Hunt hails ‘vital role’ for energy efficiency

Improvements to home insulation are a “vital part” of the UK’s long-term energy policy, Jeremy Hunt has said, as hopes rise that Thursday’s  Autumn budget statement will see additional cash for energy efficiency upgrades.

During question time to Treasury ministers in the House of Commons on Tuesday (15 November), the chancellor of the exchequer faced criticism by Labour about the government’s track record on energy efficiency.

Pointing to Labour’s pledge to roll out additional home insulation upgrades, shadow Treasury minister James Murray said: “When it comes to insulating homes, the government are nowhere to be seen.

“If the government had followed our plan last year, two million of the coldest homes could already have been upgraded, saving households more than £2 billion on energy bills this year alone. Home insulation should be a no-brainer.”

Murray’s criticism of the government was “not correct”, Hunt said: “We are spending billions of pounds to help hundreds of thousands of families up and down the country to insulate their homes. We completely recognise that that is a vital part of our long-term energy policy.”

Utility Week understands that energy efficiency is set to be a focus of Hunt’s Autumn statement.

The chancellor has already said in October that the Energy Price Guarantee, currently paid out on a universal basis to households, will be targeted at the neediest in society in an approach that “will better incentivise energy efficiency”.

Thursday’s statement is expected to flesh out the level of support, which will be available from next April, for customers’ energy bills.

According to reports on Wednesday, Hunt is examining raising the cap from the current Energy Price Guarantee level of £2,500 to £3,100 and use the sums saved to help support low-income households.

The government is also expected to extend the Energy Profits Levy on gas and oil windfall profits to low-carbon generation.