Cuts to energy efficiency to hit employment and investment

Almost all of these have involved significant cutbacks in the levels of support, and hence employment and investment.

The Coalition flagship policy the Green Deal- originally promoted before the 2010 General Election by the shadow Conservative energy secretary Greg Clark (now the Communities Secretary) – has been scrapped. The Green Deal Finance Company will enter into no new contracts beyond the 16,500 already signed. Conservative Energy Minister Greg (now Lord) Barker had promised in 2011 the biggest home improvement programme since 1945, reaching 15m homes.

Simultaneously, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund has been axed, despite its regular over-subscription – and with only 33 per cent of its original budget allocated. It was introduced specifically to replace the anticipated 2.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide savings “lost” when the 2013/17 Energy Company Obligation scheme was cut by one-third as part of the Prime Minister’s infamous “get rid of the Green Crap” diktat.

The consequence of that is that, 18 months before it is due to end, almost all energy companies have fulfilled all their obligations under this scheme. This ensures that 2016 will be an even more barren year for residential installations in existing homes.

The Government has promised new strategies for both residential and industrial/commercial energy efficiency delivery this autumn. They may even be prepared to publish these when Parliament is sitting, and in a position to examine their likely effectiveness.

To read the full article see the latest September edition of EiBI.