Draft Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) (Specified Period) Order 2026

Pippa Heylings Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 General Committees

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

The extension of the ECO scheme until December will be welcome news for the numerous insulation installers who have faced significant instability after the ECO scheme cliff-edge cut in the November Budget. However, the Liberal Democrats remain frustrated at the original decision to scrap the energy company obligation. Energy retrofit firms warned of a supply chain collapse after the Government pulled vital funding for upgrading damp, mouldy and draughty homes for the poorest households, as well as pulling funding from the small and medium-sized contractors that deliver the work. I am now hearing of thousands of redundancies among skilled installers coming down the line. What a waste and a crying shame—putting businesses and livelihoods at risk over this period.

It is also concerning that there are no carry-over arrangements for when the scheme ends. The National Insulation Association made its concerns clear in the consultation, opposing the cut and saying that any extension should come with a pro rata increase in obligation levels. Equally, the lack of detail in the warm homes plan for ECO’s replacement, with a suspected 18-month delay to delivery, means that next winter there will effectively be no operational national fuel poverty strategy. Given the middle east energy crisis, reducing energy demand is one of the best ways to help lower-income households reduce bills. Improving building fabric could cut heat demand by 15% to 20%, which would also help to reduce risk and balance the grid, reducing the peak heat gap in winter, as research by Energy Systems Catapult shows.

It is shocking that 90% of solid-wall homes are still uninsulated. That is why the Liberal Democrats keep calling for a 10-year emergency home upgrade scheme that would offer free insulation to low-income households.