A damning report on serial failures in the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme published today appears to provide an explanation as to why the Dept for Energy (DECC) was suddenly abolished last week by the prime minister without explanation. It is likely that DECC was axed simply to minimise the political fall-out from today’s highly-critical report by MPs on the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee – published while parliament is on holiday.
Scottish Energy News 20th July 2016 read more »
The Public Accounts Committee report says that failures highlighted by the design and implementation of household energy efficiency schemes put public money at risk and must not be repeated. The Committee’s report concludes take up for the Government’s Green Deal loans scheme was “woefully low” because the scheme was not adequately tested. The forecast of demand for Green Deal loans was excessively optimistic, says the Committee, and “gave a completely misleading picture of the scheme’s prospects to Parliament and other stakeholders”. It raises concerns that while taxpayers provided £25 million—more than a third of the initial investment in the Green Deal Finance Company—to cover set-up and operational costs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change had no formal role in approving company expenditure or ensuring it achieved value for money. The Committee also finds the Government lacks the information it needs to measure progress against the objectives of the complementary Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, including its impact on fuel poverty.
Parliament 20th July 2016 read more »