MIMA comments on today’s Spring Budget
MIMA is encouraged to hear the Chancellor’s commitment to addressing the productivity challenge and protecting living standards, however there is a “win win” solution clearly missing from this Budget.
By making the energy efficiency of our homes and our buildings a national infrastructure priority, the Government could secure clear economic and social benefits - from boosting the UK economy with increased productivity, investment and employment to improving our homes and communities.
GDP growth and tax-take benefits have been well-documented by Cambridge Econometrics and Verco finding that for every £1 invested in energy efficiency there is a £3.20 return to the Economy with an increase in employment in the sector from 120,000 to 260,000 people. In addition Frontier Economics has shown that such a national infrastructure programme of investment in the energy efficiency of our buildings will deliver major economic and social benefits worth at least £8.7 billion over ten years. It also ticks all the boxes of the government’s eligibility criteria and matches up competitively against alternatives such as HS2 and road building.
With a focus on greater energy security for the UK, the Government will be in a position to protect UK consumers from energy price volatility in the long term whilst lifting those more vulnerable out of fuel poverty and ensuring the benefits of better health and wellbeing with warmer homes and lower fuel bills. Hammond would be truly protecting but also raising living standards.
Sarah Kostense-Winterton, MIMA’s Executive Director comments, “Chancellor Hammond has the opportunity to deliver huge value for the UK in terms of reduced household energy bills, energy security and job creation. However If the Chancellor is to succeed in grasping the productivity challenge within the context of Brexit, deliver on its carbon emissions reduction commitments, and also raise living standards, then the UK needs a long-term, workable and sustainable energy efficiency policy that would work for everyone not just the few.”
