Comment: Chancellor statement on energy efficiency measures
8 July 2020
Chair's comment
Commenting on the Chancellor's statement and the investment in energy efficiency measures, Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Philip Dunne, said:
"From business groups to environmentalists, the Climate Assembly to Members of Parliament, calls to the Government on greening the economic recovery seem to have resonated.
I welcome the Chancellor's £3bn funding of both grants for hundreds of thousands of homes to be insulated; and for hospitals, schools and other public buildings to become more energy efficient supporting green jobs.
The £2bn allocated to improving energy efficiency in homes does appear to just be a one year funding commitment that the Government has said can make 650,000 homes more energy efficient. There needs to be a long-term, sustainable approach that can help improve the energy efficiency of the 19m UK homes EPC rated D or worse.
Today's measures are a promising start – kick-starting the retrofitting of British buildings and the estimated 140,000 jobs this will create.
It is imperative this momentum is built upon in the Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review this Autumn, particularly as time is running out to make lasting policy decisions that will ensure the UK leads by example at COP26 and meets its own legal commitment of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
Further information
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