Author: Great Britain. National Audit OfficePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102954531
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
The Department of Energy and Climate Change's Warm Front Scheme to tackle fuel poverty in England helped to improve the energy efficiency of over 635,000 households between June 2005 and March 2008. There were, however, 1.9 million vulnerable households in 2006, so this rate of progress will still leave many in fuel poverty in 2010. The installation of central heating systems and insulation in homes has helped vulnerable. 86 per cent of assisted households are either highly satisfied or satisfied with the work done. The delivery of the Scheme has been largely effective but it has been impaired by problems in Scheme design. The Government's use of proxy measures, such as benefit entitlement, to determine who is eligible for Scheme grants is a pragmatic approach, but it has resulted in inefficient targeting of resources. Fifty-seven per cent of vulnerable households in fuel poverty do not claim the relevant benefits to qualify for the Scheme. And nearly 75 per cent of households who would qualify are not necessarily in fuel poverty. In addition, between June 2005 and March 2008 the Scheme has given £34 million in grants to households whose properties were already comparatively energy efficient. Gas and oil boiler replacement costs are at the higher end of the range, partly because of Scheme specifications. The grant available has not increased since 2005 and more applicants (around 25 per cent in 2007-08) are having to contribute towards the cost of the work carried out. Some eligible applicants are therefore withdrawing from the Scheme, or not progressing their applications (around 20,400 households in total as of October 2008).