15:59 Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)

My constituents believe that they have no means of redress—whether they do or not is another matter—and cannot afford to take civil action. The local citizens advice bureau works hard, but its resources are extremely limited. I have contacted the trading standards office of my local authority, Gwynedd county council. It has taken up some cases, but not all, and not all that have gone forward have been successful. Many of the people affected are of modest means. They were just trying to better their living conditions, to save energy and to do their bit on climate change. The insulation programme began in the 1980s, so people are coming to the end of their 25-year guarantee period without knowing whether their system is still viable. Those people are 25 years older than they were when the cavity wall insulation was installed, and so are less able to pursue their cases.

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16:18 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)

The Government recognise that improving domestic energy efficiency helps consumers control energy bills and reduces fuel poverty. Of course, it also contributes to our challenging carbon reduction targets. We aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. To drive up domestic energy efficiency, we have put in place a long-term and progressive programme focused on enabling consumers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. We have set ourselves a target of ensuring 1 million homes make energy efficiency improvements by March 2015. The programme is innovative: the energy companies obligation, the green deal, the green deal home improvement fund and the renewable heat incentive are all world firsts. It takes time to establish and embed new markets, and to understand how incentives can work best with the grain of the market and in tune with our great diversity of households.

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