Minister for energy consumers will make her first
appearance at the Committee on Wednesday 4th December,
in a one-off session on retrofitting our homes for Net
Zero. The UK Government recently announced changes to its home heating
schemes and policy.
Five million warm homes plan
The new Government committed in its manifesto to upgrading five
million homes over five years with the £6.6bn Warm Homes Plan.
This is expected to include grants and low-interest loans, to
support families to invest in insulation, low-carbon heating and
home improvements. Alongside this, the Government has
committed to boosting minimum energy efficiency standards for
private rented homes and social housing.
More consumers struggle to afford energy bills
UK housing stock accounts for around 17% of national emissions
and is among the least energy efficient in Europe. While good
progress has been made to decarbonise electricity, natural gas
still accounts for around 85% of fuel used for domestic heating
and cooking.
Many UK consumers are also struggling to afford their heating
bills: the percentage of households in England spending more than
10% of their income after housing costs on domestic energy rose
to 36.4% in 2023, with bills set to rise again this winter.
The Committee is seeking the three panels' views
on:
· how will the
public afford the switch to low carbon heating?
· does the Energy
Performance Certificate help consumers to make informed
decisions?
· how can we
equip the workforce with the skills required to upgrade UK homes?
· how should the
home heating transition be coordinated at a national and local
level?
· what factors
are contributing to the under-delivery of government retrofit
schemes?
Winter 2024 update: Heating our Homes
The ESNZ Committee before the General Election had taken a
significant volume of evidence on the policy changes needed to
deliver low carbon heating and energy efficient homes, in its
Heating our Homes
inquiry. This one-off session will update and complete that
inquiry with a report expected shortly.
On December 4th
at 3pm:
Maya Fitchett, Policy Analyst at National Energy Action
Joanne Wheeler, Co-Head of Policy & Places at UK Green
Building Council
Robert Panou, Director of Asset Strategy and Investment at
Stonewater
At approximately 4:00pm:
Mike Foster, Chief Executive at Energy and Utilities
Alliance
Madeleine Gabriel, Director of Sustainable Future at Nesta
Andy Prendergast, National Secretary at GMB
At approximately
5:00pm:
MP, Minister for Energy
Consumers at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Olivia Haslam, Deputy Director, Net Zero Buildings Strategy, Net
Zero Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Directorate at
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Ben Rimmington, Director-General, Net Zero Buildings &
Industry at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
