Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many complaints on the mis-selling of Green Deal loans by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd his Department has received since that scheme was established; and how many of those complainants have yet to receive (a) an initial and (b) final intention notice in response to their complaint.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The figures provided below are as of 7 September, except where otherwise specified.
A total of 218 appeals about the mis-selling of Green Deal Plans by the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) have been referred to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State. At the end of June 2020 (the latest date for which this data is available), the total value of loans, including interest and fees, that are the subject of the appeals was £1,700,338.
The Green Deal Framework Regulations require that, before imposing any sanction, the Secretary of State gives notice to affected parties of his intention to impose a sanction (an initial notice, referred to as an Intention Notice) and provides them with an opportunity to make representations before it is made final.
Complainants are not required to indicate acceptance or otherwise in response to Intention Notices or final Sanction Notices. Affected parties, including complainants, may make representations in response to Intention Notices and can appeal final decisions (set out in final Sanction Notices) to the General Regulatory Chamber of the First–tier Tribunal.
One hundred and twenty-one HELMS complainants have yet to receive an Intention Notice. One hundred and seventy-four HELMS complainants have yet to receive a final decision.
Ninety-one Intention Notices in respect of mis-selling by HELMS proposed a reduction in loan amount. Of these, complainants have made representations in 37 cases. As complainants are not required to indicate acceptance of a proposed reduction the Department does not hold such records.
The total value of proposed reductions set out in Intention Notices and final Sanction Notices relating to mis-selling of Green Deal Plans by HELMS to date is £376,628.
Where Intention Notices have proposed reductions in loan amounts, the highest reduction to date has been 68%, the lowest reduction, 30%, and the average reduction, 50%.
Six Intention Notices in respect of mis-selling by HELMS have proposed cancellation. To date, there have been 4 cases where Intention Notices proposed cancellation but the Secretary of State’s decision, set out in the subsequent final Sanction Notices, was to impose reduction following representations.
No complainants who have received Intention Notices proposing cancellation have made representations in response to those Notices.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2019 to Question 292374 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many cases from Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency that were referred to her have been with her office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
At 5th February 2020 there are 20 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) from households in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals in the constituency.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 0 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 0 |
4 | 0 |
5 | 2 |
6 | 0 |
7 | 0 |
8 | 0 |
9 | 0 |
10 | 3 |
11 | 6 |
12 | 0 |
Longer than 12 months | 9 |
As of 5th February 2020, a total of 61 Intention Notices have been issued in respect of complaints about mis-selling of the Green Deal by HELMS.
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many appeals her Department has received under the Green Deal Scheme in the last 12 months, and in which constituencies the appellants are based.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
230 appeals have been received in the last 12 months. The following table shows the constituencies in which the appellants are based.
Parliamentary constituency | Number of appeals |
England |
|
Barrow and Furness | 1 |
Batley and Spen | 2 |
Berwick-upon-Tweed | 1 |
Birmingham, Erdington | 1 |
Birmingham, Hodge Hill | 1 |
Birmingham, Ladywood | 1 |
Birmingham, Perry Barr | 1 |
Bishop Auckland | 1 |
Blackley and Broughton | 1 |
Blackpool South | 2 |
Blaydon | 2 |
Blyth Valley | 1 |
Bolton North East | 1 |
Bolton South East | 1 |
Bradford East | 1 |
Bristol East | 1 |
Bury North | 1 |
Bury South | 1 |
Carlisle | 1 |
City of Durham | 2 |
Cleethorpes | 1 |
Colne Valley | 1 |
Copeland | 1 |
Daventry | 1 |
Ealing Central and Acton | 1 |
Easington | 1 |
Fylde | 1 |
Gloucester | 1 |
Grantham and Stamford | 1 |
Great Grimsby | 1 |
Halton | 1 |
Hartlepool | 2 |
Houghton and Sunderland South | 2 |
Huddersfield | 1 |
Huntingdon | 1 |
Ipswich | 1 |
Jarrow | 1 |
Kingston upon Hull East | 1 |
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle | 1 |
Kingswood | 1 |
Knowsley | 1 |
Lancaster and Fleetwood | 1 |
Leeds East | 1 |
Leicester South | 1 |
Leigh | 1 |
Liverpool, Walton | 1 |
Liverpool, Wavertree | 2 |
Liverpool, West Derby | 2 |
Manchester, Withington | 1 |
Middlesbrough | 2 |
Milton Keynes South | 1 |
Newcastle upon Tyne Central | 1 |
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford | 1 |
North Durham | 1 |
North Somerset | 1 |
North Swindon | 1 |
North Tyneside | 1 |
North West Cambridgeshire | 1 |
North West Durham | 1 |
Nottingham East | 3 |
Nottingham North | 1 |
Nottingham South | 1 |
Pendle | 1 |
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport | 1 |
Preston | 1 |
Rossendale and Darwen | 1 |
Rushcliffe | 1 |
Sedgefield | 1 |
Sheffield Central | 1 |
Sheffield South East | 1 |
Sherwood | 1 |
Southport | 1 |
Stalybridge and Hyde | 1 |
Stockton South | 2 |
Stockton North | 1 |
Tewkesbury | 1 |
Tynemouth | 1 |
Walsall South | 1 |
Washington and Sunderland West | 3 |
Wentworth and Dearne | 1 |
West Lancashire | 1 |
West Suffolk | 1 |
Winchester | 1 |
Workington | 3 |
Wales |
|
Aberavon | 1 |
Cardiff South and Penarth | 1 |
Cynon Valley | 1 |
Llanelli | 1 |
Newport West | 1 |
Rhondda | 2 |
Swansea East | 1 |
Scotland |
|
Airdrie and Shotts | 4 |
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | 5 |
Central Ayrshire | 5 |
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | 3 |
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East | 4 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1 |
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow | 5 |
East Lothian | 1 |
East Renfrewshire | 3 |
Edinburgh North and Leith | 1 |
Edinburgh South | 1 |
Edinburgh West | 1 |
Falkirk | 4 |
Glasgow East | 1 |
Glasgow North | 1 |
Glasgow North East | 8 |
Glasgow North West | 4 |
Glasgow South West | 1 |
Glenrothes | 1 |
Inverclyde | 3 |
Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 13 |
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 2 |
Lanark and Hamilton East | 2 |
Linlithgow and East Falkirk | 1 |
Livingston | 1 |
Midlothian | 1 |
Motherwell and Wishaw | 3 |
North Ayrshire and Arran | 2 |
Ochil and South Perthshire | 1 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire North | 11 |
Paisley and Renfrewshire South | 4 |
Perth and North Perthshire | 1 |
Rutherglen and Hamilton West | 7 |
Stirling | 3 |
West Dunbartonshire | 5 |
Constituency not yet identified |
|
| 8 |
Asked by: Paul Sweeney (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what her Department's timescale is for processing appeals from people who claim to have been adversely affected by the Green Deal Scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There is a specific process for handling complaints under the Green Deal. This starts with a complaint by the consumer to their Green Deal Provider. If not resolved satisfactorily, the consumer may then approach the Green Deal Ombudsman or the Financial Ombudsman Service, depending on the nature of the complaint. Their decisions will be binding on the Green Deal Provider. If after progressing through those channels the consumer is still not satisfied, they may request that their complaint be referred to the Secretary of State for consideration.
In respect of such referrals, the Secretary of State may reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan, if she is satisfied that there has been a breach of the law or code of practice.
The cancellation or reduction of a loan represents the full extent of the Secretary of State’s power to provide redress for consumers in relation to the Green Deal.
BEIS aims to ensure that cases are concluded as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring that fair redress is provided where appropriate and decisions take account of all available, relevant evidence.
BEIS currently has a number of outstanding appeal cases and we have taken steps to speed-up the handling process. We are making progress and this has resulted in the recent issuing of 4 final sanctions and 16 Intention Notices. We expect these numbers to increase significantly soon.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many of the 107 outstanding cases referred to her have been with her office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
At 2nd October 2019 there are 129 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS), which have been referred to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 1 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 6 |
4 | 3 |
5 | 8 |
6 | 13 |
7 | 20 |
8 | 12 |
9 | 7 |
10 | 2 |
11 | 3 |
12 | 4 |
Longer than 12 months | 50 |
Of these cases, 18 are from households in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. The table below provides details of the age of these outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 0 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 0 |
4 | 0 |
5 | 0 |
6 | 3 |
7 | 6 |
8 | 0 |
9 | 0 |
10 | 1 |
11 | 1 |
12 | 1 |
Longer than 12 months | 6 |
Since the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 1 May 2019 to Question 246545, there have been four Sanction Notices issued (final decisions) in respect of complaints about mis-selling of the Green Deal by HELMS but no further Intention Notices. We expect to issue a number of Intention Notices in response to such appeals shortly.
The final decisions in Sanction Notices may be subject to appeal to the First tier Tribunal.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many Intention Notices have been (a) issued and (b) agreed.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
At 2nd October 2019 there are 129 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS), which have been referred to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 1 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 6 |
4 | 3 |
5 | 8 |
6 | 13 |
7 | 20 |
8 | 12 |
9 | 7 |
10 | 2 |
11 | 3 |
12 | 4 |
Longer than 12 months | 50 |
Of these cases, 18 are from households in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. The table below provides details of the age of these outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 0 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 0 |
4 | 0 |
5 | 0 |
6 | 3 |
7 | 6 |
8 | 0 |
9 | 0 |
10 | 1 |
11 | 1 |
12 | 1 |
Longer than 12 months | 6 |
Since the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 1 May 2019 to Question 246545, there have been four Sanction Notices issued (final decisions) in respect of complaints about mis-selling of the Green Deal by HELMS but no further Intention Notices. We expect to issue a number of Intention Notices in response to such appeals shortly.
The final decisions in Sanction Notices may be subject to appeal to the First tier Tribunal.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to Question 246545 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many cases from Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency that were referred to her have been with her office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
At 2nd October 2019 there are 129 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS), which have been referred to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 1 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 6 |
4 | 3 |
5 | 8 |
6 | 13 |
7 | 20 |
8 | 12 |
9 | 7 |
10 | 2 |
11 | 3 |
12 | 4 |
Longer than 12 months | 50 |
Of these cases, 18 are from households in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. The table below provides details of the age of these outstanding appeals.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 0 |
2 | 0 |
3 | 0 |
4 | 0 |
5 | 0 |
6 | 3 |
7 | 6 |
8 | 0 |
9 | 0 |
10 | 1 |
11 | 1 |
12 | 1 |
Longer than 12 months | 6 |
Since the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 1 May 2019 to Question 246545, there have been four Sanction Notices issued (final decisions) in respect of complaints about mis-selling of the Green Deal by HELMS but no further Intention Notices. We expect to issue a number of Intention Notices in response to such appeals shortly.
The final decisions in Sanction Notices may be subject to appeal to the First tier Tribunal.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2019 to Question 242191 on Green Deal Scheme: Appeals, how many of the 99 outstanding cases that have been referred to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been with his office for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10, (k) 11 and (l) 12 months or longer without a final decision having been made.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
At 25th April 2019 there are 107 outstanding appeals, relating to the company Home Energy & Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS), which have been referred to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The table below provides details of the age of the outstanding appeals.
Further to the Answer of 16 April 2019 to Question 242191, the Secretary of State has now issued Intention Notices in respect of a total of six HELMS cases. These are subject to representations from relevant persons prior to a final decision. Progress is being made on the remaining appeals and we expect a growing number of Notices to be issued in due course.
Months outstanding | Number of appeals |
1 or under | 24 |
2 | 12 |
3 | 7 |
4 | 2 |
5 | 3 |
6 | 4 |
7 | 5 |
8 | 5 |
9 | 1 |
10 | 4 |
11 | 3 |
12 | 3 |
Longer than 12 months | 34 |
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the (1) longest, and (2) average, length of time outstanding for appeals made to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following an offer or refusal of compensation from the Green Deal Finance Company.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department has put in place a robust process for handling complaints relating to one particular Green Deal Provider, HELMS. As part of this process, the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) has made offers to many consumers and over 100 customers have had their complaints accepted and agreed offers from GDFC.
At the end of November, 61 appeals had been received by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following an offer or refusal of compensation from the Green Deal Finance Company. Of these, one appeal has been decided. The longest length of time outstanding for these appeals is 13 months and the average time for outstanding appeals is eight months.
The Department is committed to resolving those cases fairly and as quickly as possible. However, the complex and legal nature of the redress process prescribed by the Regulations and volume of information we receive from consumers means complaints take some time to resolve. The Department has obtained additional support to review cases in order to speed up the process and is aiming to address the backlog of appeals within the next few months.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how long they expect the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to take to decide a Green Deal appeal following an offer or refusal from the Green Deal Finance Company; and how often that expectation has been met.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department has put in place a robust process for handling complaints relating to one particular Green Deal Provider, HELMS. As part of this process, the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) has made offers to many consumers and over 100 customers have had their complaints accepted and agreed offers from GDFC.
At the end of November, 61 appeals had been received by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following an offer or refusal of compensation from the Green Deal Finance Company. Of these, one appeal has been decided. The longest length of time outstanding for these appeals is 13 months and the average time for outstanding appeals is eight months.
The Department is committed to resolving those cases fairly and as quickly as possible. However, the complex and legal nature of the redress process prescribed by the Regulations and volume of information we receive from consumers means complaints take some time to resolve. The Department has obtained additional support to review cases in order to speed up the process and is aiming to address the backlog of appeals within the next few months.