Competition is Going to be Part of the Green Deal

The Green Deal is going to be a mix of private and public money, but how will smaller businesses fair in this mix?

Ed Davey has indicated that he is keen to see competition within the Green Deal Initiative and he wants to see Small and Medium Businesses (SME’s) thrive within the scheme. How he is going to marshal this operation is open to speculation. But as Davey points out in a recent Q&A on the Which? Website he used to be former Minister for Competition and is a believer that in the notion that competition can drive the Green Deal forward.

British Gas and Eon are involved in Green Deal and this makes smaller businesses nervous that they will clean up by offering free incentives to customers. One question that has be raised is ‘who will pay for the assessments?’ If the bigger companies in the market can envelop this cost and offer it free, this could put the squeeze on the SME’s.

It seems Ed Davey is of the opinion that some Green Deal Providers will offer the assessment for free, which seems natural, as you don’t want to distance customers by charging for an assessment.  But it does mean that the providers and assessors are closely linked and the idea of an impartial assessment, which is what we all want, might be swayed in favour of the Providers particular sales objectives. It also raises the prospect of making sure that the assessments are completely free and there is no obligation to take up the proposals.

If the Green Deal wants to fourfil its great potential, as it can and should, then these relationships between Assessor, Installer and Provider should be laid out in the clearest terms. One of the major obstacles within the domestic building trade is trust. Without the public trust of the frame work of the Green Deal it could all be an uphill battle.

The Green Deal officially starts on the 1^st of October 2012. We hope to see lots of clear information about how and where to apply for the Green Deal from the Government and we will endeavour to pass this information on to you.

 

 

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