This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Remove environmental taxes from electricity to encourage heat pump installations
Around 23% of electricity bills are made up of environmental and social levies, including the Climate Change Levy (CCL), while these levies make up just 2% of gas bills.
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These taxes are surely a significant barrier to the decarbonisation of heat in the UK, and simply further encourage the burning of fossil fuels.
The Government needs to eliminate environmental levies on electricity to encourage people to install heat pumps without the disincentive of such high costs, to help fight climate change.
It seems impossible for the UK to even begin to achieve the Prime Minister's aim of 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028 until it eliminates the taxes on electricity that are surely discouraging heat pump installations.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Related activity
MPs publish report following findings of Climate Assembly UK
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee (a group of MPs who scrutinise the work of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) published a report last month on how the Government has responded to the UK's first citizens' assembly on climate change.
In the report MPs on the Committee said that the Government should follow the principles set out by Climate Assembly UK and ensure fairness underpins the transition to net zero.
Read an interactive summary of the report:
https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/climate-assembly-beis-committee/index.html
Read the full report:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmbeis/546/54602.htm
The Committee’s report, ‘Climate Assembly UK: where are we now?’, makes a series of recommendations to Government on public engagement and education, on deliberative democracy, and on the net zero transition, in order to capitalise on the work of Climate Assembly UK (CAUK).
The report urges the Government to come forward with the Net Zero Review as a matter of priority, and to do so along with the Net Zero Strategy, to ensure there is genuine consultation and engagement with the public, businesses and industry to drive forward efforts to decarbonise.
Climate Assembly UK
Climate Assembly UK (CAUK) was the first UK-wide citizens’ assembly on climate change, called by six Select Committees of the House of Commons to examine potential pathways to achieve the Government’s net zero target to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The outcomes of the Assembly’s discussions were presented in a report published last September, which you can read here: https://www.climateassembly.uk/report/
What happens next?
The Government now must respond to the Committee's report, which was published on 8 July 2021, within two months. The Committee will publish the Government’s response here: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/
What is the BEIS Committee?
The BEIS Committee is a cross-party group of MPs who scrutinise the policy, spending and administration of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its public bodies, including Ofgem, the Financial Reporting Council and the Climate Change Committee. The Committee is independent of the Government.
Follow the Committee on Twitter for updates on its work: https://twitter.com/CommonsBEIS
The BEIS Committee is a select committee. Find out how Select Committees work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c
Decarbonisation policies must be more ambitious to meet 2050 net zero targets, say MPs
MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee have published a report on decarbonising heat in homes.
Read the report in full: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmbeis/1038/report.html
In the report, the Committee said that historic heating policy had lacked clear and strategic direction, and that the Government must publish a heat technology road map by September 2022. The inquiry highlighted the scale, complexity and cost of decarbonising residential heat, but also the necessity of making urgent changes to the housing stock in the UK, which is one of the oldest and worst insulated in Europe.
The Committee also called on the Government to:
- Phase out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems by the mid-2030s at the latest.
- Target public funds for boiler upgrades on lower income households.
- Incentivise banks to offer low-cost loans for the switch to low carbon heating.
- Establish a low carbon apprenticeship scheme to introduce young people into the sector and focus on upskilling engineers to safeguard jobs.
- Establish a national consumer awareness campaign about the decarbonisation of heat.
What happens next?
The Government now must respond to the Committee's report, which was published on 3 February 2022, within two months. The Committee will publish the Government’s response here once it has been received: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/645/decarbonising-heat-in-homes/publications/
What is the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee?
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee scrutinises the policy, spending and administration of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its public bodies, including Ofgem, the Financial Reporting Council and the Climate Change Committee.
Find out more about the Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/
Follow the Committee on Twitter for updates on its work: https://twitter.com/beisgovuk