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Bridgend council says insulation repairs compensation unlikely

BBC Rhiannon GoodallBBC
Rhiannon Goodall says the insulation had a "devastating effect" on her house

Homeowners who paid to repair damage caused by a controversial insulation scheme are unlikely to be compensated, a council leader has said.

A £3.5m plan to fix insulation on up to 104 homes in Caerau, near Maesteg, is being drawn up after people complained houses were ruined by poor work.

They were insulated as part of government-backed schemes to make homes warmer and cut heating bills.

Bridgend council leader Huw David apologised.

He said there was a "breakdown" in how contracts were awarded.

Residents had described plaster falling off walls, with resident Rhiannon Goodall, 38, saying: "My house feels like it's falling down around me because of the amount of damp that it's caused."

An internal audit by the council - commissioned in 2019, but only published last month - found "no procurement process was followed" and "no due diligence checks" were carried out on the companies involved.

Broken pipes
The work was unfinished in Rhiannon Goodall's house

The council awarded a £315,000 contract to a company directed by Phil White, a councillor in Mr David's cabinet who died last year.

That funding, which insulated 25 homes, came from the Welsh government's Arbed programme.

Work on other homes was paid for by UK-wide schemes, funded by energy companies.

The council has to submit a business plan to the Welsh government by the end of the month.

Asked whether people who have already spent their own money on repairs would be compensated, Mr David said the council "had no role at all in the majority of the properties".

Rhiannon Goodall's house
The dark patches on Rhiannon Goodall's house are caused by damp

"And therefore, it is unlikely that the council will be able to compensate people for work that has been carried out by companies that are nothing to do with Bridgend County Borough Council," he said.

"We will of course explore that with Welsh government, with UK government and with [energy regulator] Ofgem.

"But it would be difficult for Bridgend County Borough Council to compensate residents, and certainly residents where the work was nothing to do with Bridgend County Council.

"We are of course very sorry about what has happened. Our priority now is making sure that work is it is put right."