Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonising home heating
Published 26 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Decarbonising home heating All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We asked DESNZ whether heat pumps were being installed by people who may have switched to a heat pump anyway, particularly more affluent households. DESNZ accepted that the universal nature of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme raised a prospect of “deadweight”, with some recipients able to afford to install a heat pump even without the grant, but explained that it decided to have a flat-rate scheme for “simplicity” rather than linking grants to income. It told us that it believed that its approach was supported by the increase in applications since the grant uplift. DESNZ is evaluating uptake of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant among different socio-economic groups, for which interim results are due in the second half of 2024.16
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Seventh Report - Decarbonising home heating (HC 653), 26 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 26 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations on decarbonising home heating, some with target dates still "to be confirmed", and disagrees with one, on gas network decommissioning.
- On heat pump running costs, the government agrees with the recommendation, but implementation is "dependent on further steers from new ministers" and no date is set. It says it "is considering" the best way to bring costs down.
- On installer numbers, the government agrees, with a target of Summer 2025. It says decisions on future training support "will form part of Spending Review 2025 (SR25)", as the Heat Training Grant is funded until April 2025.
- On data, the government agrees to publish quarterly data on retrofit installations using government funding, with a target of Winter 2024. It "cannot commit" to publishing data on new builds or unfunded installations "until a suitable mechanism is found".
- The government disagrees with the recommendation to set out gas network decommissioning arrangements by end-June 2025, saying a full assessment "will require more time". It says it is "currently exploring ways" to facilitate the transition.