Council could save £1m on energy

FIGURES released by Warrington Borough Council have shown the authority could save almost £1 million a year if energy prices were frozen as suggested by Labour.
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust could also expect to save about £22,000 a year.
Nick Bent (right), Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, said: “Only Labour under Ed Miliband is willing to take on the powerful Big Six energy firms that are ripping off householders, businesses and taxpayers.”
At the last meeting of the borough council, Labour’s Cllr Laurence Murphy tabled a question about the town hall’s energy bills, to which he has since received a written answer from Cllr Russ Bowden, lead member for corporate resources.
The figures reveal the council’s total annual energy bill (gas and electricity) in 2012/2013 was £5.5 million, and the prices have gone up by almost one-fifth (by 19 per cent) since the last General Election.
The council’s energy bill includes the cost of running the borough’s street lights as well as heating and lighting numerous public buildings.
Mr Bent said: “If David Cameron had tackled the Big Six energy firms and frozen energy prices, preventing these price rises could have saved Warrington taxpayers almost £1 million per year.
Ed Miliband has published fresh evidence that a freeze on energy prices would save public buildings such as schools and hospitals up to £100 million across the country.
That means £100 million being saved by taxpayers rather than going to the Big Six energy firms.
The NHS would save more than £40 million – equivalent to the salaries of more than 1,300 nurses.
Schools would save £28 million – equivalent to more than 700 teachers.
During 2012-13 Warrington Borough Council spent about £2.6 million on electricity for buildings, including £467,000 for academies and £256,000 for cultural and leisure trusts and £1.2 million on street lighting.
Total gas spend was about £1.7 million.