Green Living Grants

Summary

The request sought statistics on applications, approvals, and payments for the Isle of Man Green Living Grant scheme as of July 31, 2022. The Department for Enterprise disclosed that while nearly 2,000 energy audits were received, only two grant applications had been approved and no payments had been made due to a policy review.

Key Facts

• The Green Living Grant Scheme consists of two components: the Manx Home Energy Audit (MHEA) and the Grant itself.
• Completion of an MHEA is a mandatory requirement before applying for the Grant.
• 39 grant applications for solar panels and heat pumps are pending policy decisions and have been placed on hold.
• The government is reviewing the scheme due to cost of living pressures, as the original legislation aimed for carbon neutrality rather than fuel cost savings.
• No Green Living Grant payments have been made to date as no final claims have been submitted against offer letters.

Data Disclosed

• 1,927 MHEA applications received
• 1,881 MHEAs approved
• 1,264 MHEAs completed
• 178 MHEAs scheduled
• 97 Grant applications received
• 14 Grant applications declined
• 25 Grant applications awaiting further information
• 17 Grant applications awaiting final checks
• 2 Grant applications approved
• 39 Grant applications pending policy decisions
• 0 payments made
• July 31, 2022
• August 2022
• 2050

Original Request

1. How many applications have there been for the Green Living Grant so far? (As of July 31st) 2. How many of those applications have been accepted? (As of July 31st) 3. How many of those accepted applications have received a payment? (As of July 31st)

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 2554641 23 August 2022

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on 29 July 2022 and which states:

"1. How many applications have there been for the Green Living Grant so far? (As of July 31st) 2. How many of those applications have been accepted? (As of July 31st) 3. How many of those accepted applications have received a payment? (As of July 31st)"

Our response to your request is as follows: The Green Living Grant Scheme (“the Scheme”) consists of two components, the Manx Home Energy Audit (“MHEA”) and the Green Living Grant (“Grant”). The completion of a MHEA is a requirement for all eligible applications, prior to progressing with an application for a Grant should the applicant wish to do so. In order to provide full information in relation to your request, information has been provided for both elements of the Scheme and, in line with your request, the following information was correct as of the 31st July 2022. MHEAs (initial applications for the Scheme) 1. 1,927 applications have been received; and 2. 1,881 have been approved for the MHEA, of which 1,264 have been completed with a further 178 scheduled. Therefore 77% of all approved MHEAs have either been completed or scheduled and the Department estimates that all awaited MHEAs will be completed by approximately the end of August and subsequent MHEAs will be scheduled at the time of application approval. Grant applications

1. 97 applications have been received;
2. Of these: o 14 have been declined; o 25 are awaiting further information from the applicant; o 17 are awaiting final checks before the issuing of an offer letter; and o 2 have been approved and offer letters issued. o 39 are pending policy decisions in conjunction with the Climate Change Board; Important note – These applications relate to the installation of solar panels and heat pumps. Under the current Scheme framework (Tynwald Scheme and Guidance) the large majority of these applications would either be a) declined or b) would have their support capped. The processing of these applications has been temporarily placed on hold in light of a broader review being undertaken. The legislation which acts as the framework of the Scheme was originally devised with the aim of helping the Isle of Man achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, not fuel cost saving for residents. However due to the current cost of living increases and associated fuel cost pressures, this has led to the Government reviewing this Scheme in conjunction with a number of other initiatives and policies. It would not be appropriate to process these applications until this review is complete and a final policy direction is agreed.
3. No applicants have yet submitted a final claim against an offer letter; therefore, no Green Living Grant payments have been made to date. You may also be interested in the information which is published by the Department on its website here https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/green-living/ which provides figures in relation to the Green Living Grant Scheme and which is usually updated on a weekly basis. Please quote the reference number 2554641 in any future communications.

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I will now close your request as of this date.