The overriding feeling is that the Government has listened and responded to the views and evidence put forward by the insulation industry following the publication of its response to the ECO Help to Heat consultation.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, launched the consultation in June 2016 on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), consulting on a one-year extension to the scheme that would see a set of specific measures make better and simpler use of the funds.
Its response now details an 18-month extension to the scheme with increased SWI and carbon emissions targets.
Following the launch in June, the Insulated Render and Cladding Association (INCA) called on Government to double its target for solid wall insulation (SWI), which has been met with a 24% increase year-on-year, bringing the target number of SWI installs to 32,000.
Neil Marshall, chief executive of the National Insulation Association (NIA), commented: “The NIA and other industry bodies provided robust evidence to Government to demonstrate that many more homes could be insulated with the £640m per annum budget. As a result, Government has increased the carbon target by over 60% and the solid wall insulation minima from 17,000 installations to 32,000. This is great news for low income and vulnerable households as it means that thousands more will receive assistance through free and subsidised insulation.”
Analysis undertaken by AgilityEco on behalf of INCA showed that the cost estimates in the Government Impact Assessment were overstated by more than £200m and that the ECO support required to deliver SWI was much lower than assumed.
Whilst the increase has generally been welcomed, INCA believes further support could have been provided to support British households living in solid wall homes.
Mitch Gee, chairman at INCA, commented: “I am pleased that the evidence gathered by AgilityEco from INCA members has been recognised by the Government; however, the ECO SWI target still falls short of what is required to really start to address the eight million families living in solid walled homes including half of Britain’s fuel poor.”
The Association added that fuel poverty cannot be effectively tackled without a strong focus on SWI as almost half of Britain’s ‘fuel poor’ families live in solid wall homes, and committed that it will continue to work with Government to ensure that the design of the new scheme from April 2018 is based on evidence from the industry.
Other significant changes to the scheme for 2017 are:
- An increased 18-month vs 12-month scheme
- 75% of the work delivered will be through home insulation
- 60% increase in the carbon target
- Simplification of the scheme administration which will enable more money to be spent on actual insulation measures
Barrie Stanley, Wetherby’s energy efficiency manager, added: “These changes, along with extending the scheme to the end of September 2018, has provided a level of security and stability for industry, which can now plan accordingly.
“Ensuring more fuel poor households are eligible for funding by increasing the number of qualifying households to 4.7m is a very positive step, however we hope that this is just the start. There are still some 8m solid wall properties in the UK, half of which include families living in fuel poverty, which could greatly benefit from SWI. We will continue to work with others in the industry to urge the Government to build on this next period of funding with future schemes, to ensure we are helping to improve the way of life for the most vulnerable households in the UK.”
The full Government response can be viewed here.
This announcement comes on the back of the recent announcement that funding for the Green Deal will be reopened following the acquisition of the Green Deal Finance Company.
