Orkney Council has said representatives from the local building trade are welcome to attend an energy efficiency event next week.

The OIC Energy Efficiency Event will look at the funding currently available to make Orkney's homes more energy efficient.

The Council is thought to receive £700k from the Scottish Government and from the Energy Company Obligation, which will be used to pay for the installation of home energy efficiency measures up until March 2014.

After this, it is hoped more funding will become available.

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Frances Troup, the Council’s Head of Housing and Homelessness, explained: "The new Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland, which replaces the Universal Home Insulation Scheme, is a key element in the Scottish Government's Sustainable Housing Strategy.

"Householders will be able to apply, via the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre for funding from these sources to make their homes more energy efficient. This could be through a range of measures such as solid wall insulation and boiler upgrades.

"This represents a significant amount of potential work to be carried out in Orkney in this and the coming financial years, and we'd like to make best use of this funding opportunity by getting the building trade involved at this early stage in preparation for the work that will take place over the coming years."

The meeting takes place at the Picky Centre on Friday 17 May from 1pm to 4pm.

(JP/CD)