A failed net zero emissions plan that has caused damp problems in thousands of homes was the result of “serious failings at every level”, a UK government official has claimed.
Last month, the National Audit Office found that 98% of 23,000 homes that had external wall insulation installed under two separate schemes would result in damp and mold if not addressed.
Its damning report also found that the health and safety of hundreds of homeowners had been put at immediate risk because insulation work had not been carried out correctly.
Appearing in Parliament, Jeremy Pocklington, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s most senior official, said the failures were “unacceptable”.
The damage also applies to around a third of homes that had internal insulation installed under the ECO4 scheme and the Great British Insulation Scheme, available to residents in England, Scotland and Wales.
More than three million homes have been insulated thanks to various government plans over the last 20 years. Billions of pounds of public money have been spent on it.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Pocklington began his evidence session by saying he was thinking of the families and households affected.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the results of the NAO report were the “worst” he had seen in 12 years as committee chairman and accused the department of negligence.
Pocklington said Trustmark, the body responsible for overseeing the quality of insulation work, had poorly monitored ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme.
However, he added that the department “did not monitor these plans as it should have.”
Independent MP Rupert Lowe said this amounted to a “systemic failure of a government department”.
Acknowledging this comment, Pocklington said “there are serious failings at all levels of the system that are systemic” and that the department “did not take sufficient action to ensure Trustmark was set up to function properly”.
Pocklington explained that the department had been under pressure after dealing with the Covid pandemic and the effect of the war in Ukraine on energy prices.
Labor MP Clive Betts asked Pocklington whether the department would take responsibility for all homeowners who have been “badly treated” in all the government’s energy efficiency plans, not just those that have been carried out since 2022.
Pocklington said the focus was on the two plans that had been carried out since 2022.
When asked by Betts whether the government would “support” affected homeowners, Pocklington said the government’s responsibility was to “ensure that the schemes we put in place work effectively and that appropriate consumer protection systems are in place”.
