Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
The Department argued that it had learned lessons from previous schemes.50 The design of the...
Conclusion
The Department argued that it had learned lessons from previous schemes.50 The design of the Scheme was based on the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund – itself a voucher scheme launched in 2014 which saw rapid uptake by consumers, and which had also encouraged certain energy efficiency measures over others in a similar manner to the recent scheme.51 It also stated that the requirement for PAS and MCS certification and Trustmark registration were drawn from the Every Home Counts review, which set out recommendations for government in ensuring that homeowners were not at risk from poor quality work.52 Nonetheless, it is of concern that the Department did not fully 43 Qq 83–85 44 Q85 45 Q83, Committee of Public Accounts, Household energy efficiency measures, Eleventh Report of Session 2016–17, HC 125, July 2016 46 Committee of Public Accounts, Oral Evidence: Achieving Net Zero: Follow Up, HC 642, 25 October 2021, Qq 24, 27, 69 47 Committee of Public Accounts, Home Energy Efficiency Measures, Eleventh Report of Session 2016–17, HC 125, 11 July 2016 48 Committee of Public Accounts, Renewable Heat Incentive in Great Britain, Fortieth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 696, 16 May 2018 49 Committee of Public Accounts, The Warm Front Scheme, Thirty-Ninth Report of Session 2008–09, HC 350, 29 June 2009 50 Q63 51 Qq 31–32 52 Q94 14 Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme learn from and overcome the issues of complexity and poor performance on the previous schemes.53 This is especially so given departmental staff with knowledge of these previous schemes were present during the development and implementation of the recent scheme, raising questions around how the Department maintains and uses its corporate memory.54
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 The pace of delivery and magnitude of investment meant that GHGv was a challenging scheme to deliver from the outset, the scale of which was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. 6.3 Lessons learnt from this scheme provide valuable insight into the challenges similar schemes face and will be used by senior officials when designing and planning future projects. 6.4 The department has a repository to facilitate lessons sharing between projects. In business cases, teams need to explain which projects they have engaged with prior to PIC review and approval. PIC challenges projects that have not mitigated previous failures sufficiently and tasks them with addressing this. 6.5 Other lessons and initiatives include: • an independent evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the GHGv scheme, due for publication in Autumn 2023, will be shared across energy efficiency schemes. • Briefings and presentations on lessons learned to relevant teams in the department including the PIC, the Performance and Risk Committee, and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, the Heat and Buildings Portfolio Board and the Delivery Transformation Board, • cross Whitehall briefings and lesson cascades in Winter 2021, involving around 100 representatives from HM Treasury, No 10 Downing Street, DEFRA and BEIS colleagues, and • a new programme to transform the department’s delivery capability ensuring both effective delivery of major projects and that priority outcomes and project metrics are met. It focuses on upskilling the department’s delivery knowledge and ability, considering lessons as part of project initiation and design.