Kwarteng: GHG was one of my top 3 headaches

Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted that the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme was “too ambitious” and has pledged that the government will consult more fully on any replacement scheme.

At an event in Harpenden, organised this morning (10 September) by the Praseg all party parliamentary group, the business and energy secretary was pressed on the cancellation of the low-carbon home upgrade scheme.

The £1.5 billion scheme was the subject of a damning NAO report earlier this week, which said the way it had been set up last year had been far too rushed.

In his first in-person public event since the beginning of the pandemic last year, Kwarteng revealed that the GHG had been one of his “top three headaches” when he was promoted from energy minister to secretary of state at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) earlier this year.

The scheme had “tried to do too many things” by seeking to deliver both homes decarbonisation and a rapid economic stimulus, he said: “It was too ambitious.”

Kwarteng admitted he had personally voiced concerns with fellow ministers that the scheme had been developed too rapidly.

“Within government, one or two of us raised issued that it was too fast.”

The secretary of state pledged that the development of any replacement energy efficiency scheme would be “more collaborative”.

“I hope and believe that the next iteration will be much better and we should consult more,” he said, adding that the government had to accept that the scheme had not worked and that it must “try again with something more effective”.

At the event, Kwarteng refused to provide any further clarity on the government’s timetable for phasing out the sale of gas boilers, which has been the subject of intense speculation during Parliament’s summer recess.

He also said he is “comfortable” that the district networks will be able to cope with increased demand from electric vehicles, adding that he is more concerned about the roll out of charging points.

RWE UK country chair Tom Glover told the same event that customers are becoming increasingly impatient about the time they are cut off from electricity supplies.

While customers used to be comfortable about being cut off for up to a day, they tended now to get anxious when their mobile phones had to be charged, he said: “It is now down to four hours because we are increasingly relying on our phones.”

He added that customers’ anxiety about being disconnected will get worse as their heat and transport becomes increasingly electrified.