Scrapping green policy 'will increase energy bills'

The Glass and Glazing Federationsaid energy efficiency is the only sure way to protect households against rising bills in the long-term.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the GGF said rolling back the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) designed to improve the energy efficiency of vulnerable and low income households would have “severe consequences” for jobs and growth.

Last week David Cameron told the House of Commons: “We need to roll back some of the green regulations and charges that are putting up bills.”

In the letter, Nigel Rees, GGF Chief Executive, urged Mr. Cameron to consider using additional incentives such as Stamp Duty rebates and Council Tax reductions to encourage uptake of the Green Deal, which could help reduce the cost of ECO.

“Green Deal is struggling to make any impact with poor uptake since its launch in January this year,” he wrote.

“ECO is proving to be quite successful with over 200,000 measures already installed. To remove or reduce ECO would be a disastrous move for all concerned.”

In addition, the GGFwants energy efficient windows brought in line with other energy efficient products with a VAT rate from 20% to 5%.

“It’s hard to understand why energy efficient windows are not on the approved list of energy efficient products that qualify for the reduced tax rate of 5%, when you consider the amount of energy lost through inefficient windows and also the industry investment in technological innovations to increase energy efficiency,” Mr Rees told the Prime Minister.

Labour leader Ed Miliband accused Mr Cameron of “a panicky U-turn” on green taxes and other measures.

A recent Mail on Sunday poll by Survation found 61% back cutting "green taxes" and 11% disagreed.