I’ve been getting a number of complaints about the operation of the Government’s Warm Front scheme, designed to help pensioners improve their central heating and keep warm over the winter.
I’ve had one particularly troubling case, the details of which I don’t wish to go into until the lady has actually had her boiler fitted. But the issue it has brought into sharp focus is that even if you get a quote for the same job which is cheaper than the £2,760 grant, you have to go with the £2,760 grant. Except it rarely is £2,760 – there is always a premium to pay on top, sometimes as much as £1,000.
This seems a crazy way to run the system. Why not just allow the individual to get three quotes, choose the cheapest of the three (provided the job quoted for achieves the desired goal) and then get the Warm Front scheme to pay up. And why not let someone impartial like, say, Age Concern to run it rather than yet another government quango?
And just one final note. The lady in question had been trying to see Joan Humble about this since June, with no success. Go figure. It’s amazing how many of the people returning the Thornton survey of mine at the moment think Ben Wallace is their MP, as he is the only one they see anything of!
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