Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 21
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
DESNZ does not have a single measure of the number of heat pump installations. Instead, it relies on data from a range of sources, including the number of heat pump 32 Q 21; DHH0008; DHH0010, Written evidence submitted by The Retrofit Academy, 29 April 2024; DHH0027, Written evidence submitted by Schneider Electric, 29 April 2024; DHH0033; DHH0037, Written evidence submitted by MCS Service Company, 29 April 2024 33 Qq 21, 25–28; C&AG’s Report, para 3.15 34 DHH0014, Written evidence submitted by The MCS Foundation, 29 April 2024 35 Qq 24–25; DHH0053 36 DHH0008 37 DHH0027 Decarbonising home heating 15 grants provided through government schemes, Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) installations data and heat pump sales data. Data from the Heat Pump Association indicates that some 55,000 heat pumps were sold in 2022.38 We asked DESNZ why it did not have a mechanism to measure how many heat pumps had been installed. It explained that there were “challenges”, as no one was required to tell DESNZ whether they had installed a heat pump. It considered that requiring this information would be “overly regulatory”. It also told us that not everyone who installed a heat pump was certified by the MCS, so not all installations were captured in the MCS installations data. In addition, DESNZ explained that there were significant numbers of installations taking place in the devolved administrations, which were not included in its data, and that the number of heat pumps that are installed in new build homes would not always be captured either.39
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.