Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 33
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)
We asked DESNZ if it was aware of the level of uncertainty for industry given that an increasing number of businesses do not know what the government’s position is on heat decarbonisation. DESNZ told us that it needed to “take decisions in the right order at the right time” and, in its view, it remained the case that a decision on hydrogen should be taken in 2026. It told us that there was a risk that taking decisions earlier could result in it becoming locked into a “suboptimal path”.67 In contrast, the NAO and written submissions to our inquiry from Hydrogen UK, Good Energy and Octopus Energy have called for the government to consider bringing forward some aspects of its decision on hydrogen.68
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.