The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was established in March to accelerate home insulation initiatives and boiler upgrades in homes and commercial buildings.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has decided to scrap the home energy efficiency taskforce that his government established six months ago.
The group was set up by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, to boost uptake of insulation and boiler upgrades, with a view towards reducing the country’s energy use by 15 per cent in the next seven years.
The taskforce’s members included leading experts such as the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission Sir John Armitt. The group was chaired by the energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan and Dame Alison Rose, former chief executive of NatWest. However, Rose resigned from the position – and her role within the bank – in July following a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s account.
Since its founding in March, the group met four times but was yet to make any formal recommendations. In a letter seen by the BBC, Lord Callanan told the group its work would be “streamlined” into ongoing government activity
Laura Sandys, a former Conservative MP and member of the group, said she was “disappointed” by the decision to disband it and “confused” about the government’s intentions on the cost of living.
The UK is often described as having some of the oldest and least energy-efficient housing in Europe. Currently, heating in UK homes is responsible for nearly 17 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Dhara Vyas, Energy UK’s deputy chief executive, said: “The scrapping of this taskforce launched with considerable fanfare is another sign that the government is once again failing to grasp the importance of making all our homes energy efficient.
“It makes no sense to express concern about imposing costs on households and then row back from energy efficiency measures – because by doing so you are literally making life more expensive for those most in need.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We would like to thank the Energy Efficiency Taskforce for its work in supporting our ambition to reduce total UK energy demand by 15 per cent from 2021 levels by 2030.
“We have invested £6.6bn in energy efficiency upgrades this parliament and will continue to support families in making their homes more efficient [and] helping them to cut bills while also achieving net zero in a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic way.”
The news comes only a week after Sunak announced the government would be pushing back several key climate targets, such as the ban on the sale of petrol cars and deadlines for upgrading boilers and for landlords to make their properties energy efficient.
A House of Lords committee said in February that the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme was failing because of a shortage of installers, lack of public awareness, high installation and maintenance costs and misleading messaging about the feasibility of hydrogen for home heating.
