Tag: House of Lords

Sarwar set to shun Holyrood for seat in House of Lords

SLAP IN THE FACE FOR SCOTLAND’s PARLIAMENT

SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar is set to turn his back on Holyrood and take a seat in the unelected House of Lords, according to reports last night.

Sarwar, who led Scottish Labour to a dreadful defeat in May’s Holyrood elections where the party won just 17 seats, has been tipped to become a junior business minister in Andy Burnham’s refreshed government.

There was pressure on Sarwar to step down following May’s humiliating results. but the list MSP (Sarwar didn’t win a first past the post seat but was elected through the PR top-up list system) vowed to fight on, claiming there was ‘unfinished business’.

Indeed, when asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords, Sarwar told The Herald: “No. I’m focused on being first minister of this great country.

“My only commitment, my only focus, is serving my constituents in Glasgow and serving the great people of this country, if I get the honour of being first minister.”

Last month he confirmed his determination to lead Scottish Labour for the full Holyrood term into the next elections: ‘I’m hungry for the fight ahead and I want to play my full part in making sure this country never ends up in the hands of Nigel Farage and Reform’

Just a few short weeks later, however, Sarwar appears to have had a change of mind.

The voters of Glasgow won’t even have an opportunity to have their say on Sarwar’s decision when he packs his bags and scurries down to Westminster’s unelected House of Lords – the very institution he said should be abolished!

There will be no by-election as Sarwar was elected as a list MSP, so he will simply be replaced by the next person on Glasgow’s Labour’s list.

Isn’t democracy wonderful!

Hereditary Peers Bill passed

“One of the biggest reforms to Parliament and UK democracy in a generation” – really?

  • Hereditary peers will no longer have the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords in one of the biggest reforms to Parliament in a generation.
  • Fulfilling a key manifesto pledge of the current Government, the Hereditary Peers Bill will ensure that places in the Lords are not reserved for people born into certain families.
  • The passage of the Bill completes a process started a quarter of a century ago to remove the hereditary principle from the House of Lords and bring the UK into line with other 21st century democracies.

The Hereditary Peers Bill has passed in the House of Lords in one of the biggest reforms to Parliament and UK democracy in a generation’. 

The Bill, which was passed on Tuesday evening, fulfills one of the Government’s key manifesto pledges and marks the completion of work started over 25 years ago to remove the right for hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

The Government believes that no one should be able to vote on legislation solely on the basis of their inheritance, so reform of this outdated and undemocratic principle has been long overdue.

Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith said: “The Lords plays a vital role within our bicameral Parliament, but nobody should sit in the House by virtue of an inherited title. That is why the government committed to removing the remaining hereditary peerages, completing the reforms that were started over a quarter of a century ago.

“Getting this bill through is a major first step towards reform of the Lords, with further changes to follow – including on members’ retirement and participation requirements.”

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said: “Hereditary peerages are an archaic and undemocratic principle. I am proud that we have fulfilled a key manifesto pledge of this government.

“Our Parliament should always be a place where talents are recognised and merit counts. It should never be a gallery of old boys’ networks, nor a place where titles, many of which were handed out centuries ago, hold power over the will of the people.”

In making this change, the Government is committed to ensuring that the House can continue to function effectively. The Government has therefore agreed to offer additional life peerages to the Official Opposition and Crossbenchers. As always, it will be for the Opposition to decide which individuals they wish to nominate for peerages.

The Bill is the first step in wider reform to the House of Lords which, besides Lesotho’s Senate, is the only legislative body that still contains a hereditary element. The Government believes that there should not be places in the second chamber of Parliament reserved for those who were born into certain families.

Currently, 92 excepted hereditary peers, which include a range of Dukes, Viscounts, and Earls, can vote on legislation in the Lords. While over 600 hereditary peers were removed from the Lords in the House of Lords Act 1999, 92 were retained as an interim measure.

The Bill will come into effect at the end of this session of Parliament, after which no peer will be a member of the House of Lords on the basis of their hereditary peerage.

IT’S A START, I SUPPOSE …

House of Lords Conduct Committee publishes report on the conduct of Lord Chadlington

ANOTHER DODGY ‘HONOURABLE MEMBER’ SHAMES WESTMINSTER

The House of Lords Conduct Committee has published a report on the conduct of Lord Chadlington (John Selwyn Gummer), recommending he be suspended from the House for 12 months.

The recommendation is the result of an investigation by the independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, which followed a complaint made on behalf of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

The Commissioner, Martin Jelley QPM DL, investigated Lord Chadlington’s role in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic and, specifically, his role in assisting a subsidiary of a company he chaired to secure PPE contracts.

The Commissioner found that Lord Chadlington, a former Chairman of the Conservative Party during the Thatcher era, breached the House’s prohibition on members providing “parliamentary services” in return for payment or reward.

He also found that Lord Chadlington had failed to cooperate with two previous investigations into his conduct and had failed to act on his personal honour.

Chadlington appealed against the Commissioner for Standards’ findings and his recommended sanction that he be suspended from the House for 12 months. The Conduct Committee rejected that appeal and upheld the Commissioner’s findings and recommended sanction.  
 
The Conduct Committee’s report will now need to be agreed by the House before the sanction takes effect. The House is expected to consider the report in the week of 16th March.

Chadlington, who is 84, has said he will ‘retire’ from the House of Lords and quit the Tory Party. That’s likely to be of little consolation to Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice:

Grief: A Poem

by Susie Crozier-Flintham

Grief fills the room
Which room or space
Is not a matter
Of speculation
Or some theory
Now debunked
By its own author,
I might add,
But one of
Who
We
Are
As
People
My grief fills my life
Not room or space
But every quarter
Of my being, not
Some speculation
Or some theory,
Conspiracy theory
That serves to
Diminish
Deceive or
Decry
My Dad died.
A declarative
Not speculation
He was among
over 252, 032 others
To pretend

Those things
Untrue
Is to pretend
Some lives
Are worth
Losing
Moreover,
Do we dismiss
Collective grief
As something
Uncomfortable
Because, we don’t decide
We can’t pick and choose
Those dead
Are commemorated
These dead are not
Weren’t they all human?
People with lives?
Weren’t they all children
Once?
Grief fills this room
Because it’s not just
About remembrance
It’s about
Potential lost
Opportunities missed
Connections denied
Grief fills this room
Because it has to
Without it
We are nothing
Mere chattels

On this Earth
Which birthed us
Which birthed us
But masters,
And indeed mistresses
Of our own destiny
Are we
So hear me
You are my family
I lost mine
Not through carelessness
But through design
And in my Dad’s name
You are
Therefore
Mine.

TUC tells Peers to stop trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers

  • Union body accuses Conservative and Lib Dem Peers of “doing the bidding of bad bosses” by voting to keep workers on zero hours contracts and allowing employers to sack workers unfairly  
  • TUC urges government to “stand firm” as the Employment Rights Bill is set for parliamentary ping pong  

The TUC has told Conservative and Lib Dem Peers to “get out of the way” and “stop trying to block” stronger rights for millions of workers. 

The union body is urging the government to “stand firm” in the face of cynical attacks on the Employment Rights Bill, with the Bill set for parliamentary ping pong after Peers tried to dilute key workers’ rights in the Lords last week. 

The TUC says the Tories and Lib Dems are doing the bidding of bad bosses by voting to keep workers on zero hours contracts and allowing employers six months to sack workers unfairly. 

Conservative and Lib Dem Peers also voted to attack teaching assistants’ pay and exempt voluntary work on heritage railways from restrictions on employment of children. 

The Bill will return to the House of Commons in September for MPs to consider the Lords’ amendments. The two houses will continue to vote on amendments in a process known as “ping-pong” until a way forward is agreed. 

The TUC points out that a significant number of the Conservative Peers trying to block stronger rights for workers are Hereditary Peers.  

Many of the amendments to the Bill seek to overturn the Labour government’s manifesto commitments, something the House of Lords has traditionally avoided. 

Defying their own voters 

The TUC says Conservative and Lib Dem peers are defying their parties’ own voters – and the public at large – by attempting to water down the Bill.  

A recent TUC mega poll revealed huge support across the country and across the political spectrum – including Conservative voters – over key policies in the Bill. 

According to the polling, every Conservative and Lib Dem seat has overwhelming support for banning zero hours contracts and statutory sick pay from day one.  

The TUC says this shows “how out of touch” the Peers are.  

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “It’s time for Tory and Lib Dem Peers to get out of the way and stop trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers.  

“They are doing the bidding of bad bosses by voting to keep workers on zero hours contracts, allowing bosses to sack workers unfairly and attacking teaching assistants’ pay. 

“The sight of Hereditary Peers voting to block stronger workers’ rights belongs in another century. It’s plain wrong. 

“Banning zero-hours contracts and protecting workers from unfair dismissal are common-sense protections that the vast majority of the people, including Tory and Lib Dem voters, want to see become law. 

“These Peers are not just out of touch, they are actively defying their own voters – and the public at large. The government must stand firm in the face of cynical attacks and deliver the Employment Rights Bill in full.” 

Double-jobbing no more?

Draft regulations to be laid at Holyrood in autumn

Views are being sought on the implementation of the ban on MSPs from also serving as MPs or in the House of Lords.

Following the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill being passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament in December, a consultation seeking views on the principles and practical issues of ending dual mandates has launched.

The consultation, which runs until 23 March, looks at issues such as grace periods once elected and salary or parliamentary limitations during this period.

The Bill places a duty on Scottish Ministers to bring forward regulations which prohibit MSPs from also serving in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, and may additionally prohibit MSPs from also serving as councillors.

The regulations will be laid in autumn 2025 so they are in place for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, and will be subject to scrutiny and a vote by MSPs.

Minister for Parliamentary Business Jamie Hepburn said: “Following the unanimous passage of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill in December, MSPs will be barred from also being an MP or Peer through regulations to be brought forward in autumn 2025.

“This consultation on the issue will allow political parties, local government and most importantly the public to comment on the details of how that will work in practice, ahead of the practice being ended before the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.”

The consultation paper is available at Consultation on Dual Mandates

House of Lords to consider landmark reforms to mental health care 

Mental Health Bill will give patients enhanced rights to make decisions regarding their own care, ensuring their voice is heard throughout the treatment process

  • Landmark reforms to better care for mental health patients one step closer to becoming law, with Second Reading of the Mental Health Bill in the House of Lords today  
  • The Bill will also address inadequate care of people with a learning disability and autistic people, as well as reducing the number of unnecessary detentions 

Long awaited legislation to reform care for mental health patients is one step closer to becoming law, as the Mental Health Bill has Second Reading in the House of Lords today (25th November 2024).  

The Mental Health Bill, introduced earlier this month, will modernise the Mental Health Act, giving patients a greater say in their care, along with bolstered support from family and friends as part of treatment to ensure that their interests are protected and that their voice is heard throughout the treatment process.  

Last year, over 50,000 people were detained under the Mental Health Act, but an independent review of the Mental Health Act, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, found rising rates of detention under the act, along with racial disparities, and poor patient experience especially for autistic people and those with a learning disability, with patients being detained unnecessarily and for longer than needed. 

Alongside making it legal requirement for each patient to have a care and treatment plan, the Bill will also give patients the right to an Advance Choice Document, which can be used by patients to set out what they want their care to look like in the event of a mental health crisis.  

These changes will ensure that care is tailored to individual needs and encourage patients to remain in contact with health services and continue to engage with treatment.  

Police and prison cells will also no longer be used to place people who need care under the Mental Health Act. Instead, patients will be supported to access a suitable healthcare facility that will better support their needs.  

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said: “The Mental Health Act is there to protect people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and in many cases, it has saved lives. But it is hugely outdated, depriving people of their liberty, especially autistic people and people with a learning disability. 

“We are now one step closer to bringing forward the essential reforms that will transform the care of some of our most vulnerable people, meaning patients receive the right care in the right place. 

“Modernising the act will strengthen the decision-making processes, helping to better support people, and giving them the appropriate and compassionate care they need.”

The Bill will help deliver the government’s commitment to transform mental health care, giving it the same focus and attention as physical health. 

It will also address unnecessary detentions for people with a learning disability or autistic people. At the end of October 2024, 1,880 people with these conditions were detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, and research suggests that some would be better suited to care in the community. 

If passed, the Act will limit the length of time that they can be detained under the Act if they do not have a co-occurring mental health condition that needs hospital treatment and have not committed a criminal offence. 

Claire Murdoch, NHS national mental health director, said: “This Mental Health Bill is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure that patients experiencing serious mental illness and crises receive safe, modern, evidence-based care, and that the needs and wishes of patients and their loved ones are central to their care and better mental health outcomes.

“This comes alongside the NHS’s work to transform mental health services which are treating record numbers with existing resources – either through intervening earlier with hundreds of NHS teams working in schools, or trialling new 24/7 crisis mental health hubs to prevent people needing hospital care in the first place, and if an admission to hospital is needed the health service is working with local services to ensure this is delivered in a safe and therapeutic environment close to people’s homes.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “This marks another important milestone towards the long overdue reforming and updating of the Mental Health Act to ensure people with severe mental illness are given greater control over their treatment and are not subjected to unnecessary detentions.

“Our members have long called for these reforms to address the unacceptable disparities in rates of detention for people from some ethnic minority backgrounds.

“The Bill should also stop patients with a learning disability and autistic people from being detained long-term, unless they also have a severe mental illness for which detention may be needed.

“This is a welcome step towards these vital reforms, and we look forward to working with the government to ensure there is enough capacity to implement the Bill’s plans.”

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive, Rethink Mental Illness: “In the depths of a mental health crisis, everyone deserves care that respects their rights and gives them a say in their treatment. Today marks another milestone in the journey to reform the Mental Health Act, bringing us closer to vital legislation that’s fit for the 21st century.

“After years of tireless campaigning, we’re determined that this legislation fulfils its potential. We will support efforts to ensure the Bill passes through parliament to deliver meaningful, positive change for the tens of thousands of people detained under the Mental Health Act every year.

“In tandem, we will look to the new Ten Year Plan for the NHS to provide the resources and support necessary to ensure people receive the right care and treatment at the right time, to prevent people from experiencing a mental health crisis.”

Measures in the Bill will ensure patients, staff and the general public are better protected, through improved decision making and new processes requiring clinicians to seek a second opinion before discharging a patient. Discharge processes will also be reviewed more broadly and will include a safety management plan for the patient, to keep them and others safe.

Aspiration and specialist support are key to young disabled people thriving in the workplace

The House of Lords’ Public Services Committee publishes its report ‘Think Work First: the transition from education to work for young disabled people’

The House of Lords Public Services Committee has published its report, ‘Think Work First: the transition from education to work for young disabled people’.

The report concludes that young disabled people yearn to work and to thrive in their careers but far too many are written off and told that ‘people like them’ can never succeed.

The Committee believe we have to change this; we have to start with the presumption that young disabled people are fully capable of thriving in work, as long as they have the appropriate support, with aspiration and ambition at its heart. At every stage of a young disabled person’s development, from nurseries and schools to job centres and employers, we have to Think Work First.

Speaking on the report, the Chair of the Public Services Committee Baroness Morris of Yardley said “This report provides a blueprint for the new Government to implement its commitment to getting more young disabled people into work.

“It highlights how to put in place appropriate support for young disabled people and employers so that the system is both cohesive and effective.”

To address this, the Committee has recommended the Government focus on early support and intervention, ensuring that young disabled people can access and then remain in work once they leave education. It must also work with employers to ensure they have the tools and support they need to create inclusive workplaces and uphold the rights of disabled people.

young-disabled-peopleDownload

Other significant key recommendations from the report include:

  • Co-production: It is vital that young disabled people – both those that are yet to leave education and those who have already made the transition – are able to be fully involved in helping to design and shape the services that support them.
  • Vocational profiling: This is a particularly effective way of identifying a young disabled person’s aspirations from an early age and can help schools and colleges to put the right careers support in place from the start. The Committee believes the Government should make vocational profiling a standard part of careers information, advice and guidance for young disabled people in schools.
  • Joined up support: The Government should work with local authorities to improve the availability of ‘ready to work’ programmes, such as that provided by ThinkForward, to support young people from school until they are settled in work.
  • Supported internships:. The new Government should honour the commitment of the previous Government to double the number of supported internships and take steps to make as many young disabled people as possible eligible for them: not just those with Education, Health and Care Plans. Internships should be particularly targeted at those with the highest support needs.
  • Education:. The Government must review and improve the support that young disabled people receive while in education, and it must also properly support local authorities to deliver EHCPs, both in terms of application timelines and the robustness of decision-making.
  • Careers advice: Many of the young disabled people who spoke to the Committee highlighted the poor careers advice they had received, and the Committee heard evidence from several witnesses of a lack of a systemic, specialised approach to training careers advisers working with young disabled people. The Government should review the training that careers advisers and leaders are expected to receive, making in-depth special educational needs training mandatory.

In order to ensure that these recommendations are implemented, to help young disabled people access work, Baroness Morris said: “We’ve asked the Government to provide us with regular updates on its progress with implementing our recommendations, and we look forward to receiving its response to this report.

“We want to see positive changes in the form of planned programmes and demonstrable actions not only to get young disabled people into the workplace, but to ensure they can thrive in their jobs, develop successful, sustainable careers, and realise their full potential.

“There are many excellent innovative schemes tackling the barriers that young disabled people face when trying to enter the workplace and helping them to make the transition from education to employment. However, we found that these are the exception rather than the rule and this has to change.”

Bury The Hatchet: Lords Committee calls for UK-EU relations reset after years of tension and mistrust

The European Affairs Committee has published a report on the UK-EU relationship

The report is based on an inquiry undertaken between July 2022 and March 2023. The inquiry involved 12 oral evidence sessions, with a total of 43 witnesses, as well as 58 written submissions.

The report examines the overarching state of the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and EU, and how this might be developed in the future, across four themes:

  • The overall political, diplomatic and institutional relationship;
  • the foreign policy, defence and security relationship;
  • energy security and climate change; and
  • mobility of people.

After years of tension and mistrust, recommendations focus on actions to be taken as a priority as part of a reset of UK-EU relations following the recent agreement of the Windsor Framework.

The Committee’s key findings and recommendations are as follows:

The political, diplomatic and institutional relationship

  • The opportunity the recent improvement in the mood around UK-EU relations this presents for a reset of UK-EU relations should, following years of tension and mistrust, must be grasped.
  • There should be a considerable increase in engagement between the UK and the EU. This should include greater use of existing institutional structures such as the TCA Specialised Committees. There would also be value in holding regular UK-EU summits. The UK’s participation in the new European Political Community is welcome.

The foreign policy, defence and security relationship

  • Cooperation between the UK and the EU has been close and productive in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the ad hoc approach to sanctions coordination with the EU should be replaced by a more formal mechanism.
  • The Government’s decision to participate in the Military Mobility project under the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is welcome. It should consider future opportunities for defence cooperation with the EU that are complementary to NATO as they arise.
  • The Government should approach the EU with the aim of establishing appropriate structured cooperation arrangements on external affairs.

Energy security and climate change

  • Energy trading between the UK and the EU has continued without much disruption despite the energy security challenges experienced in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, an agreement should be reached to guarantee that energy flows can continue in the event of a critical supply shortage.
  • The UK and the EU should cooperate closely on the installation of additional interconnectors, including in the North Sea, which are needed to ensure future energy security.
  • There would be mutual benefits to be gained from the UK and the EU linking their respective Emissions Trading Schemes and the Government should approach the EU about this possibility. The Government should also engage closely with the EU in relation to the latter’s proposal for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Mobility of people

  •  The end of free movement of people between the UK and the EU has had a major impact on business and professional travel. Government guidance on business and professional mobility should be made more straightforward to navigate and interpret.
  • The substantial decline in school visits from the EU to the UK since 2019 is regrettable. To address this the Government should reintroduce a youth group travel scheme that would not require pupils travelling on school visits from any EU country to carry individual passports.
  • Post-Brexit barriers to mobility have had a disproportionate impact on younger people. The Government should approach the EU about the possibility of entering an ambitious reciprocal youth mobility partnership, similar to existing schemes with other jurisdictions such as Australia and Canada.

Lord Kinnoull, Chair of the Committee, said: “The UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU has regrettably come under significant strain over the period since the TCA came into force, characterised by tension and mistrust.

“While the recent change in mood for future UK-EU relations following the announcement of the Windsor Framework is welcome, there is now the opportunity to move the relationship forward to the mutual benefit of both the UK and the EU.

“A particular theme running through our Future UK-EU Relationship report evidence was the significant impact of post-Brexit barriers to mobility young workers and professionals in the early stages of their careers, emerging artists, as well as students across different educational levels. Making progress here will benefit all in the short term but especially in the long term.

“The Committee feels that it is now time to address the considerable lack of structure in the foreign policy, security and defence relationship. Here we particularly recommend means of seeking to make sanctions bite harder through analysis and enforcement cooperation.

“Another area we looked into was energy. Here again we have made many recommendations which will help our long term energy security.

“We have also made a number of recommendations about the current institutional relationship and how improvements can be made”.

Climate crisis: ‘People power is critical to reach our environmental goals’

Westminster’s Environment and Climate Change Committee has published a report which warns that the Government’s current approach to enabling behaviour change is seriously inadequate and will result in the UK failing to meet its net zero and environment targets.

The Committee identified—drawing on the Committee on Climate Change’s assessment—that one third of greenhouse gas emissions reductions up to 2035 require decisions by individuals and households to adopt low carbon technologies and choose low-carbon products and services, as well as reduce carbon-intensive consumption.

The Committee found that while the Government has introduced some policies to help people adopt new technologies, like electric cars, that focus has not been replicated in other areas.

The Committee concluded that there has been too great a reliance on as yet undeveloped technologies to get the UK to net zero and a reluctance to help people cut carbon-intensive consumption.

During the inquiry the Committee heard from 146 organisations from across the UK and further afield including businesses, local authorities, charities and think tanks as well as government ministers, academics & researchers, and young people.

Baroness Parminter, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee said: “After a summer of record temperatures, fires and hose pipe bans, it has never been more apparent that the twin crises of climate change and nature loss demand an immediate and sustained response.

“People power is critical to reach our environmental goals, but unless we are encouraged and enabled to change behaviours in how we travel, what we eat and buy and how we heat our homes, we won’t meet those targets. Polling shows the public is ready for leadership from the Government. People want to know how to play their part in tackling climate change and environmental damage. 

“The Government’s mantra of “going with the grain of consumer choice” demonstrates a reluctance to help people cut carbon-intensive consumption. It is in a unique position to guide the public in changing their behaviours, however their approach is inadequate in the face of the urgent scale of the environmental challenge.

“The Prime Minister urgently needs to set out her vision of a country where low carbon choices and behaviours can flourish.”

Key recommendations

The Committee recommends that the Government should:  

  • learn from examples of where it has enabled behaviour change, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, and enable people to make the necessary shifts in the key areas of how we travel, what we eat, what we buy and how we use energy at home 
  • launch a public engagement campaign to build support for helping people to adopt new technologies and reduce carbon-intensive consumption in the key areas where behaviour change is required 
  • help the public to reduce carbon and resource-intensive consumption in diets, products, services and travel
  • use the Net Zero Forum, announced in October 2021, to address the coordination, resourcing and responsibilities between local and central government, recognising the key role of local authorities in helping enable behaviour change in local communities
  • use every lever the Government has–including regulations and fiscal incentives and disincentives–to address the barriers which prevent changing behaviours
  • place fairness at the heart of policy design and tailor behaviour change interventions to avoid placing a burden on those who can least afford it. For example, providing financing support for low-income households as part of a national drive to improve the energy efficiency of our homes.