Birmingham City Council warm bank plan: what is a warm bank and what has the council said about the plan?

Brummies who are unable to heat their homes this winter may be able to visit libraries and other public buildings to keep warm, under plans revealed by Birmingham City Council.

The council has announced that the buildings will form a network across the city which will provide warm shelter for members of the public this winter.

The plans have been revealed following news that the energy regulator Ofgem will raise the energy price cap for bills in October, a move which will take the average gas and electricity bill to £2,500 and a scheduled 80% rise the cap to £3,549 a year.

A list of 9,000 communities that will be most affected by the steep rise in energy costs has been compiled by Friends of the Earth, and Birmingham is ranked top.

Sandwell is also named in the top five, sitting at fourth, on the list which is known as energy crisis hotspots.

According to Friends of The Earth, Energy crisis hotspots are neighbourhoods where energy use is high and typical household income is below the national average.

In many cases, energy use is high in these neighbourhoods because homes are poorly insulated, meaning they require more energy to remain warm.

What is a warm bank?

A warm bank will essentially work in the same way as a food bank, but instead of people visiting for food and other supplies, they will visit a place to keep warm.

As energy bills continue to skyrocket, it is expected that these will become more and more essential in the coming months.

In towns and cities across England, including in Birmingham, heat banks could be set up in community centres, places of worship, and libraries.

The buildings would be open during the day for people to visit to stay warm when they are unable to pay for their own heating bills.

Here’s what the council said about the plans

Councillor John Cotton, cabinet member for social justice, community safety and equalities at Birmingham city council, said to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Earlier this year, we topped up the government’s Household Support Fund by a further £1.3 million to help families and older people who were struggling with the cost of living.

“This undoubtedly helped people, but we know that more support is needed to help people this winter.

“Keeping warm will be a huge challenge for so many people, with the price of using domestic heating spiralling. We are going to work with partners to map out spaces across the city where people can go to keep warm.

“Whether that’s local community centres, places of worship or libraries, we want to help people to find places where they will be welcomed, free of charge.

“As a council we will then work with our partners across the city to identify gaps in provision and find solutions to fill them.

“It should not be the case that people cannot afford to keep their homes warm, but that is the reality that we are facing here in Birmingham.

“By mapping out the places where people can go to keep warm, we can help some of the most vulnerable people in our city.”

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