The government’s energy efficiency taskforce, charged with reducing the UK’s energy use by 15% by 2030, has been scrapped months after it was established.
The group, which was overseeing an initiative to insulate homes and upgrade boilers, was announced by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in his autumn statement last year as part of plans to boost investment in energy efficiency.
Since it was set up in March, its membership – which included the UK’s infrastructure chief, Sir John Armitt – has met four times.
It was chaired by the energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan and former NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose.
Rose resigned from the banking group in July after a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s accounts with the private bank Coutts.
She quit the taskforce the same month, after a request from then energy security secretary, Grant Shapps.
But, as first reported by the BBC, a letter was sent to members of the group on Friday in which Callanan said Rose would not be replaced and the group would be dissolved.
He told members their work had been “hugely valuable” but would be “streamlined” into other government activity.
Downing Street was directing inquiries to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the department said it would “like to thank the energy efficiency taskforce for its work in supporting our ambition to reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030”.
The move follows the decision by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to water down key green measures earlier this week.
In one of his biggest policy changes since taking office, Sunak confirmed he planned to push back the deadlines for banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of gas boilers.
His announcement was met with despair by climate scientists and environmental experts, who said it would cost consumers more in the long run and threaten the UK’s global leadership on the issue.
Confirming its formation in March, the government said the taskforce had been established to support “a step change in the reduction of energy demand through accelerated delivery of energy efficiency measures across the economy”.
It described its 15 members as “a stellar team of leading experts” who would “bring together a vast wealth of knowledge to deliver on the government’s ambitious commitments”.
As part of a press release, Callanan added that the government had “scoured the UK’s industry to amass a top team of the best and brightest”.
“We firmly believe the will of people and industry to drive down energy use is there, but we need to put in place the right mechanisms to channel this,” he added.
“That means smart investment, effective engagement, and building the right skills base – and this is precisely what the taskforce will be focusing on.
Alongside Armitt, members included head of housebuilder Barratt Developments, David Thomas, and experts from the University of Salford, the UK Green Building Council and National Energy Action.
It was set to devise a plan to reduce energy demand across domestic and commercial buildings and industrial process, while cutting down energy bills and helping to push down inflation.
This included accelerating household insulation and boiler upgrades.
