The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has downplayed fears that it will water down its marketing plans for the Green Deal, after it emerged the department has drastically scaled back its communications budget. According to documents obtained by marketing magazine PRWeek, DECC has slashed 95 per cent from its overall external budgets for communications since it was set up in 2008, with the budget falling from £10m in 2009/10 to £800,000 in 2011/12.
The number of DECC communications officers also reduced from 43 to 25 since 2010/11, despite an increase in press officer salaries.
However, the news is likely to promt fresh fears about DECC’s commitment to promoting its soon-to-be-launched Green Deal loan scheme, which aims to allow households and businesses to installing energy efficiency measures at no upfront cost.