Household Energy Efficiency Schemes inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“In 2013, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched two complementary schemes—the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO)—to improve the energy efficiency of the UK's housing stock. ECO obligates energy suppliers to install efficiency measures, such as loft or wall insulation, with the cost passed on to energy bill payers. Through the Green Deal, homeowners fund installations by taking out loans, which they repay through their energy bills. While the Department of Energy and Climate Change reached its target for the schemes to improve 1 million homes by March 2015, it also made the decision in July 2015 to not invest further public funds in Green Deal loans. The National Audit Office (NAO) are examining what the schemes have achieved, and at what cost, the design and implementation of the schemes and whether DECC is learning lessons to feed into future energy efficiency schemes.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The Department of Energy and Climate Change implemented the Green Deal in 2013 without adequately testing the design of the scheme with consumers. In practice, householders were not persuaded that energy efficiency measures were worth paying for through the Green Deal and take-up of loans was abysmal. The Department’s forecast that the Green Deal Finance Company would provide loans worth more than £1.1 billion by the end of 2015 was wildly optimistic—the actual figure was £50 million. The finance company has incurred large financial losses as a result of the low demand for green deal loans resulting in the Department writing off some £25 million of the amount it loaned to the company. While the complementary Energy Company Obligation scheme has led to energy efficiency improvements in over 1.4 million homes, the Department does not have the information it needs to measure progress against its objectives. In particular, it cannot tell what impact the schemes have had on reducing fuel poverty.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 13 April 2016 to its close on 4 January 2018.
- Oral evidence 11 May 2016
- Report 20 Jul 2016
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 11th Report - Household Energy Efficiency Schemes ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 11 May 2016No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗