Deal to cut energy bills 'will cause 20,000 job losses and 50,000 homes to go uninsulated'

Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s shadow energy and climate change secretary, said: “Thousands of households will be left in the cold because of the Government’s dirty deal with the energy companies.

"The best way to cut people's energy bills is to invest in insulation and save the energy that escapes through our windows, walls and rooftops. But instead of making the energy companies honour their obligations, David Cameron has let them off the hook."

A separate report on Wednesday by think-tank IPPR says that if the cut to Eco targets - which is still out to consultation - is implemented, 20,000 jobs may be lost in the solid wall insulation industry and supply chain.

The number of jobs supported by solid wall insulation schemes would fall from 28,000 in 2012 to 8,100.

"Insulating solid wall properties is not a ‘nice to have’. It’s essential to limit rising energy costs, reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. It also creates employment for thousands of workers," Reg Platt, the IPPR's senior research fellow said.

"If the government wants to bring down energy bills and keep the jobs that already exist, it should rethink its plans to cut the support it provides for households wishing to insulate their homes."

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "In December the Government announced an additional £540m to make Britain’s homes more energy efficient, alongside changes to the Eco scheme, which protected the help available to vulnerable households and extended the scheme for an extra two years.

“Those changes will ensure that energy efficiency measures are more effectively targeted at homes which will benefit most, alongside a range of incentives for people to make permanent improvements, which will keep their homes warmer and their bills lower.”

The extra £540m funding and extension of the scheme would also "mean work and jobs for the industry" and give industry "more certainty", they added.

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