NEWS | DIGEST Coalition calls for heat-pump deal A group of companies, energy suppliers, environmental campaigners and anti-poverty groups have backed a Fair Heat Deal to manage the switch from gas boilers to heat pumps. The coalition is urging the government to make sure heat pumps are affordable to install and operate for all households, and to provide them free of charge to low-income households. It says a Fair Heat Deal could help stimulate the heat pump market and, by accelerating take up, subsidies could be reduced quickly. The Fair Heat Deal would include: removal of environmental levies from electricity bills to ensure heat pumps are cheaper to run; grants to equalise the cost of a new heat pump with a gas boiler; financial incentives, including zero VAT on green home products and installation; and green Stamp Duty to reduce the cost of low carbon homes. The group also wants a Warm Homes Agency to train installers, create jobs and maintain standards to protect consumers. Planning for beauty is vague and unworkable, say MPs Committee criticises government for lack of detail in its proposed reforms A group of MPs has urged the government to rethink its plans to shake up the planning system. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said the proposal to Building Better Building Beautiful Commission should also be abandoned, dubbing it unworkable and vague. It criticised the lack of detail contained in the governments White Paper on the future of the planning system, adding that beauty was other important aspects of design. The committee said that, historically, the role of good design had been undervalued and too many new housing developments should not have been built because they were poorly designed and shoddily constructed. It called on the government to ensure local planning authorities were given the resources to employ more specialists to help address design issues. The governments aim of developing a planning system that enables buildings to be built more quickly and with greater input from local communities is welcome, but it is far from clear how the current proposals will achieve this, said committee chair Clive Betts, who criticised the three areas proposal that makes assumptions for designated areas of renewal, growth and protection. IMAX XTRA 2 The UKs experts in commercial heating EXPERTS Total plant room solutions by Ideal Heating and ACV UK idealheating.com welcome to our ideology 10 July 2021 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE July 21 pp10-11 News.indd 10 25/06/2021 16:11