WARMFRONT HEATING SCHEME GETS A COLD RECEPTION

15:00 - 24 January 2008

Last week, I found myself on the radio programme You And Yours.This is not the kind of radio programme that a politician normally expects to take part, but it was appropriate enough, because I was on about the failings of the Warmfront scheme.

This admirable scheme was set up to help elderly people get new central heating, better insulation and other things to make them warmer.

What a splendid idea, I hear you saying. Who could possibly object to such a scheme?

I certainly was not objecting to it, and nor was the BBC or anyone else appearing on the programme.

The problem, as so often, is not with the idea but the way it is being implemented.

I first became interested in this when I started getting letters from constituents, telling me the grants available under the scheme were being chewed up by big bills. Apparently, in some cases, the contractors installing the central heating were charging so much that the installation was costing as much with the grant as it normally would without.

When I started looking into this, I discovered that in order to get the grant, people have to apply to a company called EAGA, which is running the scheme on behalf of the Government. I also discovered people had to use EAGA's approved contractor to install the equipment.

I began a long sequence of letters to ministers, trying to persuade them to allow other contractors to compete for the work. No joy.

All I got was a series of letters, telling me that there were lots of good reasons why particular contractors should be used.

The months wore on and I started getting a new series of complaints from scheme users in West Dorset. This time, in addition to problems about installation costs, there were major delays.

What was worse, people were being asked to make their part of the payment for the central heating installations in the spring and then having to wait until mid-winter, without anyone installing the boiler in the meantime.

One lucky constituent who was in this position managed to find a noble contractor just before Christmas who, after publicity about her case, installed a boiler for free. But I know of two other constituents who were still waiting at Christmas, months after paying their money.

I finally saw red when I got a letter from EAGA telling me it is not an emergency service. Too true!

As a result of You And Yours, I have been receiving the most amazing e-mails from people with terrible experiences of the Warmfront scheme. One correspondent told me the contractor charged £200 per hour for the installation.

I am now trying to get a debate in the House of Commons to force the minister to explain what is going on.

ANY readers who have had experiences with Warmfront and are willing to tell me about them, please let me know right away.