Ministers preparing to slash heat pump subsidies to fund defence spending
Summary
Ministers in the UK are planning to reduce the money given to help people install heat pumps, to save over £2 billion from the energy budget. This money will be used to increase defence spending as part of a new government plan.Key Facts
- The government aims to save more than £2 billion from the energy department’s budget for defence investment.
- A significant part of these savings will come from cutting the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which provides grants up to £9,000 for households to switch to electric heat pumps.
- The BUS budget of £2.7 billion will be reduced by hundreds of millions of pounds but will not be completely cancelled.
- The scheme has helped tens of thousands of homes replace gas boilers with cleaner heat pumps.
- Some officials see the subsidy as mostly benefiting middle-class households.
- Critics warn that reducing funding could harm the growing heat pump industry and slow efforts to address climate change.
- Ministers are also expected to approve the Jackdaw gasfield to increase gas supply.
- The government previously agreed to raise defence spending by £15 billion over four years, requiring cuts in other areas like energy.
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