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£11m intended for energy saving disappears |
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26 Oct 2012, 11:44 AM
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An energy trade body has criticised the Government for failing to keep track of £11m of tax payer’s money over the last 5 years, which should have been allocated to supporting the improved energy efficiency of the UK’s buildings.
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As of 1st August 2007, Local Authorities have had an obligation to ensure both individuals and relevant organisations within their boundaries, comply with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The European Directive states that an up to date Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) should be made available whenever a residential property is put up for sale or rent, while Display Energy Certificates (DECs), which detail a building’s energy consumption, should be on display in public buildings.
The Government allocated £3.4m in the tax year 2008/9 and a further £1.9m each year since, supposedly to assist Local Authorities in covering these new duties, which in turn, are designed to help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions while reducing fuel bills for building occupants. However, following a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, PEPA has discovered that the Government is unable to track where or how this money has been spent by individual Authorities.
Stephen O’Hara, Chairman of the Property Energy Professionals Association (PEPA), said: “It is a disgrace that the Government has failed to take such an important European Directive seriously. The additional funding allocated to Local Authorities was specifically assigned to assist them in ensuring that the relevant buildings within their boundaries comply with the EPBD regulations and have a valid and up-to date DEC or EPC as required by law. By failing to track how this money is being spent by individual Authorities, central Government has no way of identifying whether these funds are being used in the right way or which Local Authorities are failing in their duties.
“There is no doubt that some Local Authorities have taken this responsibility very seriously, helping to support consumers, along with the occupants of public buildings in their local area to reduce their carbon emissions and as a result, their energy costs too. However, others have failed to even pay lip service to this important directive, with many not even having an up to date DEC available in their own buildings. This cannot continue.”
O’Hara continued: “Evidence from research conducted by Consumer Focus, which was later corroborated by the findings of the cross-European IDEAL EPBD project, shows that 15% of consumers presented with an EPC actively take steps to implement the recommendations within the report. However, if they are not even getting sight of this document, then they are being denied the opportunity to secure potential energy and costs savings. The Government cannot continue in this vain and we intend to take proactive steps to identify exactly which Local Authorities are in fact meeting their obligations and which are not.”
Commenting on PEPA’s findings, Andrew Warren, Director, Association for the Conservation of Energy added: “This important survey is an appalling indictment of public sector incompetence and waste. Ministers at the Communities & Local Government department should instruct their civil servants to start doing their jobs, and sort this out immediately. Otherwise we could end up paying enormous fines to Brussels for our failure to implement the laws that we signed up to.”
PEPA plans to issue a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to the Chief Executive of every Local Authority in the UK. It will be requesting information on exactly how the funding each Local Authority has received has been used to assist them in ensuring compliance with the EPBD regulations. PEPA will also be asking every Local Authority for evidence of every EPC and DEC produced over a period since July 2007.
A detailed report, summarising the findings will be published, once all of the necessary information has been received.
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| Positive review of this story |
Just EPC  |
28 Oct 2012, 10:56 AM |
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Energy Efficient Funding seems to be the first cut It seems that many Green initiatives are being hit by a reduction in government funding. This is not just seen here but in the condition of new building stock where <a href="http://www.justepc.co.uk>energy efficiency</a> improvements has stagnated.
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