Awards recognise strides to warmer, more sustainable housing in Northumberland

Northumberland County Council has been recognised among top applicants for multiple prestigious energy and service awards

Located in north east England and sharing a border with Scotland, the county of Northumberland is home to more than 320,000 people. 

The county council, which supports these residents, has won – and has been shortlisted for – multiple regional and national awards recognising its performance in the areas of energy, sustainability and service.

It is credited with finalist spots for best climate action or decarbonisation initiative at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) service awards 2024, ‘supporting innovation’ at the APSE energy awards 2025, special commendations for ‘fuel poverty and vulnerable customer support’ and ‘council or local authority’ at the National Energy Efficiency Awards 2024.

The council came away as the winner for ‘vulnerable customer support’ at the north east Energy Efficiency Awards 2024. 

Delivery through its warmer homes programme has also been spotlighted with a shortlist spot in the ‘net zero’ category at the upcoming LGC Awards 2025, which takes place in June. 

Additionally, it has been shortlisted for three categories in the north east Energy Efficiency Awards 2025, including in the categories of 'regional council or local authority body of the year' and 'regional vulnerable customer support organisation of the year'.

The council's delivery through the Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 has also been specifically shortlisted for 'best large scale project (>250k) of the year'. Winners are due to be announced at a ceremony held in Durham on Thursday 5 June.

Connor Backhouse, the council’s retrofit designer and team leader, said: “To us, the awards offer recognition more than anything.

“They showcase that we’re doing the right thing and the time and effort we’re putting into doing things to the best of our ability is being recognised.”

Many of the projects spotlighted in awards submissions have been enabled through government funding.

This includes more than £8.2 million for the council’s warmer homes programme which received funding through the government’s Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2. 

Funding for this scheme is delivered on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Key to project success, according to council representatives, is the way that funding has enabled it to bring expertise in-house by upskilling its own staff.

This helped to reduce reliance on external contractors and ensured that local people were able to build a strong rapport with residents from their own communities and drive projects to success.

Connor added: “The biggest testament to our team is that they’re all passionate – they want to make a difference and see residents in a better place.

“They’re also a passionate about environmental change and all go the extra mile to see things through.”

The council attitudes towards continuous improvement and a no-blame culture were also cited as integral to work success, alongside collaboration amongst departments and keeping residents at the heart of the works.

Emma-Kate Moraitis, the council’s warmer homes programme manager, said: “We’re all striving to achieve the council’s corporate goals of tackling inequality, driving sustainable economic growth and delivering value for money.

"The warmer homes programmes contribute to these common goals and help us to decarbonise, grow the retrofit supply chain, save on resident’s heating bills and make residents’ lives better through healthier homes.”

To complement government funding, the council has also invested its own money in foundational areas such as IT and systems which will ensure future projects can be identified and monitored with accuracy and ease.

Emma-Kate added: “Investment in these areas now helps us to future-proof our programmes of work and makes it easier to both identify priorities and monitor results.

“This ensures we can be confident our projects are achieving expected out comes which, in the case of housing, is warmer, healthier homes for residents.”

Looking ahead, the council has been awarded further funding to continue delivery of its warmer homes programme through Warm Homes: Local Grant.

However, with funding windows structured around financial year, the council notes challenges in balancing short-term funding windows with long-term planning towards net zero. 

Emma-Kate added: “It’s important to have a rolling programme of grants to support planning for the longer term.

“Longevity is important when procuring the right suppliers needed to get the work done to the quality and standard we strive for.”

Winners of the LGC Awards 2025 will be announced at a ceremony at Grosvenor House in London on Wednesday 11 June 2025. A full list of awards and shortlisted nominations can be seen on the LGC Awards website.

About the Home Upgrade Grant:

• the Home Upgrade Grant aims to provide energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating via local authority funding, to households in England that are low income, off the gas grid or have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) between D and G
• funding is exclusively reserved for off-gas grid homes.
• you can read more about the scheme via our website.