Tim Bonner: The Government must not make guinea pigs of the countryside

When the Alliance is discussing the green agenda the focus is usually on issues like regenerative farming, tree planting and rewilding, but this week we have been in the media challenging discrimination against rural communities in the government's policy on household heating. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has consulted on a ban on replacing oil and liquid gas boilers from 2026, which would force anyone who is not on the gas grid to spend an extra £11,000 installing a heat pump. Households on the gas grid in towns and cities will not face a ban until 2035, and then only if heat pumps have fallen to the same price as a gas boiler, but those of us living in the two million homes - mostly in the countryside - using oil or liquid gas have been offered no such protection.

We believe the proposal to phase out liquid gas and oil boilers by 2026 is unjust and unfeasible. Even before the costs of replacing the heat source itself is considered, many rural houses are unsuited to heat pumps in the first place due to their archaic construction. It seems fairly clear that the Government has not properly recognised the challenges facing rural households and proposed a policy that actively discriminates against rural communities whilst giving total protection to those in towns and cities who can access mains gas. People who live in the countryside will understandably think they are being used as guinea pigs in the rush to roll out sustainable heating solutions and will be paying a huge price for the pleasure.

I do not for a moment suppose that ministers or civil servants in BEIS actively sought to single out rural households, but this clumsy proposal highlights, once again, the metropolitan mindset of central government and the failure of 'rural proofing'. For 20 years successive governments have promised that all policies that are being developed will be 'proofed' to ensure they do not have a partial impact on rural communities. Yet, for 20 years, successive governments have continued to roll out proposals like this one which would clearly and obviously have a hugely detrimental impact on people in the countryside. The reason for this is simple and that is that responsibility for rural proofing has consistently been passed off to a junior minister in Defra who cannot have the first idea what policy is being developed in BEIS, the Department of Education, Transport or any of the other areas of government that impact hugely on rural people.

A significant part of the anger the Government faced last year in relation to its Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act was that in creating a statutory committee to consider the welfare of sentient animals, it was actually giving more legislative rights to animals than it was to rural communities. When challenged on this in the House of Lords by our Chairman, amongst others, the Minister frankly had no response.

We have long argued that responsibility for rural proofing should lie in the Cabinet Office where there can be proper oversight of policy development across all departments. That should avoid the sort of mess BEIS has currently got itself into. In the meantime, we urge ministers to drop their plans to introduce a ban on replacing oil and liquid gas boilers until the cost of heat pumps has fallen and alternative heat sources for rural houses are workable and affordable. This is not a fight the Government needs to have.