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You and Yours: Green Homes; Drive-thrus; Ryanair refunds

18/02/2021

Green Homes; Drive-thrus; Ryanair refunds

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Green Homes; Drive-thrus; Ryanair refunds

The government is cutting funding for the green homes grant scheme.

The government is cutting funding for the green homes grant scheme because most of the money hasn't been spent. We find out what the problems have been with the scheme.

Funding for the green homes grant scheme is being cut.  Problems have meant that most of the £1.6 billion set aside for green homes grants in last year's budget hasn't been spent. Instead of adding that left over money to this year's pot, the government is clawing it back instead. 
There'll still be a Green Homes Grants Scheme, until March 2022,  but there'll be a lot less money in it.
The grants are up to £5,000. Homeowners apply for them for home improvements that save energy. But the payments are made directly to the contractors and only when the work has been done. The aim was to pay 600,000 grants over two years. But only 17,000 have been paid so far. 
We speak to the Conservative MP Philip Dunne, Chairs the Environmental Audit Committee. It's been investigating what's gone wrong with Green Homes Grants.

Many of us have spent a lot of time last year battling to get refunds back from travel firms or airlines, after holidays were cancelled because of the pandemic.
Consumer advice service Which? says Ryanair customers made up 44% of all the complaints they received, and were owed more than a million pounds in refunds.
But what do you do if the company says it's paid you back, but you didn't get the money? That's what happened to one listener who had flights booked with Ryanair. 
Rory Boland the Travel Editor at Which joins the programme.

And, they’ve been around for nearly 75 years but never been as popular as they are at the moment. More people than ever are getting their food from a drive thru take away. They're the closest thing to ‘eating out’ we can get at the moment and because ordering is contactless and as you eat in your car they’re seen as Covid safe. 
Reporter Sam Fenwick has been looking at the appeal of the drive thru and whether their popularity will start to fade as we emerge from the pandemic. 

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Helen Roberts

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