Warm Front audit report released
Green support services company Eaga has today welcomed the findings of a report into the running of the Warm Front Scheme by the National Audit Office.
Warm Front is a Government-funded scheme aimed at eradicating fuel poverty by offering insulation and heating grants to households in England on qualifying benefits.
It is delivered by Eaga and has assisted more than 1.8 million households since 2000.
The NAO looked at every aspect of the Scheme, including its administration, satisfaction levels, costs and value for money.
A number of recommendations were made, in relation to both the delivery of the Scheme and how the Scheme is designed. On the subject of delivery, NAO said that the Scheme has provided value for money and that Eaga was “proactive and innovative in delivering cost savings”. More than £852 million has been spent on the Scheme since 2005 delivering savings to households of over £240 million and average future savings of around £300 per year over the lifetime of the measures installed.
Among the key findings, the NAO concluded that Scheme satisfaction was high with 89% of customers satisfied or highly satisfied with the overall quality of workmanship and that a similar level would recommend the service to a friend or relative. Complaint rates have also remained static at 0.5% since 2005 – despite the number of installations increasing in line with growing demand.
The audit also noted that Eaga had already retrained its staff under a process of continual improvement to ensure complaints received were handled more effectively. A more robust system of inspection and random checks on installation work by contractors has also been put in place.
Scheme design and policy is the responsibility of the Government, and Eaga will be working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to advise and understand future direction, as well as examining ways in which greater flexibility and competition may be offered.
While the report considered calls for greater flexibility for customers to choose contractors, it did recognize that having a centrally managed framework of installers did bring cost and quality benefits as well as helping to ensure the security of customers.
Waiting times for installation were also measured. Against a Government-set target of 120 working days it took an average of 64 working days to install a heating measure in 2007/08.
The NAO commissioned the Building Research Establishment Ltd (BRE) to make cost comparisons for seven of the most common installation works under Warm Front. It concluded that the amounts charged were competitive. It also said any perceived differences in price with the private sector needed to be treated with caution because the Scheme often provides additional work depending on the needs of the customer – making like with like comparisons difficult.
Paul Varley, Managing Director of Eaga’s Managed Services Division, said: “As you would expect, this was an extremely thorough and probing audit. It was extremely encouraging to see the positive feedback from the report and how, with the help of the installers and third sector partners, Warm Front was making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of some of the most vulnerable households in England.
“Of course, given the nature, size and aims of Warm Front, a wide ranging audit is entirely right. We welcome the report’s findings and will take all recommendations, and indeed any areas of criticism, extremely seriously. With any operation of this size we accept that there is always room for improvement.
“We demand extremely high standards and overwhelmingly we are delivering on this commitment, which is testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment of the staff behind it. This in no way means we are complacent and our policy of continuous improvement remains at the heart of the work we do.
“The report recognised our strength in reaching those most in need, and the progress made working with other schemes such as CERT. Given recent energy price rises we will continue to work closely with Government to target and assist the most fuel poor households.”
Notes to Editors
- Eaga plc is a green support services and outsourcing company. It is also the UK’s largest residential energy efficiency provider.
- Eaga was established in Newcastle in 1990 and operates across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland, India and Canada. It employs over 4,500 people.
- Eaga works in partnership with central and local Government, all six major energy suppliers, local authorities, social housing providers and is increasing its share of the able-to-pay private market.
- Since its inception, Eaga has made a positive difference to over 5 million disadvantaged households across the UK, by installing energy efficiency insulation and central heating.
- Eaga holds the contract to deliver the £1.5 billion Warm Front programme in England, the cornerstone of government's target to eliminate fuel poverty.
- Eaga was recently appointed by the BBC to deliver the Switchover Help Scheme to ensure eligible households can receive help making the switch from analogue to digital.
- Eaga is committed to co-ownership and is one of only a handful of UK organisations where every employee with over a year’s service is entitled to a share in the success of the business.
- Since 2000, Eaga has invested over £3 million in the independent Eaga Partnership Charitable Trust which funds research into solutions to fuel poverty.