Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
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)
DESNZ recognised that the cost of running heat pumps was also a key barrier to heat pump adoption. It explained that, as they are based on electricity, heat pumps are more expensive to run than fossil fuel boilers because of the cost of electricity is higher than gas.17 This view was supported by written evidence to our inquiry from some energy suppliers including Good Energy and Octopus Energy; a consumer campaign group, Fuel Poverty Action; and Energy UK.18 In their written evidence, the Heat Pump Association and the MCS Foundation told us that the UK’s price ratio between electricity and gas prices of 4:1 was one of the highest in Europe.19 Both EDF Energy and the MCS Foundation explained that this disparity was partly due to the government levying a large proportion of its environmental policy costs on electricity bills, such as schemes to support renewable energy development and energy efficiency. The MCS Foundation added that, for a standard direct debit customer, 16% of their electricity bill will be made up of these levies, compared to only 5% of their gas bill.20 DESNZ explained that although electricity was about four times per unit more expensive than gas, this was offset by the fact that heat pumps were three times as efficient as gas boilers, which “helps a lot”.21
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.