Scandal of Tory green energy scheme 'robbing' the poor to fund free insulation for the rich

A Tory "green" energy scheme supposed to help millions in fuel poverty is "robbing" the poor to pay for free insulation for the rich.

The well off in big houses are getting work done for nothing because they can guarantee bigger reductions in carbon emissions.

But hard up families across Britain are getting no help at all simply because their homes are too small - and so do not provide the same savings.

The £1.3 billion ECO (Energy Company Obligation) provides free insulation paid for by the Government.

Set up to help 'save the planet', it was introduced to reduce carbon emissions with home improvements paid for by a tariff on all our energy bills.

Under Labour, it targeted poor households struggling to pay for electricity and gas.

But changes introduced by the Tories have seen payments made to firms doing the insulation work based purely on reduced future carbon emissions.

That means rich people in big houses getting work done for free - subsidised by the poorest who are paying the same green levy on their energy bills.

Alex Tsimboykas runs Midland's based EUM group, which has carried out more than half a million energy surveys across the country.

He told how pensioners, the unemployed, and needy families - often paying more for electricity and gas using the "key card" system - are subsiding free home insulation for the rich.

"With the current scheme, the people most in need miss out - morally, ethically it is just not right," he said. "People who are better off could afford to pay £99 or £199, the suggested contribution to get the work done.

"But if you are struggling to eat and heat the house, that is an awful lot of money. The poorest are paying the same as everyone else with this green tax.

"Yet they are not getting any of the benefits to reduce their bills. It is all wrong."

Last month, the Mirror told how a millionaire footballer got £10,000 worth of free wall insulation under ECO - while a widow of 98 could not get the work done.

The hard-up pensioner, unable to afford heating for her three-bed semi, was left out in the cold.

The green tariff used to pay for the ECO scheme adds eight per cent to energy costs - the equivalent of more than £100 to the average annual household bill.

Alex, whose 200-strong workforce do surveys before insulation work is carried out, said: "If you pay for energy by direct debit, you get a discount.

"With meters and key cards, poor people are paying more, but still get the same green tariff added to their bills as the rich, who are getting help under ECO.

"The tariff is tax-payers money, even though it comes in through bills. It was supposed to get the insulation work done. There is an argument that everyone should get the work done as we all pay for it."

But only more affluent people are getting help as it stands at the moment because bigger houses give the guaranteed reductions in carbon emissions.

"EUM carries out anywhere between 1200 and 2000 assessments a week on homes across the UK. But they cannot find any contractors then willing to carry out the work because of reductions required in future emissions, measured in carbon tonnes.

"That is the major issue, and it is at a massive cost to the industry," added Alex. "That money is only paid out by Government if huge savings on emissions are guaranteed."

He told how some rich people not only received thousands of pounds worth of free insulation under ECO but sometimes a free boiler too.

"I could save £600 million just by applying common sense by removing some of the paperwork and hurdles," said Alex, whose company is at the centre of the Government green policy.

"That could help an amazing amount of people. These CO2 figures drive the industry and it just does not work. So much of the work done to calculate the savings on future emissions is guesswork.

"You have to check the boiler, have a look at the windows, and make a judgement on that.

"EUM provided a report to Government last year which highlighted where £610 million could be saved across the scheme.

Alex added: "We spend 60-70,000 pounds a month getting assessments done. Under the last scheme, called CERT, we had four admin staff to manage 7,000 orders a week. Under ECO, we have 14 admin staff to do all the paper work.

"It is a complete waste of money - and we are only doing 1200 orders a week by comparison."

He claims the Government spent around £1.6 billion last year insulating 1.9 million homes.

"This year just 300,000 homes were insulated - at around the same cost," he added. "It is definitely not helping the common man. Once we have done the surveys, the people carrying out the work are telling us 'we don't want any terraces or mid terraces, they don't save enough carbon emissions'.

The Government was paying £120 per tonne of carbon reduction under ECO last year, compared to just £36 a tonne under the old system.

Despite the lower carbon price under the previous scheme, work on smaller properties attracted incentives to make the work viable.

Ongoing uncertainty over the future of ECO has seen the price fall to £25 per tonne, leaving companies unable to carry out the work/

Alex, of Preston, Lancs., who founded EUM 20 months ago said: "It should be about stopping people dying from cold because they cannot afford to pay their bills, the current scheme is a carbon only target, not a fuel poor target unlike the previous scheme which combined both.

"There will be thousands of Mirror readers who had the surveys done, and not had any work done. It should be about getting as many needy homes done as possible.

The Dept of Energy and Climate Change say energy companies have got to decide how they meet their ECO targets.

A spokesman added: "We expect them to work closely with customers to ensure whichever measures they install have the desired effect of making homes warmer, particularly for the most vulnerable and needy."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/scandal-tory-green-energy-scheme-3249263#ixzz2wAfLnfvE
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Get the fuckers out now!

Now that is truly disgusting!!!!!

Just the usual cheating lying snivveling Tories. That's what they do.

Won't argue with that!