The £ 1.5 billion program at the center of Boris Johnson’s pledge to deconstruct better has been in trouble since it launched
Fiona Harvey Environment Correspondent Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:00 PM EDT
The government has scrapped its flagship green house subsidy program, the centerpiece of Boris Johnson’s promise to “greener back down” a little over six months after his start from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The abandonment of the £ 1.5 billion program that gave households grants of up to £ 5,000 or £ 10,000 for insulation or low-carbon heating leaves the UK with no plan to tackle one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Anyone whose voucher applications have been accepted under the program will receive owed money, but no new applications will be accepted after the end of this month.
Green activists said the abolition of the program – the only major green incentive policy announced by the government to date that was originally intended to create tens of thousands of green jobs – was a blow as the government prepared to host major UN climate negotiations the name of Cop26 to be held this November.
Ed Matthew, campaign manager at E3G ThinTank, told the Observer, “The decline of the Green Home Grant is an embarrassment [before Cop26]and a disaster for Britain, which is on its way to zero [carbon emissions]. Emissions from buildings and traffic have decreased over the past 10 years. If we don’t have programs to address this, we have no hope of reaching the net zero goal. “
The green house grant has gotten into trouble since it was launched last September, after being announced in July as a central part of the government’s drive to “rebuild better” and create new green jobs to help the economy shake off recover from the pandemic. By the end of February there had been more than 123,000 applications for the grant, but only 28,000 vouchers were issued and only 5,800 energy efficiency measures were installed.
Builders complained of excessive red tape registering for the system while households were struggling to gain access. A US company was hired to manage the grants, but a Guardian investigation found numerous people were unable to get a response. Many people received conflicting advice while builders complained that regulations were hindering heat pump systems in particular.
Last week, a select committee of MPs gave a damned assessment that the system was “botched.” [in] Implementation … the administration seems downright catastrophic ”. Far from creating new green jobs as promised, the Environmental Audit Committee found that some builders had laid off staff due to problems with the system. The MPs recommended an urgent overhaul.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/27/uk-government-scraps-green-homes-grant-after-six-months
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