Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband hails work of Mansfield mayor as ‘real model for us to learn from’

Mr Miliband, shadow climate change and net zero secretary, met students at Mansfield and Ashfield Sixth Form College, before visiting John Greatorex, a resident in Ladybrook who has had external insulation fitted to his home to hear about the benefits and how his bills have reduced.

Mr Miliband told your Chad: “I was really keen to come to Mansfied. I know about the incredibly good work that Andy is doing here. I think the work he’s done is a real model for us to learn from.

“Talking about home insulation can sound a bit theoretical, but talking to the resident and what’s happened in his home... we’ve got this scheme, Andy’s taken the lead on this, and his bills are being cut by something like £2.50/£3 a day, £20 a week, £1,000 a year, from having some simple external insulation done.

“This is part of what we want to do across the country, because at the general election we’re putting forward Labour’s plan to insulate the 19 million homes like John’s across the country to save people money on their bills.”

He said it was great to be learn about what Mansfield is doing “as a model for what we want to do nationally”.

He said: “The sell on green policies now is very different than it was 10 years ago. The sell is is it’s going to save you money and I think that’s the way it’s going to work.

“If we had onshore wind we’d cut people’s energy bills because it’s the cheapest form of power available, or if we have more solar power we can cut people’s energy bills, if we have offshore wind we can do it so right across the board.

“I don’t think we can go to people, we’re going to be doing green policies and it’s going to cost you lots more money. I think we can find a way in which green policies can now save people money. It’s about bills, it’s about security, it’s about jobs and it’s about the climate crisis.

“We’re speaking on the day Shell has made record profits, we’ve got energy companies forcing there way into people’s homes and when you look at that you think there is something wrong with the way Britain is being run for companies like Shell, and not for the people of places like Mansfield. That’s got to change.”

And Mr Miliband backed Mr Abraham’s bid to be re-elected Mansfield’s mayor in May – and vowed to return to support Labour’s fight to regain the Mansfield parliamentary seat it lost to the Conservatives when Ben Bradley was elected in 2017.

He said: “I’m going to be working with Andy on his re-election, because that’s really important and then we’ll be back for the general election and people will have to make their own judgements.

“Just take this issue of home insulation, we’re talking about cutting bills for people, like John, but we’re also talking about jobs for people in Mansfield.

“If we ramp up, as we want to do, the number of people who will have home insulation under a Labour government then we’re going to need more jobs.

"There is going to be a clear choice at the next election. Do you want another five years of this Conservative government or do you want a change? Think about where our public services are, where the NHS is, where our economy is, look at what’s happening with the energy bills crisis.

"Do you want a change in my area of climate and energy which says we can cut your bills, we can have energy security and we can tackle the climate crisis with common sense policies, like home insulation, like GB energy, like driving for renewables and working with great local leaders like Andy.”

Mr Greatorex, who has had home insulation installed as part of a Mansfield Council scheme, said: “I applied to the council for a grant and they said I qualified for a full grant. They came out at the start of January and it took them about two weeks to do it.

“I’ve already noticed my bills start to drop. I’ve got a smart meter and I’m not using as much gas. I’m saving about £2/£3 a day. I was using quite a lot of gas. I’ve turned down my thermostat.

“It was all external, I might have to have two sets of fans fitted, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom, because the house has been extended.

“I’m already seeing the benefits. It’s helping lower the carbon footprint as I’m not using as much gas. It’s all good for the environment.

“I would tell anyone who can get it done, to get it done.”

The work has been done as part of the Warm Homes Scheme.

Mr Abrahams said: “We applied for the warm homes grant and we’re now in the third stage. We're looking at being able to do hundreds of homes.

“Most of the schemes are for external work. The key factor is how much you earn and it’s not just for council houses, it’s for people who want to improve their home, pay less on their heating bills and we want to scale up.

“This is an investment, you’re investing in your house, your property, your bills are going down over a period of time and it’s better for the environment.”