Weve uncovered shocking new evidence that masses of complaints about the Governments Warm Front scheme are being hushed-up.
This should be an excellent scheme helping needy pensioners improve their heating systems.
However, increasing complaints have worried not only us, but also MPs and the charity Age Concern. And the complaints that have surfaced are likely to be the tip of the iceberg, according to information weve obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The scheme is run by a private company called eaga in a contract worth ?800million over three years. It passes on the work to other firms and if it upholds complaints about the jobs done by these sub-contractors then they are hit with a ?167 charge.
So guess what? Some sub-contractors dont tell eaga when they get a complaint.
An independent assessors report warns:A substantial number of complaints against the scheme, whilst dealt with, go unreported.?
They inspected a sample of 13 complaints against Iguana, the largest Warm Front installer.
Pocket
Ten came straight from customers and were resolved but not passed on to eaga which just happens to own Iguana.
So Iguana was never hit by the charges, which would have come out of eagas own pocket, and the complaints never featured on Warm Front statistics.
Eagas boss John Clough puts complaints at six per cent of jobs done, but the assessors say the true figure hit 25 per cent earlier this year thats around 60,000 unhappy pensioners. These complaints, judging by our postbag, are likely to include claims that Warm Front quotes are significantly higher than those from other local tradesmen.
This is important because customers are asked to top-up the Warm Front grant with their own money anything from a few hundred pounds up to a couple of grand.
We have also found evidence of contractors charging for materials that are never used.
Or, as assessors put it, some materials supplied were surplus.
There were discrepancies between what contractors charged and the cost of what they actually installed in up to half of all the jobs inspected.
Eaga told us that these discrepancies were over largely small value components and were unavoidable given the scale of the scheme.
It also said that the assessors definition of complaints includes relatively trivial matters.
A new procedure to deal with complaints has led to a recent sharp fall.
The firm has promised continuous improvement and its worth noting that the assessors praised eagas commitment to delivering a first class service.
We wouldnt want to put anyone off applying for a Warm Front grant.
But taxpayers deserve to know that our ?800million is being properly spent.
This should be an excellent scheme helping needy pensioners improve their heating systems.
However, increasing complaints have worried not only us, but also MPs and the charity Age Concern. And the complaints that have surfaced are likely to be the tip of the iceberg, according to information weve obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The scheme is run by a private company called eaga in a contract worth ?800million over three years. It passes on the work to other firms and if it upholds complaints about the jobs done by these sub-contractors then they are hit with a ?167 charge.
So guess what? Some sub-contractors dont tell eaga when they get a complaint.
An independent assessors report warns:A substantial number of complaints against the scheme, whilst dealt with, go unreported.?
They inspected a sample of 13 complaints against Iguana, the largest Warm Front installer.
Ten came straight from customers and were resolved but not passed on to eaga which just happens to own Iguana.
So Iguana was never hit by the charges, which would have come out of eagas own pocket, and the complaints never featured on Warm Front statistics.
Eagas boss John Clough puts complaints at six per cent of jobs done, but the assessors say the true figure hit 25 per cent earlier this year thats around 60,000 unhappy pensioners. These complaints, judging by our postbag, are likely to include claims that Warm Front quotes are significantly higher than those from other local tradesmen.
This is important because customers are asked to top-up the Warm Front grant with their own money anything from a few hundred pounds up to a couple of grand.
We have also found evidence of contractors charging for materials that are never used.
Or, as assessors put it, some materials supplied were surplus.
There were discrepancies between what contractors charged and the cost of what they actually installed in up to half of all the jobs inspected.
Eaga told us that these discrepancies were over largely small value components and were unavoidable given the scale of the scheme.
It also said that the assessors definition of complaints includes relatively trivial matters.
A new procedure to deal with complaints has led to a recent sharp fall.
The firm has promised continuous improvement and its worth noting that the assessors praised eagas commitment to delivering a first class service.
We wouldnt want to put anyone off applying for a Warm Front grant.
But taxpayers deserve to know that our ?800million is being properly spent.
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