Northern Ireland

DUP's Stephen Brimstone applied to RHI after receiving cost control plans

Former DUP special adviser Stephen Brimstone. Picture by Mal McCann
Former DUP special adviser Stephen Brimstone. Picture by Mal McCann Former DUP special adviser Stephen Brimstone. Picture by Mal McCann

A FORMER DUP special adviser applied to the RHI scheme weeks after a fellow party aide passed him papers outlining plans to cap subsidies.

Stephen Brimstone's RHI installation at his Co Antrim home was also probed by inspectors – who found "limited evidence" of a heated shed being used as described, but he says it was ruled "compliant".

The former special adviser (Spad) applied to the non-domestic RHI scheme in August 2015 for a boiler to heat both his home and a garage used as an "agricultural workshop/storage".

Just weeks earlier, Mr Brimstone was sent a paper from Timothy Cairns – DUP enterprise minister Jonathan Bell's Spad – on plans for "urgent cost control and administrative changes" to RHI.

Plans to cap overgenerous RHI subsidies were only formally announced by Mr Bell in September and finally introduced in November.

Follow the RHI inquiry live as John Robinson gives evidence on Wednesday September 26

The intervening period saw a huge spike in RHI applications, contributing to the scheme's massive overspend.

It has also emerged that Mr Brimstone's in-laws applied to the RHI scheme in August 2015.

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  • Máirtín Ó Muilleoir's took credit for keeping RHI open while pledging to maximise approvals for scheme

His brother Aaron applied to the scheme in January 2016 before RHI closed to new applications the following month. At the time, Mr Brimstone was a Spad in the first minister's office.

Mr Brimstone, who was a Spad until November 2016, is due to appear before the RHI inquiry today and tomorrow.

In his witness statements, Mr Brimstone said he does not believe he shared any information related to RHI with anyone outside of government.

Mr Brimstone was asked if he or anyone else had breached Stormont standards on RHI or they "had a real or perceived conflict of interest".

He said there were "none", but that he "noted the position adopted" by other former DUP Spads, John Robinson and Andrew Crawford.

Mr Robinson stood aside from any involvement in RHI after it emerged his father-in-law was a scheme recipient, while Mr Crawford acknowledged it was "inappropriate" to have shared cost control plans with relatives.

A cost controls paper was forwarded by Mr Cairns via email on July 16 2015 to Mr Brimstone and Mr Crawford, who was Arlene Foster's Spad in the finance department.

Mr Brimstone replied saying, "Hard to argue with in light of the suggested changes reflecting GB position."

In his statements, Mr Brimstone said Mr Cairns was sending it to them to "seek our views".

"I don't believe at that stage I was aware of the potential profits from the scheme," Mr Brimstone said.

In January 2017 at the peak of the RHI controversy, TUV leader Jim Allister used parliamentary privilege to claim in the assembly that Mr Brimstone was "heating his own house on the non-domestic [RHI] boiler scheme".

Mr Allister alleged that Mr Brimstone had a new biomass boiler for his house – but took it out and installed a new non-domestic one to "rip off" the RHI.

In his statements, Mr Brimstone said he had a biomass boiler installed in a shed for domestic heating in 2007 but it was "requiring an increasing amount of maintenance".

He said he made enquiries about different boilers in 2014, applied to the RHI scheme in August 2015, and his application was approved in September 2016.

Asked why he applied for the non-domestic RHI scheme rather than the domestic scheme, Mr Brimstone said: "The domestic RHI scheme would not have allowed me to heat the shed alongside the domestic dwelling house."

Mr Brimstone's RHI installation was inspected by officials in summer 2016. He said he was later informed by the DUP's Mr Robinson that this had been because a whistleblower had reported it to Stormont.

In RHI audit papers obtained by the inquiry, inpsectors say they "could find limited evidence of the building described as an agricultural workshop/storage being used for agricultural purposes". It notes an action for "Ofgem to investigate".

However, Mr Brimstone said Ofgem "were satisfied my installation was compliant" and "nothing further was required".

Mr Brimstone said he informed DUP leader Arlene Foster around January 2016 that he had applied to the RHI scheme.

"As an adviser to the first minister I felt I should make her aware that I had applied to the scheme in August 2015. This was only for information purposes," he said.

In June, a civil servant told the inquiry that Mr Brimstone phoned him to ask about getting a boiler registered.

Mr Brimstone said he can't recall the conversation in any detail, but he asked about the scheme criteria and how the scheme operated.