The Environmental Audit Committee has today published a response
from the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Rt
Hon , in response to the
Chair’s letter to the Prime Minister following the announcements
around changes to net zero policy made by the Prime Minister on
20th September.
In her response, the Secretary of State sets out that the
announcements made by the Prime Minister were in response to
concerns about the cost to families of current net zero
implementation, and the need to maintain public support for net
zero policies. She states that the Government remains on track to
meet net zero, and gave some additional detail of the
Government’s positions on the policy areas concerned, including
on the phasing out petrol and diesel cars and vans, and on energy
efficiency.
The Committee welcomes the Minister’s thorough response. Members
note that the Government does not intend to provide to Parliament
an updated Carbon Budget Delivery Plan which will allow ready
examination of the claim that the UK remains on track to meet the
majority of its carbon budget obligations following the changes
in policy. The Committee looks forward to discussing these issues
with Ministers and others as its examination of the Government’s
progress towards net zero targets continues.
In its 2021 report on Energy Efficiency of Existing
Homes, the Committee stressed that more must be done in the
area to ensure the UK remains on track to meet net zero targets.
The Committee reiterates the concern, as expressed in the Chair’s
letter to the Prime Minister, that actions such as dissolving the
Energy Efficiency Taskforce send a worrying message about the
overall prioritisation of the energy efficiency agenda. The
Committee notes the Climate Change Committee’s response to the
Prime Minister’s announcement, in which it stated:
“On decarbonising buildings, the announced changes will make it
more difficult to meet the government’s sectoral pathway. While a
2035 phase-out date for fossil boilers is potentially compatible
with Net Zero, the exemption of 20% of households from the
phase-out will have an impact on emissions all the way out to
2050 – making Net Zero considerably harder to achieve.”.
Environmental Audit Committee Chair, Rt Hon MP, said:
“This extensive response by the Energy Security and Net Zero
Secretary to the Committee’s letter seeks to answer the
Committee’s questions to the Prime Minister posed in my
letter of 29th September. I welcome the Secretary of
State’s acknowledgment that scrutiny of decarbonisation pathways
could be improved: the Committee looks forward to working
constructively with Ministers to improving Parliamentary scrutiny
processes in this regard. We welcome the Government’s stated
ongoing commitment to meeting carbon budget and net zero targets.
“It is nevertheless disappointing that many of the Committee’s
specific questions have been left unanswered. A detailed response
showing the impact on future emissions would have assisted our
scrutiny of the revised timeframes for the phasing out of petrol
and diesel vehicles and of fossil fuel boilers, and the potential
impact of these changes on the emissions reductions required to
meet net zero. We hope that further detail will be provided in
the forthcoming Government response to the Climate Change
Committee’s 2023 Progress Report on emissions reductions.
“Energy efficiency remains a significant concern of the
Committee. I hope the Government’s recent increase in the level
of grants being offered to replace fossil fuel boilers generate
the desired take-up. I trust that the increase in the size of
grants available will be reflected in an increased overall budget
for the scheme, as well as accelerating take-up by households. I
look forward to raising these issues with the Secretary of State
in this important policy area in coming weeks and months.”
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