To ask the Minister for the Economy (i) for his assessment on the UK government’s plans to award £5000 grants for heat pumps ahead of the ban on new gas boiler sales in 2035; and (ii) whether he intends to implement similar policies in Northern Ireland.

On 19 October 2021 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published information on the ‘Future Support for Low Carbon Heat: Boiler Upgrade Scheme’, which is to be launched in Spring 2022. The Scheme, with a budget of £450m over three years, will provide £5,000 support for the installation of Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) and biomass boilers (in limited circumstances), and £6,000 for Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) in domestic and some non-domestic buildings.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is intended to facilitate the decarbonisation of heat and support the transition away from fossil fuels, in line with the UK’s 2050 net-zero target by helping to grow low-carbon heat supply chains and driving cost reductions across the market.

My Department is finalising a new Northern Ireland Energy Strategy, to be published before the end of 2021, that will set out the Executive’s vision of net zero carbon and affordable energy. The new Strategy will also outline the Department’s plans in relation to the gas network, as well as providing information on future plans to improve the energy efficiency of homes and encourage the installation of heat pumps and other low carbon heating solutions. A key element of the Strategy is affordability, and by taking an energy efficiency first approach and focusing on supporting the growth of low-carbon heat supply chains, the Strategy will help drive cost reductions.