- Sally-Ann Hart has welcomed the Prime Minister’s new plan to deliver Net Zero, which will ease the financial burden of reaching Net Zero by 2050 on families and businesses in Hastings and Rye.
- The UK has over-delivered on reducing emissions, which has provided space for a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to reaching Net Zero to protect hard-working households, while maintaining our international commitments.
The Government have over-delivered on reducing commitments. And in the wake of increased pressures on the cost of living due to Putin’s war in Ukraine and Covid, we want to make sure that we both reach Net Zero and keep as much hard-earned cash as possible in people’s pockets in Hastings and Rye.
Under revised plans, the Government will:
- Move back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, so all sales of new cars from 2035 will be zero emissions. This will enable families to wait to take advantage of falling prices over the coming decade if they wish to.
- Delay the ban on installing oil and LPG boilers, and new coal heating, for off-gas-grid homes to 2035, instead of phasing them out from 2026. Many of these homes are not suitable for heat pumps, so this ensures homeowners are not having to spend around £10,000-£15,000 on upgrading their homes in just three years’ time.
- Set an exemption to the phase out of fossil fuel boilers, including gas, in 2035, so that households who will most struggle to make the switch to heat pumps or other low-carbon alternatives will not have to do so. This is expected to cover about a fifth of homes, including off-gas-grid homes – those that will need expensive retrofitting or a very large electricity connection.
- Scrap policies to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties, but instead continue to encourage households to do so where they can.
- Raise the Boiler Upgrade Grant by 50 per cent to £7,500 to help households who want to replace their gas boilers with a low-carbon alternative like a heat pump.
- Rule out policy ideas that would require people to share cars, eat less meat and dairy, be taxed to discourage their flying, or have seven bins to hit recycling targets – removing worrying proposals that would interfere in the way people live their lives.
Commenting, Sally-Ann Hart said:
“I know that residents and businesses in Hastings and Rye really care about our environment and the impact of climate change. I also know that many are also concerned about their finances during this high cost of living period.
“We need to reach Net Zero by 2050, but we must do this without placing as much financial burden on families as previous plans would have done. It is important that we balance environmental concerns with current cost considerations.
“Thanks to the Government’s plans, we will have more time, less financial burden, and the freedom to make our own choices based on our own financial capabilities. If anyone has questions about the Government’s new Net Zero plans, please do not hesitate to contact me.”