Plan aims to offer Londoners tailored energy-saving advice and reduce emissions
Sadiq Khan has been pressed to allocate £700,000 for a service focused on insulating homes and cutting energy bills across London. This initiative, added to the Labour mayor’s draft budget by City Hall’s Liberal Democrats and supported by the Greens, seeks to provide Londoners with specialised advice on energy efficiency through programmes like Groundwork’s Green Doctors.
The Green Doctors initiative, run by the charity Groundwork, offers free, impartial guidance on home improvements such as insulation and switching to energy-efficient lighting. With 37% of London’s greenhouse gas emissions stemming from domestic energy use, the Lib Dems argue that Khan’s budget initially missed an opportunity to directly assist residents in lowering both emissions and costs.
Under the proposed amendment, the expanded Green Doctors service would become accessible to all Londoners, regardless of eligibility criteria, for a one-year pilot programme. Priority support would still be maintained for those already qualifying, including people with disabilities, pregnant women, low-income households, and families with young children.
Legally, Khan must now respond to the Lib Dems’ proposal. If he does not incorporate it, the Assembly could mandate its inclusion by maintaining the same level of support in a second vote—an unprecedented scenario in its 24-year history. The Lib Dem and Green groups’ combined five votes were enough to pass the amendment, as Labour and Conservative members abstained. Labour stated that it was unclear how the new proposals would supplement City Hall’s existing energy programmes.
In related debates, the Lib Dems’ call for an Erasmus-style youth exchange and volunteering scheme was rejected by Labour, which argued that the mayor is already advocating for the UK’s return to Erasmus. Meanwhile, a Green Party amendment seeking funds for Tube and bus toilets, reinstating free travel for the elderly during morning hours, and a Universal Basic Income pilot was also blocked by Labour, with Lib Dems and Conservatives abstaining.
Labour and Conservative groups refrained from tabling their own amendments, with Conservative leader Neil Garratt explaining their preference to await Khan’s final budget draft before making suggestions.
