Heating plan attacked by charity

A charity for the elderly says it has received an increasing number of complaints about the government's Warm Front home heating scheme.

This provides money for elderly and vulnerable people to help keep their homes warm in winter.

But the charity Age Concern says it has received more than 5,000 complaints about it in the past year.

These have focused on delays, poor workmanship and the need for pensioners to make contributory payments.

The government is expected to announce extra measures on Thursday to help poor people stay warm in their homes.

Problems

The charity said the government had admitted to MPs earlier this year that funding for the scheme would be cut by a third between 2007/098 and 2010/11, to just £295m.

Meanwhile complaints it had received highlighted other inadequacies.

Among them, pensioners complained they could not afford the top-up payments that were often required, sometimes reaching £2,000, because government grants under Warm Front were limited to £2,700, regardless of the actual cost of the work.

The charity added that the experience of complainers, and others who asked for advice, was that delays to work left some people without heating or warmth in their homes, while others had to pay more for extra work due to poor workmanship.

The charity said that simply putting more money into Warm Front and CERT would not help all those who needed it.

"Wide-ranging reforms are needed to address pricing inequalities which are leaving many of the poorest households paying more for their energy than wealthier customers," said Mr Lishman.

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