(Title Image: © Copyright Jaggery and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence BY-SA-2.0)
On Tuesday (17th November 2020), Bridgend Council’s Cabinet met for their monthly meeting. Top of the agenda was the recently-published report into the failures of the Arbed home insulation scheme in Caerau (Bridgend Council faces large bill for shoddy home insulation work in Caerau).
The meeting was webcast – link here (although the sound and video quality aren’t great) – and the relevant bit lasts from about 8:27 – 45:12.
A “complex historical matter”
The Chief Executive of BCBC, Mark Shephard, ran through the main findings of the reports published last week.
He described it as a well-intentioned programme to cut fuel bills in one of Bridgend’s most deprived communities. Nonetheless, it was a “complex historical matter” in which of the contractors involved are now out of business, while officers have left BCBC.
There was a determination by the council to deal with the matter transparently. An internal audit report into the council’s procurement and monitoring of externally-funded work will be presented to BCBC’s Governance & Audit Committee soon – though there are no serious problems. He believed it was a “one-off exception”.
Additionally, Audit Wales have been appraised and the council referred itself to the Public Services Ombudsman some time ago.
It was unclear, but he said the links between one of the companies involved (Green Renewable Wales Ltd) and former Cabinet member, Cllr. Phil White (Lab, Caerau) – though he wasn’t mentioned by name – have been/will be investigated by “appropriate external agencies” (usually the Ombudsman).
Irrespective of who carried out the work, he apologised to residents who had poorly executed work carried out on their properties which left them in a worse condition than at the start and made zero improvements to energy bills.
In terms of making things right, there was a risk that if the council only focused on those properties where they carried out the work (the 25 properties involving GRW), neighbours which received similar work could be treated differently.
The desire was for a collective approach to be drawn up by all of the stakeholders involved in Caerau’s Arbed scheme (including the Welsh Government and energy companies) so there can be a consistent approach across all of the properties.
A report is likely to be presented to the Cabinet in either January or February 2021 with options on how to address the issue.
“A disappointing chapter” for the council; “gold rush” for cowboy builders
Cabinet members were apologetic and supported the need for maximum transparency, accepting that the report and its findings made for grim reading.
Cabinet Member for Communities, Cllr. Richard Young (Lab, Pendre), said external insulation was supposed to solve problems, but if incorrectly installed causes more harm than good. Government-backed energy efficiency schemes led to a “gold rush” for inexperienced contractors and resulted in a damaging legacy across thousands of homes in Wales and the UK.
Cllr. Dhanisha Patel (Lab, Ogmore Vale) said nobody should have to live in homes left in such a condition and was keen for the council to learn lessons.
Cllr. Hywel Williams (Lab, Blackmill) described it as a “disappointing chapter in the history of Bridgend Council”.
