Local variations in implementing energy-efficiency policy: how third sector organisations influenced cities’ responses to the Green Deal

Abstract

Between 2011 and 2016 – the Green Deal era - the UK government encouraged owner occupied households to retrofit their properties, to improve energy efficiency and contribute to reducing carbon emissions, improving energy security and boosting economic development. The ‘Green Deal’ (a finance mechanism and accreditation scheme) the Energy Companies Obligation (a legal requirement for energy companies to fund energy efficiency) and a growing localism agenda were the dominant policies of the era. The Green Deal was implemented through a process of socio-technical experimentation by local coalitions of actors including local authorities, third sector organisations and private sector companies. This chapter investigates place-based variations in responding to Green Deal policy using three case studies in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, and explores the particular contribution that third sector organisations made to each response. These reflections are relevant not only for energy policy but also for other fields delivering policy through localised networks, with often contested interests and priorities.