HPM
NEWS
DESK AKW, a provider of accessible shower and kitchen
solutions, has appointed Ruth Ingledew as managing
director to build the company’s brand in the reduced
mobility sector.
GOVERNMENT REPORT SLATES RENEWABLE HEAT
INCENTIVE AND OFTEC CALLS FOR RADICAL OVERHAUL
A NEW REPORT ON THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
Renewable Heat Incentive
(RHI) has found the scheme
failed to meet its objectives or
provide value for the £23 billion
expected cost to tax payers.
The authoritative study,
released by the House of
Commons Public Accounts
Committee (PAC), stated that
the RHI ‘simply does not work
for households and businesses
unable to pay the high upfront
costs of renewable and lowcarbon
heating equipment’.
The report fi ndings reveal
just 60,000 renewable heating
technologies
have been installed under the
domestic RHI to date. This falls
far short of the Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy’s (BEIS) ‘wildly over
optimistic’ initial forecast of
513,000 new systems by 2020. At
the current rate of take up, the
fi gures are more likely to be just
111,000 installations.
The ‘hassle factor’ of installing
renewable heating systems was
also cited by the report as a
further reason for poor take up.
Renewable technologies such
as heat pumps often require
extensive insulation and/or
home improvements
such as larger
radiators or underfl oor
heating to work
effectively. The
report concludes
that consumers are
likely to ‘continue
favouring natural
gas and oil boilers,
which remain
relatively cheap,
easy to install
and continue to
be extremely
popular across
country’.
As a
result of low
participation,
BEIS has
cut back
spending on the RHI from its
initial target of £47 billion to £23
billion and the scheme is now
expected to make a signifi cantly
smaller contribution to the UK’s
renewable heat and carbon
reduction obligations which
have been cut by 65% and 44%
respectively.
The report also highlighted
that some RHI-funded
installations actually contribute
to air pollution. More than 28,000
biomass boilers were installed
under the scheme to August
2017 at a cost of £861 million in
payments. Yet these systems
burn wood and produce smoke
which can be damaging to air
quality. Solid fuel appliances,
which include wood burning
stoves and biomass boilers,
currently cause 38% of
particulate pollution.
Rates of non-compliance were
also said to be ‘too high’ and
the report claims BEIS ‘has no
estimate of the potential cost of
participants gaming the RHI’.
OFTEC CEO, Paul Rose, said:
“The domestic RHI, in its current
form, is not fi t for purpose. As
the PAC report clearly states,
the government has failed to
understand what consumers
want and the barriers to
participation. If the RHI is to
continue post 2021, it must be
radically overhauled.”
ROMAN AN
INSPIRING BRITISH
COMPANY
SHOWER DESIGNER AND
MANUFACTURER, ROMAN, has
been featured as one of London
Stock Exchange Group’s 1000
Companies to Inspire Britain
report.
The report is a celebration
of the UK’s fastest-growing
and most dynamic small and
medium-sized businesses
across the UK.
To be included in the list,
companies needed to show
consistent revenue growth
over a minimum of three years,
signifi cantly outperforming
their industry peers.
All Roman products are
designed and created in
Britain and the company is a
member of the Made in Britain
Organisation and displays its
Marque on all products and
literature.
David Osborne, managing
director, said: “We are very
proud to be recognised by the
London Stock Exchange in such
a way and ranked alongside so
many other great companies
“We are also proud to be a
British manufacturer and of
our achievements over the last
30 years, but particularly over
recent years. We are now set
for a period of sustained high
growth.”
www.radiatorfactory.net DISTRIBUTOR TO
THE MERCHANTS
SCAN FOR
BROCHURE
SPECIALISTS IN
BAY WINDOW RADIATORS
CAST IRON RADIATORS
DESIGNER RADIATORS
ECO-ALUMINIUM RADIATORS
TEL: 0116 260 9257
THE RADIATOR FACTORY_qs 24/06/2016 14:40 Page 1
ENQUIRY NUMBER 305
OFTEC’s Paul Rose believes the RHI, in its
current form, “is not fi t for purpose”
/www.radiatorfactory.net
