Nesta has welcomed the UK government’s announcement that it will devolve elements of the Warm Homes Plan. However, the foundation warned that going further and devolving a key heat pump grant scheme would be a mistake, in a new blog by Andrew Sissons, director in Nesta’s sustainable future mission.
At Labour Party Conference, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh announced on Monday 28 September that she would devolve the Warm Homes Plan. This is the UK government’s £15bn funding pot for upgrading homes.
In the new blog, Andrew outlined how having mayors and strategic authorities in charge of upgrading home energy and heating “makes a lot of sense”.
But he warned that in its drive to devolve, the government should avoid devolving the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).
Andrew said that devolving heat pump subsidies to local authorities could “would effectively mean ending” the UK’s most successful low-carbon heating scheme. He cited challenges around allocating funding, creating uncertainty within the heat pump industry and making it more difficult for consumers, while making a case for how the BUS could be made to work better for local authorities.