Wednesday 22 May 2013

UK Government unable to give Green Deal’s expected outcomes

UK Government unable to give Green Deal’s expected outcomes

UK Ministers are unable to say what they expect to achieve through the Government’s energy efficiency schemes, a new report says.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee said it was surprised that DECC couldn’t provide an answer when asked about the expected outcomes of its Green Deal scheme.

The Committee said it needs to know “what success looks like” for the efficiency scheme as it has formed a central part of the Coalition’s commitment to be the “greenest Government ever”.

Tim Yeo, Chairman of the Committee said: “Our role is to hold Government to account. But it’s impossible to do this if the Government itself cannot explain precisely what it is hoping to achieve through its policies. It’s unacceptable that, three years in to the life of this Parliament, Ministers are unable to explain what success would look like of one of the Coalition’s flagship policies.”

“At a time when gas and electricity bills are on the rise, improving the energy efficiency of our homes could not be more important. My Committee therefore hopes that the Green Deal will be a success. It is only right that such a high profile policy is subject to proper scrutiny so that corrective measures can be put in place quickly if it is failing to deliver.”

The Committee said it plans to monitor the progress of the Green Deal over the coming years and see how many people are taking up the measures and whether they are seeing genuine savings on their energy bills.

Other key areas of the scheme in which the Committee will focus its scrutiny include public awareness and communication, financial savings and value for money, customer satisfaction and supply chain and job creation.

The report also identifies a number of challenges that could lead to low uptake of the Green Deal. It also calls on the Government to publish information showing how well the Green Deal if progressing.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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