Rishi Sunak is under fire from his ministers with a row over the so-called “Boiler Tax” spilling over in Government as Britons are expected to pay an extra £120 a year.
Graham Stuart, the minister of state for climate, is thought to be considering his resignation after energy secretary Claire Coutinho caved in to industry opposition over the Government's Net Zero plans.
As part of the “clean heat strategy”, gas boilers will be phased out of homes and replace with around 600,000 environmentally-friendly heat pumps installed in their place annually by 2028.
This target was planned to come into effect April which boiler manufacturers would be obligated to match or swap four per cent of their boiler sales with the Net Zero devices.
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Rishi Sunak's heat pump scheme is under fire
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Manufacturers unable to meet this target could be hit with a £3,000 for every installation they fall short of.
Ahead of the heat pump scheme being rolled out, boiler firms were already hiking prices on their products to mitigate the likely impact of fines.
As a result of this, prices are forecast to jump by £120 annually which has been referred to as a “boiler tax” by the energy industry.
Most of the legislative work behind the policy has already been signed off by ministers before the target’s introduction on April 1, except tabling the statutory instrument.
Despite this, Ms Coutinho has opted to scrap the four per cent target due to concerns over potential hikes to energy bills for households.
Fellow Government ministers have voiced their outrage with former energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan telling a WhatsApp group of Tory MPs the decision will “reduce massively” the country’s chances of meeting its legally mandated target to cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035.
In response, Mr Stuart said “You are exactly right Anne-Marie. That’s why it is Government policy to go ahead with it. It’s been through write-round and the statutory instrument needs to be laid now for implementation from April 1.
“We already have the encouragement method in the form of the £7,500 subsidy. If we are to get off that over time we need to change the incentives of players in the industry and that’s what this does: increasing sales, lowering costs and driving growth. Without it I can’t see how our carbon budgets will be met and we are at severe legal risk.”
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Gas boilers will be replaced by heat pumps from April
PAPrime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously eased Net Zero targets due to concerns about target osts being pushed onto consumers.
In 2023, Mr Sunak postponed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 and axed plans to ban the sale of new gas boilers.
Households have been forced to contend with rising energy bills amid the ongoing cost of living crisis which has been partially impacted by the war in Ukraine.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman told The Times: “No decision has yet been made and we remain committed to our ambition of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.”