Britain's big six power companies have handed out millions of energy efficient lightbulbs rather than insulate homes to meet their obligations to a government plan to help to lift people out of fuel poverty.

According to the Construction Products Association (CPA), about 5.4 million UK households live in fuel poverty. The Government hoped that its Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (Cert) scheme, launched last September, would provide free insulation for 950,000 homes this year — helping to reduce energy bills.

However, the CPA claimed that the real figure was likely to be only 570,000 homes.

The CPA says that energy companies are instead opting to meet their obligations using cheaper methods. Ofgem figures show they have distributed more than 120 million low-energy lighbulbs since April 2008 — two each for every man, woman and child in the UK. That is 10 million bulbs more than the Government had expected during the three-year timeframe of the Cert scheme. About 83 per cent of the bulbs have been given away for free, mostly through mass unsolicited mailouts.

Simon Storer, a spokesman for the CPA, which represents the insulation industry, said the rush to hand out low-energy bulbs was a result of a flaw in the structure of the scheme. It awards points to the companies for various measures, based on the nominal contribution each one makes to cutting carbon emissions.

Government figures show that by distributing 173 low-energy bulbs, energy companies can accrue the same “score” as installing cavity wall insulation on a three-bedroom home, but at a far lower cost. Under government rules, each bulb allows the companies to claim a lifetime saving of 0.04 tonnes of carbon, compared with 6.92 tonnes for the insulation.

But while insulating a house offers indisputable energy benefits, no evidence exists to show if these bulbs are ever used.

Mr Storer said it was a “very strange” approach with questionable environmental benefits. The scheme is being funded by the companies, with the costs passed on to customers.

Michael Ankers, CPA chief executive, has written to Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, to discuss the scheme, which he said was enormously frustrating for the hard-pressed construction industry. It had hoped the Cert scheme would supply a reliable flow of home insulation work.

Pedro Guertler, of the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE), said that there was far too much emphasis on the distribution of lowenergy lightbulbs — most of which were imported from the Far East.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Energy and Climate Change said that the Government was aware of the concerns and the need for greater proof that the bulbs were actually helping to reduce emissions. However, she said that UK home insulation rates had doubled since the scheme was introduced.

A spokeswoman for the Energy Retail Association, which represents Britain's biggest energy companies including British Gas, EDF, nPower and ScottishPower, rejected the concerns. She said only 30 per cent of the total carbon savings were coming from lighting, with 60 per cent from insulation.

The spokeswoman added: “Energy suppliers continue to work with Government to help meet new targets on reducing carbon emissions, with some energy companies installing up to 120 energy-efficiency measures each working hour. Over 800,000 homes have been insulated, which is equivalent to every house in Birmingham, Nottingham and Leeds. Additionally, the new extension to the Cert scheme will add a further 20 per cent to the carbon reduction target.”

Greg Clark, Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: “The Government's energy-efficiency package was meant to be about reducing energy bills and creating new jobs in the insulation industry. Instead, the Government is trying to meet its targets by posting out low-energy light bulbs.”

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