Consumer Scotland Head of Investigations Craig McClue said:
“Financial support, including public investment, to make homes warmer and greener is essential to achieving net zero, but consumer protections can never be an afterthought.
“The findings from the National Audit Office uncovered significant failings in installation quality, oversight, and consumer protection in these UK Government schemes.
“Consumer Scotland’s own investigation into Scotland’s green heating market published this summer identified similar weaknesses, including fragmented quality assurance, inconsistent standards and inadequate oversight on installers and outcomes.
“We recommended the establishment of a single, trusted national framework for green heating and retrofit to ensure that future programmes deliver not just lower emissions and energy savings, but also fairness, confidence and strong protection for consumers.
“Consumers must be able to trust that work funded with public money will be safe, competent and independently checked.”
Background
Two UK Government schemes aimed at cutting energy use by insulating homes caused a range of issues leaving tens of thousands of homes in need of remedial work according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
A Consumer Scotland investigation report into green home heating published in June recommended a range of additional consumer protections in the insulation and low-carbon home heating sector.