A committee of MPs has branded schemes that left 30,000 homes with insulation defects as “catastrophic.”

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says the energy efficiency schemes had “serious failings at every level.”

The schemes were instigated by the then-Conservative government in 2022.

Now the PAC even goes so far as to recommend the issue be referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

This all comes within days of the current government’s announcement of the Warm Homes Plan, with targets to improve rental property EPCs.

Government insulation schemes have been running for more than 15 years and have cost billions of pounds in public money. 

But thousands of complaints of poor quality work have often involved damp, black mould and in some cases dry rot.

The current and past governments have said that homes will be fixed at no cost to the consumer.

It says the original installer is liable for fixing the problems, and a guarantee should cover repairs up to £20,000 when an installer goes bust or fails to remedy the problem.

But the PAC insists repairs can cost more than this.

The committee’s report calls on government to live up to the assurances that there will be a credible plan for repairs. 

The PAC fears government may be overconfident in expecting existing arrangements to identify faulty insulation are adequate.

The report further finds that it is likely that the known levels of fraud involved in some cases “are a significant underestimate.” 

No single overall organisation in the system had overall responsibility for tackling fraud, or the data to make it effectively able to do so.

Installations worth 1.75% of the scheme value have been identified as fraudulent by Ofgem.

But the PAC suspects the true level of fraud to be much higher.

The PAC notes that last week’s announcement of the Warm Homes Plan is likely to lead to scaling up of other energy efficiency installations such as solar panels. 

It is vital that this is accompanied by a proper oversight of quality, that was so lacking here.

You can see the PAC report in detail here.