Thread by @_richardblack

Remember 'Levelling Up'? Set to be one of the big themes of the Johnson government, before #Covid19UK intervened

Well... in jobs terms, #COVID19 is if anything a 'level-downer': regions of the UK with higher unemployment have seen a bigger increase in unemployment than the rest, as estimated through uptake of furlough and other schemes

So how could this be addressed? New report from @ECIU_UK, written by @jessralston2 and launched at a media briefing today, suggests home energy retrofits provide a decent route in

First up, we show there's quite a correlation between areas where Covid is stoking unemployment and those with high rates of households living in fuel poverty: ie, areas where the problem is worst are also those where the opportunity is biggest

Some of these areas (eg W Midlands) are also industrial areas where there is already a skills base to be leveraged. And construction is one of the sectors hit hardest by Covid

Energy retrofits create mainly local jobs and bring down energy bills, providing a localised double benefit. As @emily_energy from @EnergiesprongUK told our briefing, investment creates a wide range of jobs including 'softer' ones in, for example, customer liaison

She also told us that now, #COVID__19 isn't a bar to working in peoples' homes: now the acute phase is past, homeowners and tenants are generally happy to have work progressing, with sensible measures adopted to reduce the risk

In those totemic 'Red Wall' constituencies, it turns out, increasing all homes to EPC Band C rating by 2030 is projected to more than counteract the GVA decrease incurred during coronavirus

Report here eciu.net/news-and-event…