Saturday, February 06, 2021
UK Government failing on greening our homes
The Guardian reports that nearly five months in, only £71m of the allocated £1.5bn budget for householders in the government’s green homes grant scheme has been awarded to those seeking help to move from fossil fuel heating to renewable alternatives:
Ministers awarded the contract to run the programme to ICF, a large American consulting corporation based in Virginia. Details of the value of the government contract have not been published.
The grants were launched with the promise that 600,000 householders would be helped to make their homes more energy efficient and less CO2 intensive. Householders were able to apply for financial support in the form of vouchers from 30 September 2020. The scheme runs to March 2022.
The government said the grants would support 100,000 jobs while cutting people’s energy bills and CO2 emissions. Householders can apply for vouchers of up to £5,000 or £10,000 depending on their circumstances, to help pay for installation of new heating systems and insulation.
But a Guardian investigation revealed installers of renewable energy were left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket by the government scheme, and were forced to let go of workers as they struggling to stay in business.
Members of the public have been left waiting nearly four months, in some cases, to take advantage of the scheme to fit low-CO2 heating systems.
Is this another example of the Tory government's lack of commitment to tackling climate change.
Ministers awarded the contract to run the programme to ICF, a large American consulting corporation based in Virginia. Details of the value of the government contract have not been published.
The grants were launched with the promise that 600,000 householders would be helped to make their homes more energy efficient and less CO2 intensive. Householders were able to apply for financial support in the form of vouchers from 30 September 2020. The scheme runs to March 2022.
The government said the grants would support 100,000 jobs while cutting people’s energy bills and CO2 emissions. Householders can apply for vouchers of up to £5,000 or £10,000 depending on their circumstances, to help pay for installation of new heating systems and insulation.
But a Guardian investigation revealed installers of renewable energy were left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket by the government scheme, and were forced to let go of workers as they struggling to stay in business.
Members of the public have been left waiting nearly four months, in some cases, to take advantage of the scheme to fit low-CO2 heating systems.
Is this another example of the Tory government's lack of commitment to tackling climate change.
