NIA calls for urgent action by Government as job losses among members nears 2,000

Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Insulation Association has today repeated his call for the Government to fast track the development of its new long term, sustainable policy framework for home energy efficiency and introduce urgent transitional arrangements in the meantime to address the current hiatus within the market and industry. The move comes following a survey which has revealed that around 2,000 jobs have been lost among NIA members as a direct result of cuts to the ECO and Green Deal combined with the current policy void.  

Neil Marshall said: “The changes made to the Energy Company Obligation scheme in 2014 coupled with Government decisions in July 2015 not to provide further funding to the Green Deal Finance Company and to end the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund with immediate effect without alternatives in place has resulted in a collapse in insulation activity levels. 

“Whilst Government has outlined its intention to introduce a new long term policy framework for energy efficiency which we welcome, the insulation industry is currently in a state of crisis as a result of the absence of robust transitional arrangements to bridge the gap until the new polices and schemes are introduced.  Without urgent intervention there will be further casualties, job losses and a loss of confidence to invest among insulation companies all of which will  impact on the industry’s ability to  scale up to support the delivery of the Governments longer term ambitions.   

“The job losses clearly demonstrate the scale of the problems facing the industry at present and we would urge DECC Ministers to work with the industry in putting in place urgent actions to address the crisis.”  

Insulation industry Chief calls for urgent action by Government after Mark Group goes into administration

Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Insulation Association has today repeated his call for the Government to fast track the development of its new long term, sustainable policy framework for home energy efficiency and introduce urgent transitional arrangements in the meantime to address the current hiatus within the market and industry.   The move comes following the announcement yesterday that the Mark Group, one of the UKs largest insulation installers has gone into administration resulting in over 900 job losses.  

“The changes made to the Energy Company Obligation scheme in 2014 coupled with Government decisions in July 2015 not to provide further funding to the Green Deal Finance Company and to end the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund with immediate effect without alternatives in place has resulted in a collapse in insulation activity levels.  The sad news of the Mark Group going into administration is a clear indication of the impact this is now having on the insulation industry”

“Whilst Government has outlined its intention to introduce a new long term policy framework for energy efficiency which we welcome, the insulation industry is currently in a state of crisis as a result of the absence of robust transitional arrangements to bridge the gap until the new polices and schemes are introduced.  Without urgent intervention there will be further casualties, job losses and a loss of confidence to invest among insulation companies all of which will  impact on the industry’s ability to  scale up to support the delivery of the Governments longer term ambitions”    

“Given yesterdays news which clearly demonstrates the scale of the problems facing the industry at present we would urge DECC Ministers to work with the industry in putting in place urgent actions to address the crisis”  

NIA appoints new Solid Wall Insulation Governing Council

The National Insulation Association (NIA) has appointed a new Solid Wall Insulation Council made up of leading industry figures to support its drive to expand the solid wall insulation market and opportunities for its members.  

The new Council is as follows:

Derek Horrocks - Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd - Chair

David Lawrence - Lawtech Ltd – Vice Chair

Mike Easdon - InBuild Solutions Ltd

Sean Stevenson - Westville Ltd

Tony Hardiman - Dyson Energy Services Ltd

David Robson - InstaGroup Ltd

Pádraig Barry - Saint-Gobain Weber Ltd

Gary Bundy - Sto Ltd

Bob Deane - Wetherby Building Systems Ltd
Paul Winwood - SPS Envirowall Ltd

Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the NIA commented; “I very much look forward to working with the new Council over the coming two years in driving forward our ambitious plans to grow the market, strengthen quality and standards across the industry and support our members in maximising business opportunities.

The NIA is the leading trade association for solid wall insulation in the UK with its members including the major manufacturers, system designers and installers of both external and internal wall insulation.

Companies wishing to join the NIA should contact Bev Coombe by email

bev.coombe@nia-uk.org or call 01525 383313

Negative Reporting on Cavity Wall Insulation by the BBC

Last week both BBC Radio 4 You & Yours and BBC Wales Today featured negative programmes on Cavity Wall Insulation based on an incomplete draft report from BRE.

The insulation industry welcomes scrutiny and the publication of robust research which helps to identify areas for improvement. That’s why we have been working to support BRE as it develops its research, and will continue to do so.

However, BRE has been clear that the report referenced by the BBC is an early draft of a scoping report which carries no status and the reporting of this draft study now risks alarming and seriously misleading consumers.

The reality is that there is a very low rate of problems with cavity wall insulation in the UK. Just 0.21% of all 6 million installations guaranteed by CIGA, the UK’s largest cavity wall insulation guarantee agency, result in a claim. When something does go wrong, that guarantee acts as a back-stop to protect consumers and ensure they have access to redress. In Wales, that rate is slightly higher at 0.59% of all installations but still significantly below the rate suggested in the draft study seen by the BBC.

The NIA responded to both programmes expressing our concern at the use of content from the BRE draft report which we consider to be both irresponsible and misleading and setting out details of the very low rate of problems with CWI. 

Insulation is an exceptionally reliable product which keeps energy bills down and homes warm

NIA Responds to the announcements made by Secretary of State Amber Rudd on 23rd July

Yesterday, Secretary of State Amber Rudd announced that there would be no further public funding to the Green Deal Finance Company, the Government would stop any future funding releases of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) and wanted to work with the industry and consumer groups on a new value-for-money approach.

Whilst it was widely recognised that the Green Deal and GDHIF could be improved upon, to put an end to both of them so abruptly without any warning or anything to replace them is a major issue and concern for both householders and the supply chain and will only add to the current hiatus in the energy efficiency market.

Recent figures published by DECC and Ofgem on the Energy Company Obligation showed that the energy companies have already made significant progress towards their targets for ECO2 (April 2015 - end March 2017) and that based on the installation rates in 2014/15 the target could be achieved one year early in Q1 2016. This is reflected in the major slowdown in ECO activity where just 29,000 measures were installed in April 2015, a 2 year low and compares to 51,000 measures in March 2015 and 58,000 in April 2014.

The Green Deal and GDHIF provided an important means of supplementing ECO activity so their removal is a major blow for both householders and industry - working to build on these frameworks rather than pulling the rug from under them would have been the best approach.

DECC are aiming to develop and establish a more stable, long-term, coherent framework for home energy efficiency, we welcome Amber Rudd’s announcement that she wants to work with industry in doing this and we look forward to contributing towards it.  However, the decision to pull Green Deal and GDHIF without first developing alternatives will seriously undermine consumer confidence and also the confidence of industry and its ability and willingness to support whatever replacement framework is developed.    

Therefore we would urge the Secretary of State to set out a clear timeline for the delivery of the proposed new framework as soon as possible to provide much needed clarity for consumers and the industry, whilst putting in place an urgent transitional mechanism to fill the void left by Green Deal and GDHIF and help address the current hiatus whilst the new framework is developed. 

NIA Welcomes the Secretary of State, Amber Rudd’s Positive Support for Energy Efficiency and Outlines Some Priority Areas

During yesterday’s session with the Energy and Climate Change Committee on DECCs priorities for 2015 and beyond, the Secretary of State Amber Rudd clearly signalled the key role that energy efficiency has to play in reducing carbon and fuel bills and her intentions to work with industry in developing a long term framework for homes and fuel poverty:  

"Energy efficiency is the most effective way to reduce carbon and reduce bills - it is the win-win"

"I'm particularly ambitious in this area and I want to put together a long-term framework for homes and fuel poverty. I'm looking at the various initiatives that have been in place under the last Government to find out which ones are working best and which ones have not worked well, so that we can work with industry to design a system that will deliver most cost effectively.”

Commenting on yesterday's statements from the Secretary of State, our CEO Neil Marshall said “We welcome the recognition of the importance of energy efficiency along with the level of ambition and intent and look forward to working with Ministers and officials in turning this into the delivery of hard measures on the ground.  With around 6m cavity walls, 7m solid walls and 7m lofts in existing homes still lacking adequate insulation, it is crucial that a long term plan is developed which will ensure that these homes are insulated in a timely, systematic and cost effective manner.  Next week we are meeting with DECC Ministers and look forward to kick starting this process.

If we are to succeed in developing a vibrant market for energy efficiency among able to pay households and tackling the scourge of fuel poverty the new long term framework and plan outlined by the Secretary of State will need to incorporate some important elements:

-          A consumer awareness and engagement programme with Government backing to clearly spell out the benefits of insulation.

-          Targeted incentives and regulations where they are needed and can be justified as a means of pump priming the market.

-          The increased role that area based delivery can play in achieving more cost effective delivery on the ground and engaging whole communities in energy efficiency upgrades.

-          A more attractive ‘Pay as you Save’ proposition that reflects the way that consumers purchase and pay for other items with greater flexibility and choice in interest rates and payback periods.

-          A more effective and efficient means of identifying and targeting fuel poor households with a package of appropriate measures delivered that will ‘fuel poverty proof’ the property.

-          The importance of working with the industry, Local Government and consumer groups in the development and delivery of the plan in order to benefit from their expertise whilst achieving their support and ‘buy in’.”

NIA is supporting its members during challenging times

There are currently serious concerns across the insulation industry about future activity levels from Government related schemes including ECO, the Green Deal and GDHIF.  We are therefore working hard on behalf of our members with Government and other key stakeholders to influence the shape and design of future policies and schemes to increase activity levels and provide a longer term sustainable policy landscape for the industry.  This work includes:

• Calling on Government to make Energy Efficiency Retrofit of the UK Housing Stock a National Infrastructure Priority supported by appropriate levels of capital expenditure and a long term delivery plan.
• Seeking early decisions from Government Ministers on the future of the Energy Company Obligation after the current obligation ends in April 2017 and a longer term ECO, preferably five years.
• Working with DECC, Ofgem and Energy Companies to review and revise the compliance requirements for ECO in order to simplify these and reduce compliance costs for future schemes.
• Seeking urgent clarification from Government Ministers on their future intentions for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund and Green Deal Communities scheme as well as putting forward proposals to make these or alternatives even more effective.
• Submitting proposals on changes that could be made to the Green Deal to make it simpler and more attractive to householders.
• Contributing to the Chief Construction Advisers current review of the Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) market including recommendation on how to most effectively tackle the 7m homes that still require SWI.

Whilst this work in influencing Government policy and programmes is extremely important in securing a long term sustainable future for the industry, we are also committed to helping our member’s access additional business opportunities outside of the ECO and Green Deal right now.

To this end we have undertaken a range of activities designed to stimulate additional insulation work and clearly position our members as the preferred choice to carry out work among specifiers and householders.  This includes:

• Launching a new consumer website www.nia-uk.org/consumer with an installer postcode locator which is receiving around 50,000 searches a year and providing free leads and referrals to our members.
• Working with leading consumer groups including the Energy Saving Trust and Money Saving Expert to promote the benefits of insulation and referring householders to our members.
• Undertaking a major PR Campaign to promote insulation and our members
• Creating new business opportunities in the new build and commercial markets by providing our members with market intelligence and information and promoting insulation to key specifiers in these sectors.  In addition we introduced a new Code of Professional Practice for NIA members operating in the New Build and Commercial markets to differentiate them and provide competitive advantage vs. non NIA members.
• Introduced a new free service for Local Authorities, Housing Associatons and Procurement Framework Operators to access and specify our members via expressions of interest and tender requests.

“Our activities to support our members during these challenging times is having a positive impact on the NIA’s reputation and benefits of membership among insulation companies and we have seen a 20% increase in membership so far this year.”

The NIA is the leading trade association for insulation in the UK and represents the manufacturers, system suppliers and installers of cavity wall, external wall, internal wall, roof, loft and floor insulation plus draught-proofing.    

If you are interested in membership of the NIA or working with our members please contact Neil Marshall neil.marshall@nia-uk.org or call 01525 383313