Government urged to fund £1,000 grants for green re-fitting of homes

The UK Government has been urged to fund grants of £1,000 per person to help with re-fitting homes and businesses to deal with the energy crisis, a think tank has said.Our Scottish Future, set up by former prime minister Gordon Brown, released a report on Wednesday calling for the UK Government to use money from the energy price guarantee to fund the shift, with its author saying high energy prices were ‘here to stay’.Dr Pete Wood, who was commissioned to write the report, said the best way to slash energy costs was to reduce the amount of energy that was needed. High gas and electricity prices are here to stay, which means that unless the UK takes new action next year we could see energy prices bring down the government – againThrough the implementation of personal energy and carbon reduction accounts (Pecras), worth about £40.4 billion, which would be used to insulate homes and businesses, move to heat pumps and other energy saving techniques to reduce UK demand.’This year, the Government stepped in to cap the worst excesses of energy bills, against predictions that households could face average bills of over £6,500,’ Dr Wood said.’But high gas and electricity prices are here to stay, which means that unless the UK takes new action next year we could see energy prices bring down the Government – again.’Either we continue the energy price cap at a cost upwards of £100 billion or we try something more imaginative.”We propose in this paper that the Government offers grants of £1,000 per person to support homes and businesses to refit boilers, lag lofts, and improve energy efficiency.’Regional mayors and local government would be responsible for bringing communities and businesses together, to tailor solutions fit for local needs.’That way, rather than spending billions to cap the price of gas, with the money going to oil and gas companies, we spend billions reducing our need for it.’The report also suggests the establishment of an energy price council, which would be a joint venture between the UK Government and devolved administrations tasked with keeping costs low.This also comes alongside the creation of what Dr Wood called ‘net-zero furlough’ – a scheme that would pay people working in certain industries to undertake retraining, allowing them to take time away from work.