Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 36
62nd Report - Faulty energy efficiency installations
Published 23 Jan 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Faulty energy efficiency installations All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We pushed Ofgem and the Department on what they were doing to actively look for fraud, and highlighted that fraud is likely contributing to the high level of defects on external and internal wall insulation.85 Written evidence submitted by members of the Green Homes Group (Ashden, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Citizens Advice, E3G, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace) reported that people have experienced fraud and intentional bad practice as part of their faulty retrofits.86 The Department assured us that it is “bringing together the parties that might have information that would allow Ofgem to identify cases of potential fraud.” It explained that it is working to make sure data about households—such as their likely eligibility for schemes—can be shared across the system. It also told us that TrustMark had introduced different software systems that enable it to identify potentially fraudulent installations from the data it holds.87 Addressing current issues and reforming the system for the future
From: Public Accounts Committee, 62nd Report - Faulty energy efficiency installations (HC 1229), 23 January 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 April 2026 (deadline 23 March 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations, but disagrees with the recommendation to halt wall insulation installation without independent supervision and with the recommendation to refer fraud to the Serious Fraud Office.
- On wall insulation, it disagrees with the recommendation, noting that every household with external wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS "is being and will be offered an on-site audit", subject to the householder accepting; internal wall insulation concerns are triaged and referred for audit where they meet "the threshold of risk factors".
- It agrees on the find-and-fix programme: TrustMark "currently intend" it to complete by May 2027, though the department states it is "unlikely" to deliver on a "significantly shorter timescale". It will update the Committee in writing every six months, first in June 2026.
- It disagrees with referring fraud across ECO to the Serious Fraud Office, stating that this "relates to an existing ongoing responsibility of the regulator", Ofgem, which can and does make referrals where appropriate.
- It agrees to publish an annual report to Parliament on retrofit schemes, with the first publication "before Autumn 2027", and "intends to consult" on the design of a reformed consumer protection system during summer 2026.