February 8th 2024
Heat pump targets to be scrapped in latest climate one-eighty
Central government is poised to axe plans to introduce ‘boiler tax’ if targets to fit sustainable heat pumps in homes are missed.
Back in 2020 Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the UK, introduced plans to install 600,000 heat pumps per annum by 2028 as part of the government’s plans to phase out gas boilers for their clean heat strategy.
As part of this plan the government were set to introduce a ‘boiler tax’ which, from April, would have included manufactures of fossil fuel boilers face a quota for heat pump installations relative to their gas or oil installations. Companies are required to match or face a fine of £3,000 for every insulation they fall short by.
However, at the beginning of this week ministers announced potential plans to boycott the idea. A government source informed the Sunday Times: ‘Boiler manufactures have saddled with families with indefensible price hikes – this is not right. We’re looking again at the policy and expect manufacturers to do the right thing and remove their price hikes immediately.’
Currently, a formal decision on the matter is yet to be announced. However, energy secretary Claire Coutinho has said that ditching the policy could be the only way to get manufactures to drop their prices again and that the government can still achieve its goal of 600,000 heat pumps through other schemes and incentives.
‘We remain committed to our ambition of installing 600,000 new heat pumps a year by 2028,’ Coutinho said. ‘We want to do this in a way that does not burden consumers, and we’ve increased our heat pump grants by 50% to £7,500 – making it one of the most generous schemes in Europe.’
Despite optimism shown by the government, environmentalists have expressed their disappointment about the decision. The news has come just several months after current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a watering-down of the UK’s net zero policies, which included pushing back the deadline for banning new petrol and diesel cars.
In addition, the news has also been announced as the Labour Party are due to ditch their policy of spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan which details intentions to secure more green jobs and reach climate targets.
Images: Jamie Street and Heidi Fin
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