Energy firm Powergen has signed a deal with the city's council to provide energy-efficient heating and insulation to homes.

The firm hosted the Better Government for Older people conference in Brighton and Hove last month.

The initiative means a number of energy-efficiency measures for council tenants will be funded by Powergen over the next three years.

The use of energy from renewable sources for council-owned homes and offices is also being evaluated.

More than £800,000 has already been spent on the scheme, providing insulation and central heating.

For the past four months, the scheme's managing agents, Southern Environmental and Energy Services (SEES), headed by Sussex businessman Tony Benham, has been providing the council with more than £1 million in funding for energy-efficiency works to its housing stock, which is helping to reduce fuel poverty and fuel waste.