A cutting report from the National Audit Office (NAO) states that the Government's flagship energy efficiency scheme, which cost taxpayers millions, effectively forced up people's bills without any additional energy savings.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change's design and implementation of the Green Deal, which was scrapped last July, failed to persuade householders that energy efficiency measures were worth paying for.
The scheme allowed householders to take out loans to fund the cost of installing energy-saving measures such as double glazing and insulation in order to lead to savings on their bills. However, only 14,000 homes took up the offer, with loans of just £50 million. A disaster, when you consider it cost DECC around £240 million to set up, promote and administer.
The NAO added the scheme "looked good on paper" but has left taxpayers with a £17,000 bill for each home that was improved under Green Deal, which ran between 2013 and 2015.
NAO Head Amyas Morse said: "DECC's ambitious aim to encourage households to pay for measures looked good on paper as it would have reduced the financial burden of improvements on all energy consumers. But in practice, its Green Deal design not only failed to deliver any meaningful benefit, it increased suppliers' costs – and therefore energy bills."
