Insulation issue

The National Audit Office report sets out the reasons for failures in the government’s energy efficiency scheme for homes, including poor-quality installations, weak government oversight and inadequate audit and monitoring.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) believes that these have led to tens of thousands of households needing repair work to correct major issues that will cause problems such as damp and mould.

The government’s Energy Company Obligation scheme aims to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions in Great Britain by requiring energy companies to fund the installation of energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, in homes.

But poor installation work has resulted in an estimated 22,000-23,000 homes with external wall insulation fitted under the scheme (98% of the total) and 9,000-13,000 homes with internal insulation (29% of the total) having major issues that need fixing. A small percentage of these installations also pose immediate health and safety risks.

The report has concluded that an overly complex consumer protection system has ultimately failed due to unclear and fragmented roles, responsibilities and accountabilities among DESNZ, Ofgem and private sector certification bodies and scheme providers.

Read the report in full at b.link/NAO_energy

Image credit | Shutterstock