Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidelines on payment arrangements for contractor his Department has given to ICF for the Green Homes Grant scheme.

The payment process for the Green Homes Grant is a four-step process that requires: the customer to confirm the work has been completed, the installer to record the work on the TrustMark database, the scheme administrator to check the conditions of the voucher issued have been met, and then the scheme administrator to make the payment.

To ensure consumer protection and value for money, the scheme administrator may be required to undertake fraud checks, for example a voucher may be randomly chosen for an on-site audit. The scheme administrator aims to pay as soon as possible after this process is complete.