Page 6 - Gi_April2021

industry & Government news

DIGEST unable to get paid.
In a parliamentary answer, the
government confirmed only £94.1
million of the £1.5 billion allocated for
homes in England until April has so far
been spent.
Mr Dunne said: “The Green Homes
Grant scheme is a good idea, but its
implementation has been woeful.”
He said the scheme designed to create
jobs and improve energy efficiency had
turned into a “job destruction” scheme
because so many builders laid off their
workers when government payments did
not come through.
Mr Dunne said the project had been
devised with too much bureaucracy
because Treasury officials did not want
a repeat of Northern Ireland’s Northern
Ireland’s “cash for ash” renewable heat
scheme, where millions of pounds were
THE PROGRAMME HAS BEEN lost because rules were badly devised.
HEAVILY CRITICISED As a result of the red tape, he said,
small builders in the Federation of
DON’T RAID HOME INSULATION Master Builders were reluctant to apply
for accreditation.
Mr Dunne said out of 7,400
SCHEME, MPS URGE MINISTERS members of the federation, only three
had been accredited.
A government spokesman said
the Treasury was examining ways
MPS ARE COMPLAINING that the need a long-term commitment to helping to fund the UK’s transition to net
Treasury is set to claw back money from people insulate their homes – at the very zero emissions and ministers were
a mismanaged government scheme to least until the end of this Parliament. “committed to building back better and
help people insulate their homes. “We (Conservatives) promised £9.2 greener from the pandemic”.
The Green Homes Grant scheme is billion for energy efficiency in our The Prime Minister’s recently
in such chaos that a huge majority of manifesto – and we have to deliver announced 10-point climate change
its £1.5 billion budget for this year is that or we won’t reach our climate plan will “put the UK at the forefront of
unspent, reports the BBC. change targets.” the global green industrial revolution
The government has said it will The government’s advisory Climate and create hundreds of thousands of
pocket that money, rather than rolling it Change Committee says even more - green jobs,” the spokesman added.
over to next year’s £320 million fund. £2 billion of public money a year - is “We continue to bring forward bold
But the Environmental Audit needed until 2030. measures to cut emissions, with plans
Committee says that would be a “deeply The current green homes programme to invest £9 billion in improving the
retrograde step”. has been heavily criticised, with energy efficiency of buildings forming
Conservative MP Philip Dunne, who householders unable to get quotes from part of our wider commitment to end our
chairs the committee, told the BBC: “We registered contractors and the firms contribution to climate change by 2050.”

UK’S FIRST HYDROGEN-FUELLED HOUSES TO BE BUILT

THE UK’S FIRST homes with students at local schools, colleges and The project is linked to a wider
household appliances fuelled entirely universities, to demonstrate how the scheme which could see the UK’s first
by hydrogen are set to be built in appliances compare to natural gas. ‘hydrogen neighbourhood’, and to the
Low Thornley, Gateshead, as part of a They will use 100 per cent hydrogen development of plans for a potential
North East “green revolution”. for domestic heating and cooking in hydrogen town before the end of
The two semi-detached homes will appliances including boilers, hobs, the decade. It may not be too long
open in April 2021 and are intended cookers and fires. before the gas is available in ordinary
to show how hydrogen can be used as Unlike natural gas, which is homes – a 2018 report by Northern
a clean replacement to natural gas for responsible for over 30 per cent of Gas Networks called for more than
our heating, cooking and hot water. the UK’s carbon emissions, hydrogen 700,000 homes across Tyneside and
The houses will be open for produces no carbon at the point of Teesside to be converted to run on
viewing by the public, as well as use. Its only by-product is water. hydrogen by 2034.

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