Jeremy Hunt urged to handle vitality payments ‘scandal’ in Spring Budget this week
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ought to use his Spring Budget to handle the “scandal” that many Britons are struggling to pay their energy bills, an skilled has stated.
Thomas Farquhar, co-founder of fresh tech enterprise Heatio, informed Express.co.uk: “It’s a scandal that there are thousands of UK households who have to choose between heating or eating.
“With such potential in low-cost, safe renewable vitality, gasoline poverty must be eradicated and there are particular issues the Government might change or introduce on this Spring Budget to assist so many extra individuals.”
Mr Farquhar said one policy the Chancellor should bring is to change council tax bands to reflect a home’s energy efficiency, encouraging people to switch to cheaper, low-carbon energy.
He explained: “At the second, you’ll be able to have two an identical homes side-by-side, but one house is well-insulated, vitality environment friendly and makes use of renewable expertise and the opposite is working on an previous oil or gasoline boiler.
“The UK still fits 1.7 million fossil fuel boilers every year but only one per cent of households have an energy efficient heat pump.
“If you wish to encourage extra shoppers to change to cheaper, low carbon vitality within the dwelling then a decrease band on a council tax invoice is a straightforward incentive that everybody understands.”
He also urged Mr Hunt to retain the clean heat market mechanism policy, which aims to bring down the price of heat pumps by encouraging manufacturers to sell more of them.
The energy expert said: “We’ve heard whispers that it may very well be scrapped and from our viewpoint, this might be a whole waste of potential and additional kicking of the can down the street.
“This policy needs to stay in place and be robustly enforced to ensure a smooth and efficient transition to cheaper, cleaner more secure energy for consumers.”
Turning to the subject of internet zero, Mr Farquhar stated this must be handled as a “national security issue” that cuts by political divisions.
He stated: “Above all, this budget needs long-term thinking that will drive adoption of clean energy technologies that will bring down people’s energy bills.
“We are being left behind the remainder of Europe within the transition to cheaper, safer and cleaner vitality in properties and as an alternative we’re shopping for the gasoline they don’t need or want.
“The Spring Budget needs to help us catch up before the next spike in energy.”
For the newest private finance news, observe us on Twitter at @ExpressMoney_.