‘More Sustainable Buildings’. Ombudsman suggests changes to the support programme

The Ombudsman has sent a letter to the Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy suggesting changes to the PAES – Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings, aimed at avoiding, in the future, a repetition of the constraints and inequities that have led to more than a hundred complaints over the last year.

Based on the experience resulting from the investigation of these cases – which concerned both the design of the programme and the actions of the Environmental Fund Management Services – the Ombudsman suggests that a new programme or a new phase of the PAES should be accompanied by a structural review of the applicable rules and of the digital platform supporting the Programme.

This position identifies it as particularly urgent to simplify and clarify the eligibility criteria, and to adapt the deadlines imposed on applicants so that they are compatible with the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

To read the letter addressed to the Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy click here [in Portuguese only].