"Members of parliament have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the UK's home insulation sector, after thousands of householders suffered ruined homes, big financial losses and months of disruption from the clear and catastrophic failure of two Conservative government schemes. More than 30,000 households were left with defects, some of them severe, including mould, water ingress and damage to the fabric of walls, with about 3,000 dwellings so badly damaged they presented immediate health and safety risks to occupants."
"Households that had external cladding installed numbering about 23,000 bore the worst of the damage, with 98% damaged and in need of repair, alongside 29% of the homes fitted with internal wall insulation. The schemes, called Eco4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme, were begun and mostly ran under the last Conservative government. The overarching energy company obligation, of which both schemes were part, has since been scrapped by Labour."
"In a report into the scandal published on Friday, the public accounts committee of MPs recommended an investigation into Eco4 by the Serious Fraud Office, and an overhaul of the way government handles home insulation. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the committee, said: [This] amounts to the most catastrophic fiasco that I have seen on this committee. The project was doomed to failure from the start. He blamed the way the scheme had been operated, with responsibility shared among several organisations that did not communicate effectively, and a failure to act when the problems started to emerge."
"Clifton-Brown said: Potentially thousands of people are now living with health and safety risks in their homes, and despite government's protestations we have nowhere near enough assurance that they are not financially exposed to unaffordable bills"
More than 30,000 households suffered defects and damage from failed Eco4 and Great British Insulation Scheme installations, producing mould, water ingress and fabric damage and causing major financial loss and disruption. About 3,000 dwellings were so badly damaged they presented immediate health and safety risks. External cladding installations, roughly 23,000 properties, experienced the worst harm with 98% damaged and needing repair; 29% of homes with internal wall insulation were also affected. The energy company obligation that covered the schemes has been scrapped and replaced by the warm homes plan. The public accounts committee recommended an SFO investigation and a complete overhaul of government handling, citing poor coordination, lack of action and insufficient assurance of financial protection for households.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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