Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Public Accounts Committee report on renewable heat incentive in Great Britain published on 16 May 2018, what steps his Department is taking to identify low cost heat alternatives for off-grid homes.

Decarbonising heat in buildings, making buildings more energy efficient, and identifying cost-effective fossil fuel alternatives for off-grid homes, is a priority for this Government. The Clean Growth Grand Challenge of our modern Industrial Strategy aims to maximise the advantages from the global shift to clean growth for UK industry. In May, the Prime Minister announced the first mission of the Grand Challenge, to halve the energy used in new buildings by 2030, and reduce the costs of energy efficiency measures in existing buildings. This complements the Clean Growth Strategy, where we have committed to phasing out high carbon heating, by 2030, starting with new build. Off-grid homes are key to making these policies a success.

The Public Accounts Committee report on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in Great Britain identified that the higher upfront costs of low carbon technologies could be a barrier to participating in the RHI scheme. In response, the Department introduced new regulations, which came into force on 27 June 2018, allowing householders to assign their right to RHI payments to a third party that has paid for all, or part, of their renewable heating system.

Beyond the RHI, which has funding agreed out to 2021, the Department intends to design and implement a clear framework through to the 2030s for domestic and non-domestic buildings off the gas grid. From 19 March to 11 June 2018 we held a public Call for Evidence as a first step in developing this policy framework. The Department is now analysing the evidence received in response to this document and aims to publish a response to the Call for Evidence later in 2018.