Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 45
45
Accepted
We recommend that the Government work with industry to increase consumer awareness of the environmental...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government work with industry to increase consumer awareness of the environmental and monetary benefits of high-quality retrofit solutions with a view to increasing the uptake of retrofit work in line with the net zero trajectory and at a time of rising energy costs. (Paragraph 220) Skills and training
Government Response Summary
The government states they are working to review and improve communications to ensure that consumers have access to the information and advice they need to make retrofit decisions. They mention the Simple Energy Advice Service (SEA) and a new heat pump online calculator.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government is working to review and improve our communications to ensure that consumers have access to the information and advice they need to make retrofit decisions that are right for them. The British Energy Security Strategy sets out some of the activities we are pursuing to help households understand how to improve the energy performance of their home, including improving labelling and product standards and launching a new energy advice service to help consumers improve the energy performance of their homes. Our Simple Energy Advice Service (SEA), launched in 2018 in response to the Government- commissioned Each Home Counts Review, provides homeowners with impartial and tailored advice on how to cut their energy Bills and make their homes greener and has been accessed by over 1.7 million users. It also provides estimates of the monetary benefits that consumers can enjoy through making improvements to their home. We are reviewing and improving our digital service. By summer we will migrate the main user journey to GOV.UK, which will help consumers navigate what can be unknown territory to improve the energy performance of their homes. BEIS have recently launched a new heat pump online calculator, a tool which helps consumers check if a heat pump could be suitable for their home. The tool has been published on GOV.UK and aims to provide tailored information to consumers about the options for changing their heating system to a heat pump. The tool has been developed as part of the government’s £16.5m Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project and includes information on suitability of people’s homes for a heat pump, as well as an indicative estimate of upfront costs. Alongside the tool, we are publishing a ‘Find a Heat Pump Installer’ guidance webpage and series of heat pump user case studies, which are linked through the tool. We are considering options to support tailored retrofit advice in local areas, and are continuing to collate and publish case studies to help consumers understand the real- world impacts of taking steps to decarbonise building energy use.