Ash Regan welcomes row back on forced installation of Heat Pumps

ALBA Party Holyrood leader Ash Regan has welcomed a row back on measures that sought to force households across Scotland to change their heating systems. 

In a Ministerial Statement today on a Heat in Buildings Consultation, Green Minister Patrick Harvie has halted a pledge to decarbonise 1 million homes by 2030 as he set out his draft strategy for cleaning up how buildings are heated by pushing a move to heat pumps.

Commenting ALBA Party Holyrood leader Ash Regan MSP said: 

"I welcome that households are now not going to be forced to remove perfectly good heating systems from their properties long before they are past their natural lifespan. This is particularly welcome in my constituentcase where in tenemental properties this simply is not workable - something we can already see from the fact that anyone not living on the ground floor of a flat is not eligible for the installation of a heat pump to replace their gas boiler. 

"However, it is increasingly concerning that many in Government do not understand the meaning of “Net Zero”. It does not mean an absolute zero in Carbon emissions but a Net position of zero from what we put into the atmosphere and what we are doing to mitigate it. 

"The Scottish Government should be putting more focus on the UK Government’s abject failure to invest in Carbon Capture projects at scale, or the failure to impose net zero requirements on new Oil & Gas extraction as opposed to putting in place non-costed and unreasonable burdens on ordinary households.”