials will also be produced during the workshop and will be posted online for the wider world to see.

For the first time, new legislation will compel those acting for a foreign power or entity to declare political influencing activity – and criminalise those who do not.

This change is being brought about by the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which has been introduced to the UK Parliament via an amendment to the National Security Bill.

The bill brings in vital new measures to protect our national security and modernise existing counter-espionage laws to tackle covert influence.

The new scheme will increase the transparency of political influencing activity being carried out for a foreign power or entity; help safeguard UK democratic institutions from covert influence; and better inform us as to the nature, scale, and extent of foreign influence in our political affairs.

The public register will exist on a government website for political influence activities.

Tom Tugendhat, Security Minister, said:

Unfortunately, there are people working in secret to undermine the UK’s democracy and cause harm to our citizens.

For years I have advocated for the establishment of a foreign influence registration scheme to deter foreign powers from pursuing their pernicious aims through the covert use of agents and proxies.

I am delighted that the scheme we are introducing will help ensure our political affairs are protected, whilst embracing open and transparent engagement with foreign governments and entities which we continue to welcome.

Ken McCallum, Director General of the Security Service (MI5), said:

The UK is in strategic contest with states that seek to undermine our national security, democratic institutions and commercial advantage at an unprecedented scale. We need new, modern tools and powers to defend ourselves, proportionately but firmly.

Alongside the other vital measures introduced in the National Security Bill, the new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme will make it harder – and riskier – to operate covertly in the UK at the behest of a foreign power. It will also increase openness and transparency around the scale of foreign influence in our political affairs and make it harder for our adversaries to undermine our democracy. The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme is a modern power designed to tackle a modern threat, and I welcome its inclusion in the National Security Bill.

The scheme will be 2-tiered.

The primary tier will require the registration of political influence activities within the UK at the direction of a foreign power or entity. The person would need to declare who they are in an arrangement with, what activity they have been directed to undertake, and when the arrangement was made. They must do this within 10 days of the direction, or in any case, before the activity is carried out. Foreign entities will also be required to register their own political influence activities before carrying them out.

Notable exceptions to those who would need to register include those working for a foreign power in their official capacity, those with diplomatic immunity, those who provide legal services, those working for domestic and foreign news publishers and those in an arrangement to which the UK government, or someone acting for or on behalf of the Crown is party.

The penalty for failing to register, carrying out activities that aren’t registered, providing false or misleading information or any other foreign influence offence is a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment, a fine or both.

The enhanced tier allows the Home Secretary to specify a foreign power or foreign power-controlled entity where necessary to protect the safety or interests of the UK, and with parliamentary approval, make it an offence for anyone to carry out any activity in the UK at their direction without it being registered. There is no restriction on which states could be named, to enable the UK to respond to emerging threats from any foreign power. The penalty for these offences is up to 5 years’ imprisonment, a fine or both.

Further powers added to the bill include those to protect UK interests from corrupt financial influence, covered by ‘Powers of arrest and detention.’ This will give investigators powers to monitor a suspect’s account in real-time; identify accounts held by suspects in UK financial institutions; and compel individuals or organisations to provide relevant information, produce documents and/or answer questions in relation to an investigation into foreign power threat activity. Obtaining a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service will also be made an offence.

The National Security Bill is currently passing through Parliament.