ECO4 Statement of intent
This statement sets out Nottinghamshire County Council's flexible eligibility criteria for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) and Great British Insulation schemes which run until March 2026.
The ECO4 scheme will focus on supporting low income and vulnerable households. The scheme will improve the least energy efficient homes helping to meet the Government’s fuel poverty and net zero commitments. The Great British Insulation Scheme will support the ECO4 scheme in the delivery of predominantly single measures targeted at a wider range of households.
The flexible approach for local authorities to identifying fuel poor and vulnerable households who may benefit from heating and energy saving measures is referred to as “ECO4 Flex” and “Great British Insulation Scheme Flex”.
The statement of intent covers the following district council areas:
- Gedling Borough Council
- Newark and Sherwood District Council
- Mansfield District Council
We are publishing this statement of intent on 7 April 2025 to confirm that each of the households declared will adhere to at least one of the four available routes outlined below.
Routes
Route 1
Owner-occupied and private rented sector households with a gross annual income less than £31,000. This cap applies irrespective of the property size, composition, or region.
Route 2
Owner-occupied and private rented sector households that meet a combination of two of the following proxies:
- Homes in England in Lower-layer Super Output Area 1-3 (LSOA), or homes in Welsh provision LSOA 1-3 on the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019, or homes in Scotland in “data zone” 1-3 on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020.*
- A person living at the premises is entitled to a Council Tax reduction on the grounds of low-income.
- A person living at the premises is considered to be vulnerable to the cold under the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance NG6: Recommendation 2, for a reason other than low-income.*
- A child living at the premises is eligible for free school meals, due to low-income.
- A person living at the premises is supported by a scheme established by the local/district authority that is named and described within their Statement of Intent and established to support people living on a low-income and considered vulnerable to the cold under NICE Guideline NG6.
- A household referred to the local authority for support by their energy supplier or Citizens Advice or Citizens Advice Scotland, because they have been identified as struggling to pay their electricity and/or gas bills.
- (Please note, proxy 7 is for supplier owned debt data and is listed here for information only.) Households identified through energy supplier debt data. This route enables obligated suppliers to use their own debt data to identify either non pre-payment meter households (non-PPM), or pre-payment meter households (PPM).**
- Non-PPM customers: These are customers who have been in debt for more than 13 weeks ending with the day on which the declaration is made, and are in a debt repayment plan with their energy supplier or repaying their duel debt through third party deductions.
- PPM customers: Suppliers may also identify PPM households who:
- have either self-disconnected or received supplier Discretionary/Friendly credit within the last 13 weeks ending with the day on which the declaration is made; or
- are in a debt repayment plan with their energy supplier; or
- are repaying their fuel debt through third party deductions.
*Please note that proxies 1 and 3 cannot be used together.
**Please not that proxy 7 cannot be used in combination with proxy 5 or proxy 6.
Route 3
Owner-occupied and private rented sector households that have been identified by either a person registered in the General Practitioner Register, a Scottish Health Board, a Welsh Health Board, an NHS Foundation Trust, or an NHS Trust as vulnerable, with an occupant whose health conditions may be adversely affected by living in a cold home. These health conditions must be cardiovascular, respiratory, immunosuppressed, or limited mobility related.
Route 4 (applicable to ECO4 Flex only)
Owner-occupied and private rented sector households that are referred under Route 4: Bespoke targeting. Suppliers and local authorities can submit an application to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero where they have identified new methods to identify low-income and vulnerable households. Applications need to demonstrate a number of factors, including that the proposed methodology is more effective at identify households in fuel poverty than the criterion offered under Routes 1 and 2.
Scheme eligibility
All potentially eligible households should apply through us or one of our approved ECO / Great British Insulation Scheme installers, if a list of approved installers is available, to see if they can either benefit from the scheme or be assessed for eligibility under any other relevant programme.
A local authority officer (not a third party working on behalf of a local authority) will be responsible for checking and verifying evidence, and issuing declarations.
For any general enquiries relating to this Statement of Intent, please contact: FuelPoverty@nottscc.gov.uk
Last updated: April 2025
