Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 34
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)
Hydrogen UK and the National Audit Office reported that there was also uncertainty over the future role of the gas networks, if it is decided that hydrogen has a limited role and electricity becomes the main energy source.69 This included questions over who will pay for the networks to either continue in service if there is a decreasing customer base, or to be decommissioned. We asked DESNZ about potential funding options, including whether decommissioning would be funded by the taxpayer, the gas networks or a levy on customers or other energy users. DESNZ recognised that “there are all sorts of things you could look at” and that it would need to strike a balance between “current and future, and timing decisions”. In October 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission estimated that the cost of decommissioning the gas networks would be £25 billion. DESNZ said that it will be examining the costs as part of its strategic decisions on hydrogen.70
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.