No10 draws up mass insulation plan to ease soaring energy bills

HUNDREDS of thousands of homes could have insulation paid for by the Government before winter to protect families from the rising cost of living.

Ministers want to move £1billion away from existing energy saving measures to fund the plan – known as the Great British Insulation Scheme. No decisions have been confirmed but a government official said that No10 was looking at new ways to make homes cheaper to heat.

Cash could be diverted from either the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme or the Boiler upgrade

Scheme, The Times reported. under the insulation plans the Government will top up the Energy Company Obligation, a fund for poorer households levied from energy bills.

The scheme, which has paid for more than 3.5 million improvements in 2.4 million properties since 2013, could now be expanded.

Chris Skidmore, the Tory MP for Kingswood and founder of the Net Zero Support Group, said that

investment that would permanently bring down energy bills was the right approach.

Craig Mackinlay, a Tory MP and chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, said: ‘I am pleased that the Government will focus on insulation to reduce domestic energy use and cost ... If the money is diverted away from nonsensical greenwash projects that don’t work I’ll be even more pleased.’

A government spokesman said: ‘We’re investing £6.6billion in total this parliament to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings ... benefiting tens of thousands of homes and delivering savings of £300 a year on average on their energy bills.’