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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the statement in the Answer to Question 255264 on 24 May 2019 that there is no evidence that boilers with an efficiency below 92 per cent continued to be sold beyond the coming into force date of the current standards, with the statement in Answer to Question 245593 on 1 May 2019 that only the majority of boilers on the market met or exceeded the minimum efficiency requirement of 92 per cent when the new standards were introduced.

The statements made with respect to these two questions are fully compatible. The 2016 consultation asked the boiler industry what would be an appropriate lead-in period to allow traders to make preparations, such as clearing old stock, ahead of new standards coming into force. A majority of respondents stated that three months would be sufficient. The government provided a six month lead-in period, to ensure that adequate time was allowed for all market participants.