Powys boiler grants: Extra steps to prevent ECO3 fraud

The council said it had been overwhelmed by applicants for the boiler scheme (stock image)

Extra steps are to be taken to prevent fraud in the next stage of an energy efficiency scheme in Powys.

A report in May said the county council had failed to deter or prevent fraudulent claims for grants under the ECO2 boiler replacement scheme.

Auditors found one-fifth of claimants in a sample of 100 were not poor enough to qualify, but did not prove fraud.

Council leaders say an outside body may vet applications under the ECO3 grant scheme, which will cover insulation.

Gas and electricity suppliers with more than 250,000 customers are automatically required to deliver efficiency schemes under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), now being extended to suppliers with at least 150,000 customers.

In Powys, the county council was administering the ECO2 scheme on behalf of the UK government.

'Overwhelmed'

A group of plumbers sparked an inquiry by claiming agents were encouraging fraudulent claims, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Auditors cleared the council of wrongdoing, saying if any fraud had taken place it would have been between the agents and the applicants.

However, it said the council had not put enough staff in place to carry out the necessary checks.

Powys council officials said lessons would be learned, admitting they had been "overwhelmed" by demand with just one member of staff processing claims.

When ECO2 ended last September, there were 1,800 applications outstanding in Powys which had not been approved.

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Councillor Linda Corfield asked if members would get to see the new statement of intent (SOI) for ECO3 before it went to cabinet for approval, saying: "The last SOI was a complete disaster."

Cabinet member James Evans said members would get to scrutinise the new SOI and added: "External partners have been approached with the running and administration of ECO3 but I can't go in to the details of those."

ECO3 is expected to be launched in Powys in the autumn and is set to run until 2022.