Guardian picks up insulation industry concerns

The letter that Knauf insulation md John Sinfield wrote to the Prime Minister has been picked up by the Guardian newspaper.

Sinfield ‘s letter to David Cameron highlights the ridiculous idea that the Government seems to have, of cancelling the so-called “green levy”, the collection of which obliges energy companies to help cut heating bills in their customers’ homes.

“The obligation has been around since the 1990s and has helped reduce energy demand in over 12 million homes; nearly 50 per cent of UK households. That is 12 million homes that have lower bills every year because of this policy approach; those that benefited in year one of the scheme, are still benefiting now,” Sinfield says in his letter.

“Since the demise of the Warmfront scheme, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is the only policy that addresses the quality of the UK’s housing stock and more than that, the quality of the housing stock among the fuel poor. The current iteration has been designed poorly, implemented badly and has not delivered on its potential.

“However, it is not broken. Efficiencies can be gained by giving the supply chain better visibility of demand, by ensuring consistency of compliance across the Big 6 and by reviewing the measures available. This is a long-term policy that seeks to address some of the leakiest housing in Europe and is not one that should be shelved on a whim.”

The Guardian also spoke to the Association for the Conservation of Energy’s Andrew Warren, who called attempting to cut energy bills by cutting Eco was “utterly peverse”. He said: “Clearly the best way of responding to the big six’s greed is to minimise the need for their product.”

Warren himself wrote to Energy and Climate Change secretary Ed Davey to inform him that already the PM’s announcement is having a “completely devastating impact upon this marketplace. Not only are no new ECO related contracts being signed, committed programmes are being withdrawn, and the power companies are now refusing to honour payment for many that have been completed in good faith.”