Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 44
44
Rejected
Paragraph: 247
The Energy Bills Support Scheme and the subsequent Energy Price Guarantee have provided badly-needed support...
Recommendation
The Energy Bills Support Scheme and the subsequent Energy Price Guarantee have provided badly-needed support for billpayers, saving four million households from fuel poverty. While we welcome the support the Government has provided, we note that currently it will only help eligible households through two winters. It will not deliver the energy efficiency measures which will lead to permanently lower energy bills. We call on the newly announced Energy Efficiency Taskforce to work with the Chancellor to allocate a proportion of the Energy Profits Levy revenue in the current Parliament to increasing energy efficiency investments, targeting these investments at the most vulnerable to lower permanently the costs of heating their homes. This additional investment should also fulfil the Government’s 2019 manifesto commitment to expenditure of £9 billion on energy efficiency in this Parliament.
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation due to fiscal sustainability concerns regarding the use of EPL revenue for a hypothecated fund, citing the volatility of projections of EPL revenues and the constraining impact on the management of public finances.
Paragraph Reference:
247
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The Government would have considerable fiscal sustainability concerns with regards to the use of EPL revenue for a hypothecated fund for energy efficiency investments, mostly due to the volatility of projections of EPL revenues as well the constraining impact on the management of public finances.