Watching Brief

The Green Deal was launched in January 2013 to help Britain's households and businesses make energy efficiency improvements. The Government has called it "a long-term and progressive programme. In December 2012, the Committee launched Green Deal: watching brief inquiry, to follow the Green Deal from its inception and monitor its debut on the UK market. In May 2013, the Committee published the Green Deal: watching brief report in which were outlined concerns about the lack of clarity regarding the outcomes that Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) expected from the Green Deal. Green Deal: watching brief (part 2) reviews the performance of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) in the seven key areas outlined in the previous report, assess DECC's approach to evaluating and monitoring the performance of the Green Deal and ECO, and considers DECC's recent proposals to improve the Green Deal and reduce the cost of ECO. The report found that the Green Deal, rather than facilitating access to energy efficiency measures and creating momentum in the market, has caused frustration and confusion for both consumers and businesses in the supply chain. Only 4,000 Green Deal plans have so far been initiated. As a result, carbon savings through Green Deal finance have been negligible. Therefore the Government must re-evaluate its approach and set out a clear strategy to revive the failing scheme, as unless the package is made more attractive to a wider group of consumers, Green Deal finance is likely to remain unappealing to many.