Supplementary written evidence submitted by TrustMark (RFH0057)

Background

The following paper provides further information in addition to the evidence I gave to the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee on 12 February 2025. I highlight the role that TrustMark plays in the industry, and specifically the quality assurance oversight TrustMark provides within the ECO4 and GBIS schemes and the work that TrustMark is progressing to enhance consumer protection. TrustMark also provides quality assurance across other government schemes such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), Home Upgrade Grant, among others.

TrustMark – background and context

• TrustMark was set up in 2005 by the Government to improve consumer protection and confidence by raising standards within the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) sector.
• TrustMark has established a robust consumer protection scheme with a recognised role in improving quality and protecting consumers when they make improvements in and around their homes.
• TrustMark operates as the Government endorsed quality scheme under a Master Licence from the Department of Business and Trade (DBT). The operating model defined by the Master Licence means that trade bodies, certification bodies as approved by UKAS and other sector organisations can choose to be licenced by TrustMark. They are known as Licenced Scheme Providers (“Scheme Providers”).
• Following the Each Home Counts review and the recommendations published in 2018, TrustMark registration became mandated for specific government grant and capital funded schemes. TrustMark provides quality assurance on installations of energy efficiency, low carbon technologies as part of our regulatory role in supporting schemes and the delivery of quality.
• To support our quality assurance mandate, we have invested in and developed the TrustMark Data Warehouse to capture information on the works carried out in homes, the quality of the installations measured against relevant standards, and to share this information with relevant government departments, regulators, and our Scheme Providers to help improve quality of delivery across the industry.
• TrustMark operates on a not-for-profit distribution basis, reinvesting any surpluses into improvements to its quality assurance capability and enhance its Data Warehouse and analytics capabilities.

TrustMark’s relationships with Licenced Scheme Providers:

• TrustMark does not directly register tradespeople; it works with its Scheme Providers through established operating requirements for the delivery of compliance with standards and delivery of quality work.
• The TrustMark Scheme Providers can only become TrustMark licenced where they can satisfactorily demonstrate meeting the responsibilities set out under our Framework Operating Requirements.
• TrustMark currently licences 41 Scheme Providers who represent approximately 18,500 Registered Businesses covering 114 home improvement trades. These include everything from installers of green heating and insulation products, plumbers, electricians and builders to carpet cleaners, landscape gardeners and leadwork specialists.
• The Scheme Providers are audited on an annual basis for compliance with the TrustMark frameworks and to ensure effective management of the businesses they register on behalf of TrustMark.

TrustMark’s role auditing energy efficiency and low carbon installations in homes:

• TrustMark conducts independent audit and compliance assessments of work lodged within the Data Warehouse (desktop) and carried out in consumer’s homes (onsite) where the improvements have been funded by relevant government and energy company funded schemes.
• It was in this role when conducting independent audits that the TrustMark Quality Assurance team identified issues of non-compliance with standards that led to the Minister for Energy Consumers statement in the House of Commons on 23 January 2025.
• As indicated in the Minister’s Statement, we are working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), DBT and Ofgem to strengthen and enhance the approach to consumer focussed protection.
• We also work closely with a number of government departments, such as MHCLG and the BSR to ensure that standards are met by a competent workforce.

In this paper, I have summarised TrustMark’s current role, and the responsibilities owned by other organisations in the current assurance and consumer protection environment.  I have also outlined the actions we have taken to support the wider industry to meet their expected quality standards.  We have provided some principles that a future consumer protection approach should include.

This paper is structured in 3 parts.

In Part 1: Current Structure of Compliance & Quality Assurance to support the Government and consumers

• Part 1 of the paper provides an overview showing TrustMark’s role and responsibilities and how these fit with the responsibilities of accreditation bodies and regulators, for example, UKAS and BSR / MHCLG and how these responsibilities support the current market structure for ensuring standards, competency and quality assurance.

In Part 2: TrustMark’s Audit and Assurance structure and enhancements

• Part 2 outlines our Audit and Assurance process and the enhancements we are undertaking to the assurance process, which involves multiple parties, so the industry can deliver more effectively. We explain how the independent quality assurance and data insights provided by TrustMark helps the wider industry to be better informed and consumers are provided adequate protection.
• We describe the developments that TrustMark has already put in place to enhance the areas we control within our role.
• We highlight how our work is helping to improve the future standard of delivery and high levels of consumer protection.

In Part 3: Improving consumer protection

• TrustMark’s audit work and industry role has helped to highlight problems in the current consumer protection landscape and what can be improved. We have shared some initial consumer protection principles with DBT and DESNZ, which we summarise in this paper.

The Annex to this note explains The Each Home Counts Review (2016) and how TrustMark was identified as the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for the RMI and energy efficiency/ low carbon and renewables retrofit sector.

Part 1

Current Structure of Compliance & Quality Assurance to support the Government and consumers

TrustMark's role in protecting consumers and driving improvements in industry quality is defined by the Master Licence Agreement (MLA) with the Department of Business and Trade (DBT). TrustMark’s role in supporting DESNZ in the delivery of government and ECO schemes has recently been codified via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU defines the current and on-going mutually supportive working arrangements in these areas beyond the

scope of the MLA. The MoU also identifies collaboration between TrustMark and DESNZ on consumer protection, as well as counter-fraud and compliance, aims to provide assurance to the Government that work under its schemes is carried out to high standards, in compliance with the scheme rules, and there are measures in place to mitigate the risk of fraud.

Our role as the Government endorsed Quality Scheme, as described within the MLA:

• The MLA establishes the relationship between TrustMark and a Scheme Provider, typically a trade body, Certification Body or a Competent Persons Scheme. TrustMark does not register businesses directly into TrustMark. The Scheme Provider has the responsibility for monitoring the competence the installation businesses that are licenced and registered with TrustMark. These businesses are more commonly known as “Registered Businesses”.
• Scheme Providers have the responsibility to promote TrustMark registration opportunities to the Registered Businesses, and we rely on Scheme Provider vetting and competence checking of businesses.
• Our MLA defined role in consumer protection is to ensure that Scheme Providers deal with consumer complaints adequately and ensure the business has accountability to the consumer.

The following outlines the current structure and responsibilities

TrustMark has the following requirements for all Scheme Providers and Registered Businesses.

• Framework Operating Requirements (FOR): provides the rules of the Scheme and the requirements on Scheme Providers who commit to operating within the FOR.
• Code of Conduct: sets out the expectations and requirements between the Registered Business and the Scheme Provider and the consumer (the householder) and links these to the applicable legislation.
• Customer Charter: outlines what all consumers should expect from the installation business.
• Financial Protection: all TrustMark Registered Businesses must provide a minimum of 2-year workmanship guarantee. Specifically, all work that is required to be lodged in the TrustMark Data Warehouse (including all ECO & Government funded schemes) must have approved financial protection mechanisms where between 2 – 25 years of protection can be required.
• Technical Standards that are applicable to that sector delivered by the Scheme Providers.

In relation to financial protection for consumers, TrustMark Registered Businesses must provide:

• minimum two-year cover product warranty and workmanship guarantee
• This extends to 25 years for specific cases such as Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI), Solid Wall Insulation (SWI), Under Floor Insulation (UFI), Room In Roof Insulation (RIRI) and Park Home Insulation
• protection for when installation businesses cease to trade and at the point where defects become apparent and remedial action is required

TrustMark does not in itself create technical standards or define competencies for the retrofit and energy efficiency/low carbon and renewables sector, but we do work alongside the established competency structure already at work in the UK and established by government comprising of UKAS Certification Bodies delivering certification for PAS 2030[1] (Installation of Energy Efficiency Measures in Existing Dwellings - Specification) and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme[2] (MCS) certification and the Government’s Competent Person Scheme. 

The Certification Bodies and Competent Person Schemes have the responsibility under their formal accreditations and approvals for the establishment, evaluation and monitoring of the application of technical competency and the delivery of the required process and technical standards and the management of non-compliance. These responsibilities are not devolved to TrustMark.

• For example, a PAS 2030 Certification Body has responsibility to evaluate and monitor the performance of the businesses they certify.  Details of how they will deliver that is

set out in PAS 2031[3] (Certification of Energy Efficiency Measure Installation in Existing Buildings and Insulation in Residential Park Homes).

• PAS 2031 sets out how a Certification Body should establish the risk rating of a certified business, the inspection regimes that needs to be applied and what a Certification Body needs to do when it receives external reports of installation failure from TrustMark.

This has created a complex set of dependencies and responsibilities between TrustMark, UKAS, BSR/MCHLG and Scheme Providers / Certification Bodies.

The following diagram outlines the relationships between TrustMark, UKAS and BSR in setting guidance, rules and standards, and who these are designed to capture.

TrustMark’s role in relation to PAS 2035

PAS 2035 is a key outcome of the Each Home Counts Review.  Unlike PAS 2030 it is not a specification for a business to be certified against by a UKAS accredited Certification Body, it is a process specification to prove compliance. 

PAS 2035 defines a ‘whole house’ approach to retrofit considering the ‘fabric first’ approach; the insulation of walls, floors, roofs etc., in a bid to minimise heat loss before considering retrofitting the heating system and the installation of low carbon/renewable technologies.

It was a deliberate decision by the PAS 2035 working group, during the Each Home Counts implementation approach to ensure that PAS 2035 compliance was monitored by an organisation completely independent from the existing installer certification and registration bodies.  As a result, PAS 2035 oversight was given to TrustMark as the independent organisation to be the custodians of compliance monitoring for this standard and we have developed a fully independent data driven assurance program including a remediation and escalation process backed by a robust, and proportionate ability to drive sanctions where required.

The following diagram outlines how this works.

Part 2

Audit and Assurance structure.

TrustMark responsibilities driven by PAS 2035 includes conducting independent reviews (audit and compliance services) of work carried out in consumer’s homes by the retrofit sector where the improvements have been funded by relevant government and energy company schemes.

TrustMark has an independent, risk-based assurance capability, free of conflicts of interest.

The results of our findings are fed back into the existing competency and compliance infrastructure and TrustMark’s sequenced delivery and verification work. 

To support our technical monitoring in ECO4 & GBIS delivery, along with the role we play in relevant schemes like SHDF, and to enhance the support and protection for consumers, we have already successfully implemented operational improvements to our processes and methodologies. For example, the implementation of data driven analytics utilizing the data from the work lodged into the TrustMark Data Warehouse under the Government and Energy Supplier funded energy efficiency and low carbon retrofit schemes. We continue to work closely with the DESNZ, DBT and Ofgem to develop essential consumer focussed protection approaches.

The TrustMark Data Warehouse

The TrustMark Data Warehouse has been designed to provide a ‘single point of truth’ built upon granular data about every home receiving Energy Efficiency and Low Zero Carbon improvements via funded schemes. Using robust yet flexible data analytic tools has allowed us to provide bespoke insights for DESNZ, OFGEM, UKAS and Scheme Providers. We are continually seeking ways to both accelerate this flow of data and refine the decision-making processes it informs, with a specific focus on early identification of poor supply chain performance.

The Data Warehouse, a government supported initiative, has been developed by TrustMark in response to The Each Home Counts Review. Its core objectives are to underpin consumer protection and quality of work delivered in homes through facilitating greater visibility and accountability for work delivered.

• Government has required (including by means of legislation) that work carried out under grant and capital funded schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation, The Great British Insulation Scheme, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund be lodged in the Data Warehouse.  The Welsh and Scottish devolved governments have made similar requirements for schemes they operate.
• Lodgement includes the detail of where, when, why, how and by whom work was carried out and how it is financially protected.  Structured data is gathered and is supported with the required evidence documents and photographic evidence of compliance at stages of an installation. The capture of this data is a key fundamental to assurance, consumer protection and insights into the UKs progress towards a quality driven net zero via the UK housing stock.

The Data Warehouse is the backbone for some of the advanced analytics we have created to identify and minimise risks in the installation of energy efficiency and low carbon measures in consumers homes.

The following is a high-level illustration of the TrustMark Data Warehouse:

TrustMark Risk Radar

The Risk Radar utilises the data we collect in the TrustMark Data warehouse to deliver automation in risk reviews, enabling TrustMark to deploy a predictive non-compliance model to actively identify PAS 2035 non-compliance from a range of pre-identified risk factors. This supports the effective and efficient directing of our audit resources to where we have identified that poor work may be being delivered.

The TrustMark Data Driven Risk-Based Assurance Program

The data lodged into the Data Warehouse is utilised for assurance, consumer protection and insights activities.

TrustMark has utilised and driven innovation using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to drive our independent risk-based assurance programme and we are confident that we are performing more independent, qualitive, quantitative assurance activities in the energy efficiency, low carbon and renewables space than any other organisation.

It is this level of independent audit capability that led to the identification of non-compliance with standards leading to the suspension, from TrustMark, of some 38 PAS 2030 certified businesses.

Maximising the value of Quality Assurance Data

We continue to enhance our Quality Assurance process and the sharing of TrustMark audit data with Scheme Providers, so they have a better opportunity to use it to inform their QA checks on completed instillations.

Improving the remediation and sanctions process

• TrustMark’s Assurance platform includes a specifically designed suite of questions and evidence checks for both our Desk Based and Site Based audit teams. This allows all team members to capture discussions with both the Retrofit Co-ordinators and Registered Businesses, flagging areas of concern and putting in place timescales for a response. When necessary, this audit trail is used to escalate issues to Scheme Providers, so they can investigate and remedy unacceptable standards of work.
• If appropriate, we will lead the remediation work to remedy issues identified with the assistance of Scheme Providers. Further to this work we seek ways to use our richly detailed audit data to deliver effective assurance and sanctions process, so that the entire supply chain understands the implications to their business of poor performance and low consumer satisfaction.

Data Sharing with Key Stakeholders

• For the purposes of continuously driving up the levels of the sectors ‘first time’ compliance rates, we have data sharing arrangements with DESNZ, UKAS and their Certification Bodies, TrustMark retrofit Scheme Providers and Ofgem.
• We regularly share data on compliance with relevant standards and regulations in projects (which are a combination of individual measures) funded within the grant funded schemes where TrustMark is a mandated requirement. Since March 2023, we have been sharing extracts of audit inspection data with our Scheme Providers, and volume data has been shared since before that date. We specifically highlight this point because we understand, from information made public by the Select Committee, that one of our Scheme Providers has submitted a letter dated 14 February which included an incorrect statement on the status of data sharing between TrustMark and our Scheme Providers.
• Whilst TrustMark does not manage any element of the installer payment process under the government grant and capital funded schemes or ECO, evidence of the lodgement of funded measures into the TrustMark Data Warehouse is required as part of the process to demonstrate compliance with the requirement for TrustMark registration (and lodgement) and is therefore a crucial part of the payment release process.
• It is on the basis that we see substantially accurate levels of work reporting to the Data Warehouse.  We share this data with both UKAS and Certification Bodies so that they can utilise it to drive the correct volumes and type of monitoring activities.
• Also, and crucially, we share non-compliance data with TrustMark-associated Certification Bodies so that they can execute their assurance obligations in the right volumes and types under their responsibilities including PAS 2031.  This is of course dependent on their individual appetites to utilise the TrustMark provided data proactively to manage issues as they are reported.

Part 3

Improving Consumer Protection

TrustMark recognises that occasionally things don’t go to plan, and it is important that if this happens consumers are protected. Our process was designed to support that complaints are resolved efficiently and fairly, and we have made this a requirement for Registered Businesses and Scheme Providers.  Most problems can be resolved quickly and easily by contacting the business directly, but if that does not resolve the problem, further help is on hand.

To give consumers an additional layer of protection and to reinforce our commitment to quality and consumer protection, we are members of the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman. If the complaints process of the Registered Business and Scheme Provider is exhausted, and the dispute remains unresolved, consumers have the option to raise a dispute with the Ombudsman who independently investigates the complaint to help reach a fair and reasonable outcome.

We are currently reviewing the process to establish ways that a consumer can more easily access and navigate the process and expedite the process timescales.

• A future approach for consumer protection should operate on the principle that it is cost neutral to the government with the costs related to consumer protection to be shared across the installers, insures and schemes and include the following principles:
• Transparency: Clear and transparent accountability across the industry, including within the supply chain.
• Ownership: Clarification of industry roles and responsibilities so consumers are clear who is responsible for end-to-end project delivery, whole-project consumer care and who is accountable if things go wrong.
• Data-driven: Utilisation of audit and implementation data to drive risk – based audits and take risk-based actions on higher-risk projects, businesses and individuals, where required, to protect consumers.
• Accountability: in reporting non-compliance cases and linking quality compliance to business and individual permission for trade renewals.

• This would help to demonstrate the competency of all employee and sub-contractor installers with UKAS accredited certification demonstrating technical and process installation standards.
• Structured correctly, this approach could introduce a recognised system of employee and sub-contractor identification together with clearly identifying completed work utilising certified products, systems and materials.

• Lodging licenced work on the TrustMark Data warehouse would ensure a complete record of all completed work and create a clear single point of contact for consumers for information on licenced operatives and installations.
• This will enable the TrustMark Data Warehouse to establish itself as the National Home Improvement Database and enable a transparent route for consumer choice, complaints and dispute resolution matters, elevating and improving consumer, government and investor confidence in the safe delivery of energy efficiency and low carbon/renewable retrofit.

Annex

TrustMark and The Each Home Counts Review

The Government commissioned, industry led Each Home Counts Review[4] was an independent review of consumer advice, protection, standards and enforcement for the energy efficiency and renewable energy domestic retrofit sector. 

The primary driver for the Each Home Counts Review was the many instances of poor-quality work delivered by companies who did not have the skills, quality levels or core values required to operate responsibly in the energy efficiency installation and services market.

The Each Home Counts report was published in late 2016, identifying a number of requirements to raise standards, increase consumer protection and assist the government in reaching ambitious targets around reducing carbon emissions and fuel poverty.

At the heart of the Review findings was a recommendation to establish a ‘quality mark’; for the domestic energy efficiency retrofit sector, that consumers can recognise and trust.  

In 2017, TrustMark was identified by the Each Home Counts Implementation Group as the organisation to operate the ‘quality mark’. Therefore, following engagement with government departments, consumer bodies and the sector, it was decided TrustMark would expand its remit, becoming the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for the RMI and energy efficiency/ low carbon and renewables retrofit sector.

To meet the challenge of our expanded remit TrustMark implemented a set of key changes throughout 2018 and beyond in order to drive the requirements for our independent status:

• Implementation of a revised suite of robust and highly auditable governance and compliance requirements to deliver quality work and consumer protection:
• The Framework Operating Requirements – applicable to Scheme Providers
• The Code of Conduct – applicable to Registered Businesses
• The Customer Charter – sets out what the public can expect from a TrustMark Registered Business
• A refreshed and strengthened approach to compliance monitoring
• The formation of a new an independent non-executive board of directors
• Commencement of the Financial Protection Panel formation – an independent panel to approve financial protection mechanisms applicable to energy company and government grant and capital funded energy efficiency works
• The development of the Data Warehouse, an ambitious project delivering a national repository for property specific data and information about home improvement works, how they were delivered and are financially protected.

Another major outcome of the Each Home Counts Review was the establishment of an overarching standards framework document for the end-to-end delivery of retrofit of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, building on existing standards. This standard was introduced in 2019 and known as PAS 2035[5] (Retrofitting Dwellings for Improved Energy Efficiency – Specification and Guidance).

April 2025