Council accused of cover-up of home insulation scandal
A COUNCIL has been accused of covering up a home insulation scandal after failing to publish what is believed to be a damning report eight months after receiving it.
Bridgend County Borough Council was responsible for appointing contractors to carry out work on homes in the village of Caerau, near Maesteg, in a scheme called Arbed which was funded by the European Union.
Local councillors received many complaints from local householders who were shocked at the poor standard of workmanship.
One of the companies involved in doing the work – Green Renewable Wales Ltd (GRW) – had as a director Labour councillor Phil White, who until last month was a member of the council’s cabinet.
The South Wales Echo has spoken to a number of householders in Caerau who had work done under the scheme.
One, Bob Conaty, was so appalled at the work done in his house that he engaged a chartered building surveyor to write a report about it.
The report says: “The work as completed on site is entirely unsatisfactory and patently sub-standard.
“The attention to detail is clearly lacking and the finish is unacceptably poor. There is a demonstrable lack of skill and expertise with the work completed to date, which the contractors have (optimistically) suggested to Mr and Mrs Conaty is to an industry acceptable standard.
“There is in my view a strong case for the involvement of Bridgend trading standards under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Act of 2008 regarding lack of professional due diligence (Regulation 3). There is also a strong case for breach of contract and an action in tort of negligence/breach of duty of care.
“During the course of the works I also understand that contractors damaged pipework in the bathroom and also, when securing installation to the internal wall between the glazed lean-to and kitchen, negligently drilled through the wall, causing damage to wall finishes.
“The standard of workmanship is so poor I would ascribe no pecuniary value to the work completed to date and feel that Mr and Mrs Conaty are well within their rights to have dismissed the traders in question for fundamental breach of contract.”
The work on Mr Conaty’s house was carried out by GRW in 2014.
Former councillor Wyn Davies said he had taken up the complaints of around 30 residents from Caerau who were concerned about poor workmanship.
Llynfi Independent councillor Keith Edwards, who has also been contacted by aggrieved residents, said: “I have established that an independent consultancy, Nuvision Energy Wales, was commissioned by the council to assess the quality of the workmanship carried out on the houses in Caerau.
“A presentation was given to the council’s chief executive and others in February this year, but nothing has been reported to the council since, even though I understand the content of the report is highly critical.
“So far as I am concerned, this is a cover-up. The fact that Councillor White was a director of one of the firms involved makes me concerned all the more.
“I am also disturbed by the fact that documentation relating to the awarding of the contracts appears to have disappeared.
“It has been suggested to me that the cost of bringing the homes up to the required standard could be as much as £1m.
“All of the relevant information should be in the public domain.”
The Echo has confirmed independently that a presentation was given to the chief executive and others in February and that the report is highly critical of the quality of workmanship on some of the houses.
A spokesman for Bridgend council said: “A full report on this issue is currently being prepared to go before a future meeting of cabinet, where it will be considered in full.
“Until this meeting takes place, we are unable to comment further.”
Cllr White said: “I know there was concern about some of the workmanship.
“Unfortunately GRW went into liquidation because we were not paid money we were owed.
“I have left the cabinet for health reasons. It’s nothing to do with the situation in Caerau.
“I didn’t attend the presentation in February and I haven’t read the consultants’ report.
“I have always made declarations of interest when appropriate.”