Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department assessed the environmental impact of increasing VAT on materials used for solar installations prior to making that decision.

The Government is committed to greening our economy and designed the changes for energy-saving materials to retain as much of the VAT relief as possible for UK households, while complying with EU law. It is anticipated these changes will have a negligible environmental impact.

While the UK remains a member of the EU, the Government is obliged to make these changes. It may be possible to amend these rules once the UK has left the EU.