HARSH criticism has been levelled at West Devon Council by the Government which has accused it of not doing enough to improve home energy efficiency in the borough.

Head of environmental services Nick Payne said the bad news, which came in a letter from the Government Office for the South West, was 'disappointing'.

The DETR wrote to the council last month expressing concern, on behalf of the Secretary of State, that overall progress was slow.

There was little lack of evidence of partnership working and lack of member commitment within the authority, said the DETR.

Mr Payne admitted that, since the Home Energy Conservation Act came into force in 1995 to promote a 30 per cent improvement in energy efficiency in homes by 2005, the borough council had done little in the

private sector.

'The council has struggled to resource these responsibilities since the Act came into effect and has had to rely on limited public information campaigns to promote public awareness,' he said in his report to the strategic development committee last week.

'With no capital funding available to promote energy efficiency measures in the private sector, this area of activity has had to be given a lower priority than other areas of work.'

The council has made no secret of its difficulties and the 30 per cent target was reduced to 24.8 per cent in recognition of the problems with the housing stock in West Devon.

'The unusual and unconventional nature of housing stock makes the task of achieving the HECA objectives very difficult and nigh on impossible against a background of little or no revenue or capital resources being available to date,' said Mr Payne.

But the good news he said was the successful outcome of a bid for funding to seek approval for the start of a consortium scheme with other districts in Devon.

'The council has earkmarked £10,000 for private sector housing in 2000/2001. When combined with the HECAction funding, this will provide a local budget of £40,000 per year for this work,' he said.

The work to publicise the scheme should begin in April.

Councillors agreed to Mr Payne's proposal to invite the relevant government officials to West Devon to discuss the concerns with officers and members.

Cllr Richard Eberlie said: 'A good robust response is needed — the Government needs to be told what is what in rural Devon.'