Government delays plans to unveil costly new green policy

Government delays plans to unveil costly new green policy that would ban gas boilers by 2035 as ministers battle to ease crippling costs for households

• Heat and buildings police, set for release last week, is now expected in autumn
• Could see new gas boilers banned and a tax on gas from heated buildings
• Report says Government are looking for ways to ease costs for households 
• Treasury reportedly reluctant to fund switch for lower-and-middle-income families amid concerns about backlash from Conservative MPs 

The Government has delayed plans to unveil a costly new green policy that would ban new gas boilers by 2035. 

The move comes as ministers scramble to come up with new ways to ease crippling costs for households. 

The heat and buildings policy, set for release last week, is now not expected to be published until the autumn, The Telegraph reported.

Along with banning new gas boilers by 2035, the strategy includes proposals to review the cost difference between gas and electricity as greener options like heat pumps can be more expensive to run than boilers.

Heat pumps can cost as much as £10,000, plus insulation and retrofits.  

Government may also follow in the EU’s footsteps by beginning to make plans to introduce a carbon tax on gases from heated buildings, according to The Telegraph.

Another idea under consideration is offering a payout to lower-and-middle-income families to cover the switch to green heating. 

The Government has delayed plans to unveil a costly new green policy that would ban new gas boilers by 2035. The move comes as ministers scramble to come up with new ways to ease crippling costs for households [Stock image]

However there is disagreement about whether such a move would be affordable, with the Treasury reportedly hesitant that a spending commitment could prompt a backlash from Conservative MPS, according to The Telegraph. 

‘No 10 is trying to bounce the Treasury into something a bit more populist,’ the paper reported ‘an industry source’ as saying.

The delay comes after the release of a green transport plan, which could create a national road pricing scheme as public money from fuel duty would be lost as more drivers go green.

Funds from vehicle excise duty could also decrease if people find they can no longer afford to run a car as the UK strives to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The heat and buildings policy, set for release last week, is now not expected to be published until the autumn, The Telegraph reported [Stock image]

Electric cars are exempt from road tax but this may not last as it has been suggested owners should start paying from 2025.

The Telegraph reported that the release of the Treasury’s review of where costs will fall has been repeatedly delayed amid concern that it was too negative.

The paper reported Conservative backbencher Steve Baker as saying Government needed to ‘come clean with the public if they don’t want a political disaster later’. 

‘The Government must tell the pub- lic openly, transparently and fully the cost of net zero and just how substantially our lives will be changed,’ the paper reported him as saying.

A spokesman for the Government told the paper that it had ‘always said’ plants to decarbonise heat and buildings would be set out this year.  

‘Decarbonising our homes and buildings in a fair and affordable way for consumers and the taxpayer is a key element of our strategy to achieve this goal,’ he said.

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