This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Fund and require the insulation of all social housing by 2025
To immediately commit to enact within four months a legally binding national plan to fully fund and require social housing providers to insulate all social housing in England, for a just transition towards full decarbonisation of all parts of society and the economy.
More details
The UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) made clear that reductions in carbon emissions from housing have "stalled" and that "we cannot meet our climate objectives without a major improvement in UK housing" (2019).
Poor quality housing is bad for people's health and wellbeing. An estimated spend of £10 billion to improve the 'poor' housing in England could save the NHS £1.4 billion p.a. and has been estimated to pay for itself in just over seven years and then accrue further benefits (CCC 2019)
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Related activity
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
Government responds to public petition about the cost of living
The Government has responded to a public (paper) petition about the cost of living. The petition was presented to the House of Commons by Preet Kaur Gill MP on behalf of residents of Birmingham.
Read the petition and the Government's response
The petition asks the Government to take action to help people who have been affected by the rise in energy, mortgage and rental costs by:
- Extending the windfall tax for energy companies to cover the capping of prices
- Insulating homes
- Lowering interest rates for mortgages
- Protect renters
In response to the petition's requests, the Government states that it understands that people across the UK are worried about the cost of living and recognise the challenges facing households, and that it has taken decisive action to support households across the UK.
In repose to the petitioners points about extending the windfall tax on energy companies and insulating homes, the Government states that it increased the amount of tax it collects from the profits of energy companies by from 25% to 35%, and that households in council tax bands A-D in poorly insulated homes in England are eligible to apply for support with insulation costs via the Great British insulation scheme.
Find out more about public (paper) petitions