Domestic Energy Efficiency: Retrofitting

Baroness Wheeler Excerpts

Monday 1st March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We remain committed to getting as many homes as possible to EPC band C by 2035 where it is practical, effective and affordable.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government heralded the green homes grant scheme as a key programme for retrofitting and net zero, but the scheme has descended into a fiasco, as we have heard, with small businesses not being paid, cuts to funding for the next year and the slow installation of measures. According to the Government’s own statistics, nearly 61,000 voucher applications were from low-income households, but only 799 measures have been installed for those families—just 1.3%. Can the Minister explain why the scheme is failing low-income families so badly?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not sure that the noble Baroness’s figures are correct, but I will write to her with the correct information. The scheme is not failing low-income families. We have maximum grants of £10,000 available, many of which are being taken up by low-income families. We have issued thousands of vouchers to installers to retrofit works in low-income families’ homes.