The Labour Metro Mayor Dan Norris was joined by the Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change & Net Zero, Ed Miliband to launch a £10 million retrofit programme in the West of England which provides a "snap shot of a green future of Labour in power".

Retrofit West is one of the Mayor's flagship environmental initiatives designed to kickstart the green industry in the West of England. With Mr Miliband watching on, Dan Norris said he hopes this scheme could be used as a template for the rest of the UK under a future government.

Speaking to an audience of around 100 people from industry, trade unions and skills providers, Mayor Norris described the current retrofit landscape as "desolate" with homeowners "utterly confused" and industry "decimated" after a decade of Conservative boom and bust policymaking. He said he is determined to create "long-term regional certainty to build back the necessary confidence for businesses to invest in supply chains".

The Mayor said that

"people in the West deserve to be able to access high-quality advice" and described plans to "rev up skills for the green revolution".

The Mayor believes that the hassle of arranging an installation, together with a serious lack of skilled and trusted installers, are among the most significant barriers faced by local people who are considering retrofitting their homes.

In his speech, Dan Norris said:

"In Bath and Bristol, and right across the West of England region, we have many people who have both the desire and the resources to retrofit, seeing it as the right thing to do in a climate emergency, as well as a prudent, long-term investment against rising bills. But a lot of people are being put off by barriers that need to be overcome. It should be just as easy to decide to retrofit your home as fitting a new bathroom or kitchen. That why I'm determined to provide top-notch advice in one place, as well as the skilled trade people to deliver. In turn, that creates high-skilled, well-paid green jobs."

With its Georgian crescents, Bath is rightly known for its beautiful homes. Meanwhile Bristol has many Victorian terraces, and stone-built miners' cottages abound in areas such as Radstock in Somerset.

"They are gorgeous, but of course, they were never built with the climate crisis in mind",

How long ago a home was first built is the single most important criteria on the likelihood of a property being a ‘C' or higher rated for energy efficiency. Homes built before 1900 are the least likely to be energy efficient. The West has an estimated 250,000 homes which would benefit from retrofitting.

The Mayor says he is not shying away from the fact the first phase of the plan is for people who will pay their own way to get the "West's green economy firing". But he plans to use future phases of the scheme to offer grants and loans to those who need support to green their buildings. The Mayoral Authority is also offering energy saving advice to all residents through its annual "Keep Warm" campaign.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said:

"Tragically we have a government that isn't taking the climate emergency seriously. It's therefore fallen to us here in the West of England to start to deliver the change that people want to see locally. After all, our region has set itself a very ambitious net-zero target of 2030 - a good 20 years ahead of the Government's. That's why I'm investing £10 million in Retrofit West to both bring down energy bills, and to focus hard on our net-zero ambition.

"We're also going to redouble our support for people to develop the skills they need to go into green industries. Workers with the skills to meet the demands of a greener economy will have better-paid, more secure jobs in an ever more important sector."

Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero said:

"Retrofit West is exactly the kind of project we need if we're going to deliver Net Zero. The next Labour Government has a plan to insulate 19 million homes, but we need leaders in regional government to help deliver it. Dan Norris and the West of England have already shown remarkable leadership in delivering renewable energy projects and investing in sustainable transport. I am delighted to join him for the launch of this exciting new project showing Labour in power delivering for local people."

Following the launch, Mayor Dan Norris and Ed Miliband visited a retrofit site in Bristol, seeing for themselves the benefits it brings to people's lives. They met workers in the sector and saw the final stages of some ongoing retrofit work.