Energy and Climate Change CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Peter Thom, Green Heat Ltd

I am not intending to make a big contribution to this as all my time is currently being used to gain accreditation as a Green Deal Assessor and a Green Deal Installer.

My fear is that come the launch date there will not be enough accredited assessors or installers available. This is due to the onerous training and accreditation systems being introduced all in the name of “consumer protection?”.

I have never known so much red tape in all my working life over the past 47 years and the vast costs involved for the small businesses who will be put off getting involved. Even though I have had assurance from the Minister that small companies would have full support the reality is not the case and costs are disproportionate and much of the training accreditation and inspections are unnecessary.

This will cause this worthy scheme to get off on a very poor foundation and with many thousands of small businesses not being able to engage in the scheme they are hardly going to promote it and more likely belittle it which will not encourage consumer take up or engagement.

I believe it is critical that you factor this into your watching brief as a key reason for slow take up of the Green Deal.

January 2013