Call for evidence: Green Deal watching brief

The aim of Green Deal is to help households and businesses to improve their energy efficiency, thereby reducing their energy consumption and helping them to save money. In turn, the energy savings that are expected to be gained as a result of the initiative will help the UK meet its carbon reduction targets and energy security objectives.
 
Key to the success of the Green Deal is consumer willingness to take up Green Deal offers, but the Committee has heard from witnesses to its Consumer Engagement with Energy Markets inquiry that there is some concern that take-up might be low. Concerns have also been expressed about the extent to which consumers will benefit financially from the Green Deal if loan rates are too high.

Consumers are now able to get Green Deal assessments and will be able to sign up to finance plans from the end of January 2013.  If take-up is low, energy efficiency and carbon savings will not be achieved, but what level of take-up would constitute success? It is crucial to track the progress of the Green Deal in delivering its core aims and to learn lessons to make improvements in future if necessary. For these reasons, the Energy and Climate Change Committee has undertaken to keep a watching brief on the Green Deal.

Terms of Reference

This inquiry will take evidence initially on what indicators we should use to track the progress of the Green Deal. Once we have agreed these indicators, we will invite further evidence at regular intervals on what is being delivered by the Green Deal.  The Committee invites written evidence from interested parties addressing any or all of the following questions:

What should be the key indicators for tracking the progress of the Green Deal? For example:

• What is the best way of assessing the level of uptake of the Green Deal?
• What is the best way of assessing the level of energy savings being delivered by the Green Deal?
• What is the best way of assessing the carbon savings being delivered by the Green Deal?
• What is the best way of assessing whether the Green Deal is delivering value for money to consumers?
• What is the best way of assessing whether the Green Deal is being effectively delivered?
• What is the best way of assessing customer satisfaction with the Green Deal?
• What is the best way of assessing whether everyone who wants to is able to access the Green Deal?

(NB the Committee does not wish to limit itself to this list, and would
 welcome suggestions for indicators relating to other aspects of the Green
 Deal roll out that are considered important)

What sources of data are available for measuring your suggested indicators?

Should there be annual take-up targets for the Green Deal and if so what should they
be?
  
The deadline for the submission of written evidence is Wednesday 09 January 2013

Notes on submission of written evidence

Written evidence should be in Word or rich text format - please do not use PDF format - and sent to ecc@parliament.uk. The body of the e-mail must include a contact name, telephone number and postal address. The e-mail should also make clear who the submission is from. Hard copy submissions should be sent to: The Clerk, Energy and Climate Change Committee, 7 Millbank, London, SW1P 3JA. The deadline is Wednesday 09 January 2013. As a guideline submissions should be no longer than 3000 words. However, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this matter.

Submissions should be in the format of a self-contained memorandum. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by printing the evidence, publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

For data protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals wishing to submit written evidence send their contact details in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.