The report said two-thirds of the funds from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs scheme, mooted in the Communities Plan, were not reaching the "fuel poor" – those spending more than 10% of their income on heating their homes.
It added that a third of the country's estimated 2 million fuel poor households were ineligible for the scheme's grants.
In submissions to the report, Defra said 56,000 of the 700,000 households supported by the scheme had only received two energy-efficient lightbulbs under its auspices.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said: "It's time Defra targeted its efforts at those most in need. It should start by addressing its misleading measurement of success and diversion of resources into activities such as the installation of a couple of energy-efficient lightbulbs."
He said Warm Front's eligibility criteria needed to change to identify low-income groups.
For example, the uptake of means-tested benefits and discussions with local networks such as GP surgeries and shops could provide better methods for identifying the fuel poor.
A spokesman for Defra said the department had already begun an investigation into the Warm Front scheme and would look at its eligibility criteria.
He said: "We will take on board what the National Audit Office said and now what the Public Accounts Committee have said."
The NAO made similar criticisms of the scheme in June last year.
Source
Housing Today
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