Flaws In Green Homes Grant Exposed By Local MP

Paul Blomfield MP, Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central, has written to the Business Secretary calling on him to address major problems with the Green Homes Grant reported by local residents.

The scheme provides vouchers towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to homes in England, with upgrades divided into ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ measures.

In his letter, Mr Blomfield said:

“There are major issues surrounding the accreditation of tradespeople for the installation of either primary and secondary measures.

“One constituent for example, who has already installed a primary measure, has been unable to find an installer based outside of London who is prepared to accept vouchers to install the secondary measure”.

He also points out:

“86% of respondents to the Environmental Audit Committee’s survey on the Green Homes Grant rated their experience with the scheme as either somewhat poor or very poor (60% as very poor)”.

The Sheffield Central MP went on to urge that the Government outline what further action it will be taking to: “ensure enough registered installers are available in each region of England?”

Commenting on his letter, Mr Blomfield commented:

“The climate emergency is the most important issue facing us. There’s no point in flagship schemes if they don’t work. The Government needs to take this seriously and tackle the failings in the Green Homes Grant.

“People are waiting months for their applications to be processed, and unclear accreditation guidance means small business installers are discouraged from taking part. I’m grateful for constituents alerting me to the problem and would be pleased to hear from others who’ve faced problems.”