Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

Councillor Bibby introduced the report and explained that the Council operated eight communal heating schemes within Flintshire, with 417 properties on communal heating systems.

The Council had recently renegotiated the fuel tariff to be charged for 2024/25 as the previous contract ended in March 2024.  The rate chargeable for gas was expected to decrease by approximately 51% over the next 12 months. Communal contract holders were billed based on the Council’s Industrial and Commercial Contract rate and although electricity and gas market prices remained two times higher than historic average market prices, the Council contracted gas rates were now reducing from their high point in 2022/23.

New communal heating charges were based on the prior year’s energy use which ensured an accurate assessment of costs and impacted on the heating reserve account. To recover the projected heating charges in full the Council needed to align the communal heating charges to ensure full cost recovery.  The proposed recharges for 2024/25 were set out in the report.

The Chief Officer (Housing and Communities) added that the Council would be implementing a phased approach in 2024/25 to individual billing for all communal contracts based on actual usage rather than a proportional charge due to triggering the requirements of The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations.

The Council had commenced with the installation of individual meters to

all Council owned dwellings within the HRA, which were served by a communal heating system. This included linking the new meters to a portal so the Council could accurately provide contract holders with a statement of their energy usage and bill them accordingly. The Council were also in the process of installing additional heating controls to contract holders’ homes where feasible, so that their heating could be individually controlled and regulated. Those works would be completed within the 2024/25 financial year.

The report had been submitted to the Housing and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee where the proposed changes to the heating charges were supported.

RESOLVED:

That the changes to the current heating charges at Council properties with communal heating schemes, as outlined in the report, be approved.  All changes to take effect from 31^st July 2024.