Who could have known, eh? Whocouldaknowed?
Britain’s fraud squad has been urged to investigate the Government’s “catastrophic” £4.6bn energy efficiency scheme over fears some households will be left with huge repair bills.
In a scathing report published on Friday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the home retrofit scheme that left more than 30,000 properties with defects had “failed at every level”.
More than £4.6bn is estimated to have been spent under the two household energy-saving schemes: the Energy Company Obligation scheme, which requires suppliers to install insulation in homes with poor energy efficiency, and the Great British Insulation scheme.
The cost is borne by energy suppliers but ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher bills.
Despite the huge costs, the schemes have been derailed by poor-quality installation.
The public spending watchdog found last year that nearly all external wall insulation installed up to mid-January 2025 – about 98pc – had major defects that required fixing, with some posing immediate health and safety risks.
The thing is someone did knowed. We did. We’ve also pointed this out a number of times.
The problem is not actually about climate change, nor even insulation. Yes, we have had examples of this before - the Australian scheme had every bogan with a hammer smashing up properties to ill effect and great cost. But again, the problem is not about the specific here.
It’s a systemic problem. There are no levers in Whitehall to be pulled that then mean things work well and in detail by the tens of thousands across the country. Dictact simply does not work as a method of economic coordination. That’s a much more important observation than some detail of a failed insulation scheme. It’s also one where we’ve the entirety of the 20th century to make that point for us.
“This shall be done” is a lovely declaration for a politician and it’s also proof perfect that it won’t happen, whatever does will be expensive, late and vile. So, don’t try solving problems by dictat then.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if the people who fail to rule us could grasp that simple point?
Tim Worstall