We're working at pace to resolve botched insulation scheme, says Minister
A MINISTER has pledged to work at pace to “clean up” a Government insulation scheme which has been slammed as a catastrophic failure by an influential committee of MPs.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the botched insulation scheme has left affected households potentially exposed to unaffordable repair bills. The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) programme, which aimed to improve energy efficiency and slash bills, instead left thousands of homes with faulty insulation, the PAC report said. In some cases, this caused structural issues, damp, mould and health-and-safety risks, according to the PAC.
Ministers have said no household should have to pay to fix the issues, with the original installer liable to foot costs of up to £20,000 covered by guarantee.
The cross-bench group of MPs said it is sceptical the original installers and guarantee providers will be able to meet the potential scale of claims.
In response to the PAC report, the Minister for energy consumers Martin McCluskey said: “We inherited a broken system from the previous government. It was not fit for purpose and had multiple points of failure. We are cleaning up this mess."
Mr McCluskey told The Yorkshire Post that he had found the National Audit Office report into the botched insulation scheme saga “jaw-dropping”.
He added: "We’re offering an audit to every single household that has been identified as being affected, so that is around 30,000 in total. We’re working at pace through those 30,000. We’re working through 1,000 a month at the moment but that will ramp up; we know that needs to go quicker.”
He said he was urging MPs to tell their constituents to get involved in the audit because this was the route to remediation.
"If we find a 'Category 1’ problem in the audit, so there's a risk to health and safety, the standard is that that has to be made safe within 24 hours. That’s what we’re holding the installers to.”
He said the PAC report was a useful “exposition of all the issues” but added. “In some of the language it’s suggested that all 30,000 (properties) are unsafe; that isn’t true.”
He said the ‘Category 1’ problems accounted for around 6 per cent of the 30,000 properties.
"Every single one of these installations is covered by a guarantee. In the vast majority of cases, those guarantees will cover the work that needs to be done to remediate.
"We’re working through with the supply chain where there are issues where remediation may cost more than £20,000 but I am absolutely clear that no householder should have to pay for remediation of work under ECO4 that has gone wrong.”
"As the minister responsible, I don’t want to see any householders have go into their own pockets to fix any of this.”
Mr McCluskey also stressed that the Government will establish a new Warm Homes Agency, “bringing in a single system for retrofit work to provide stronger, formal government oversight and driving up quality”.