UK Inquiry Tracker

Decarbonising home heating

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 22 Mar 2024 Closed: 29 May 2024 Parliament page

Home heating made up 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. In October of the same year, the Government published its Heat and Buildings Strategy, which has the ambition to end the installation of new fossil fuel boilers by 2035. It also commits to growing the supply chain … Read more Home heating made up 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. In October of the same year, the Government published its Heat and Buildings Strategy, which has the ambition to end the installation of new fossil fuel boilers by 2035. It also commits to growing the supply chain for heat pumps to a minimum market capacity of 600,000 installations per year by 2028 – an eleven-fold increase from 55,000 heat pump sales in 2022. Heat pumps and heat networks are envisaged by Government as the primary low-carbon technology for the decarbonisation of home heating over the next decade. It also set 2026 as the year by which evidence would be developed to inform decisions on the future role of hydrogen in home heating. In March 2024, the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on progress in decarbonising home heating found that trials of hydrogen schemes intended to support government decision-making are either delayed or cancelled. It also found that the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme has achieved a lower than expected uptake, with expectations for the increase in heat pump installations by 2028 based on optimistic assumptions. The Committee’s reports on the Renewable Heat Incentive (2018) and the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme (2021) found that both schemes underperformed, provided poor value for money, and were also based on over-optimistic promises. Based on the NAO report, the Committee will hear from senior officials at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), on how Government intends to deliver emission reductions in home heating, which will be key to meeting the overall target to achieve net zero by 2050. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on 10 April 2024. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. This inquiry was closed due to the 2024 General Election. Show less

16 Recommendations

23 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 5 events

11 Jul
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-seventh report from Session 2023-24

26 May
2024

Report published

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonising home heating

8 May
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from Richard Warren, Director of Public Affairs, The Kensa Group, re Decarbonising Home Heating, dated 1 May 2024

24 Apr
2024

Oral evidence

Decarbonising home heating

24 Apr
2024

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Decarbonising home heating

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

24 Apr 2024

View on parliament.uk

Decarbonising home heating

Ben Rimmington · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero David Capper · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Jeremy Pocklington CB · Ministry of Defence

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonising home heating	HC 653	26 May 2024	39	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

5 results

14 Recommendation Accepted in Part

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonis…

Conflicting advice on 'fabric first' approach creates confusion for households regarding insulation.

While some organisations advocated a ‘fabric first’ approach, which involves improving the thermal performance of materials in a building prior to installing a heat pump, others suggested that it is not necessary, making it difficult for households to determine cost- … Read more

Government Response

Government agrees with the recommendation and is making specific improvements to its Heat Pump Home Suitability tool, including advice on insulation and energy efficiency measures, to help households determine cost-effective options.

HM Treasury

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16 Recommendation Accepted in Part

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonis…

Homeowners lack impartial, personalised advice for decarbonising homes, finding the process confusing.

In response to our question about how DESNZ ensured customers had access to proper information to make decisions about investment and running costs, the Department explained that it provided information through its online tools on heat pump suitability and retrofit … Read more

Government Response

Government agrees with the recommendation and is making specific improvements to its Heat Pump Home Suitability tool to provide better information, while also stating broader improvements will be set out in the Warm Homes Plan.

HM Treasury

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20 Recommendation Accepted in Part

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonis…

Insufficient incentives hinder retraining 110,000 gas heating engineers for heat pump installations.

We heard from DESNZ that a key challenge will be to retrain around 110,000 existing gas heating engineers to install heat pumps. Centrica, an energy company and low carbon heating installer, agreed that it was “vital” to focus on retraining … Read more

Government Response

Government agrees with the recommendation and highlights existing training grants, updated apprenticeships, and the establishment of a new Office for Clean Energy Jobs, but defers decisions on future training incentives to the Spending Review 2025.

HM Treasury

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21 Conclusion Accepted in Part

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonis…

DESNZ lacks a comprehensive, single measure for tracking total heat pump installations.

DESNZ does not have a single measure of the number of heat pump installations. Instead, it relies on data from a range of sources, including the number of heat pump 32 Q 21; DHH0008; DHH0010, Written evidence submitted by The … Read more

Government Response

The government commits to publishing quarterly data for retrofit installations using government funding. However, for new build and non-government funded installations, it is only investigating mechanisms to collect data and cannot yet commit to doing so.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Accepted in Part

Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonis…

DESNZ is developing improved data series and dashboards to monitor heat pump progress.

DESNZ told us that it was looking to produce a more regular data series that it could publish by combining some of its data sources. It was also developing a dashboard that will show the number of heat pumps installed … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees to publish quarterly data for retrofit installations funded by the government by Winter 2024. However, it is still investigating methods to collect and publish data for new build and non-government funded installations, unable to commit until a suitable mechanism is found.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 39 of 16 classified

Accepted 11

Accepted in Part 5

Acknowledged 9

Deferred 11

Rejected 3

Total 16 recs + 23 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

8 May 2024 Correspondence from Richard Warren, Director of Public Affairs, The Kensa Group, re Decarbonising Home Heating, dated 1 May 2024

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