Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 38
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 examined, in a separate inquiry, DESNZ’s ambitions for decarbonising the power sector and concluded that it lacked an overarching delivery plan that would provide confidence to the private sector to invest in new and upgraded infrastructure. We also warned that this made it difficult for DESNZ to understand the decisions and timings it must take to achieve its ambition to decarbonise the power sector by 2035.75 Yet we observed at the time of our evidence session that DESNZ still did not have a delivery plan, despite us calling for it to produce one by autumn 2023 at the latest. DESNZ told us that it now expected it to be available in “the next couple of months”. Originally, DESNZ had planned to prepare a first draft of its delivery plan by October 2022.76
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.