黑洞社区

Kwasi Kwarteng has been accused of missing an opportunity to invest in energy efficiency in the growth plan announced on Friday.

Energy efficiency went unmentioned in the chancellor鈥檚 fiscal statement but there were two measures buried in the detail of his announcement.

The government promised an extra 拢1bn for energy efficiency over three years as well as a renewed commitment to 鈥渋mminently鈥� bring forward 拢2.1bn in funding from previously announced schemes to support local authorities, housing associations, schools and hospitals invest in energy efficiency and renewable heating.

黑洞社区 understand that the former will be funded through increases in the Energy Company Obligation levy, while the latter represents the next waves of three schemes 鈥� the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the Home Upgrade Grant and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Cara Jenkinson, cities manager at climate solutions charity Ashden, said it was shocking that energy efficiency went unmentioned in the fiscal statement and described it as a 鈥渕issed opportunity鈥� to reduce dependency on gas, create jobs and cut carbon emissions.

鈥淚t is a shame that the Chancellor has not targeted stamp duty reductions for those who make their homes more energy efficient,鈥� she said.

黑洞社区 Research Establishment chief executive Gillian Charlesworth said she had been 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by the mini-budget, urging 鈥渓ong term solutions to the energy price crisis鈥�.

Chris Friedler, policy manager at the Association for Decentralised Energy, said that while the re-iteration of support for retrofit was a 鈥渨elcome boost鈥�, the fiscal statement was a case of 鈥渢he more you look the less there is鈥�.

鈥淚f we were to treat this, like an actual budget, which, given the massive tax shake up, it is I think is fair, It is quite disappointing, he added.

He said that many in the industry had been hoping that for a so-called 鈥楨co Plus鈥� policy, whereby energy levies are topped up by money from general taxation.

鈥淲hat industry was asking for was for more money from general taxation, and the government appears to have done the opposite,鈥� Friedler said.

鈥淲hat they鈥檙e looking like they鈥檙e doing instead is they鈥檙e just getting more money from levies鈥�.

Turner & Townsend director Richard McWilliams was more positive, describing the announcement was a 鈥渟ignal of renewed commitment to retrofit鈥�.

He added: 鈥淩educing the public sector demand for energy must be a fundamental aspect of our energy security and resilience,鈥� he said, adding that insulation measures offered a significant opportunity for job creation.

鈥淲hat we need to see now is a shift in emphasis from a retrofit funding programme to a market transformation programme 鈥� delivering a self-sustaining market for retrofitting the UK鈥檚 buildings and ensuring that the sector and the supply chain rise to meet the scale and pace of the opportunity,鈥� he said.

鈥淔riday鈥檚 announcement gave us a clear and positive declaration of intent 鈥� but we will need to be strict in our scrutiny of the details when they are revealed.鈥�