Clair Coutinho says Ed Miliband is ‘willing to heap costs on ordinary families’ (Image: Getty)
Claire Coutinho has accused Ed Miliband of putting “ideology over protecting family finances”.
Some 346 Labour MPs voted to give the Labour Government powers to impose extra costs on families who install new gas boilers.
The Government threw its support behind the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM), which gives the Energy Secretary the power to fine boiler manufacturers for not selling enough heat pumps.
Manufacturers are likely to pass the costs onto customers installing gas boilers.
Ms Coutinho, the Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “Ed Miliband has shown repeatedly that he is willing to heap costs on ordinary families in the name of net zero. By introducing the Boiler Tax, he will have the power to meddle with the price of gas boilers and cause real hardship for struggling families.
“It also leaves the door open for eco-activists to increase boiler prices through the courts, which is fundamentally undemocratic. It should be for consumers to decide what works best for them, rather than being priced out of products by politicians.
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“But despite all of this, Labour have still forced through the Boiler Tax – showing that Ed Miliband will always put ideology over protecting family finances.”
The CHMM will require 4% of sales by boiler manufacturers to be heat pumps, or for them to pay a charge for each missed installation.
Ahead of the new targets, manufacturers began hiking prices last year.
In September, Worcester Bosch, the UK’s biggest manufacturer, said it was increasing prices by as much as £300 because the UK market for heat pumps was not yet at sufficient scale, which meant it was “inevitable” it would face fines.
Tory ministers initially proposed fines of £5,000 per missed unit but reduced them to £3,000 following an outcry from businesses.
But the previous Tory government delayed the so-called boiler tax, which was meant to be introduced in April 2024 as part of ‘s reset the previous year.
The targets, part of the government’s clean heat strategy, were created to speed up the phase-out of gas boilers and deliver 600,000 eco-friendly heat pump installations a year by 2028.
In November, the Government announced measures to make it easier for households to get a heat pump.
This is part of a “warm homes plan” for installing clean heating tech and insulating more homes across the country announced by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
An extra £30million has been committed to this financial year’s pot that gives households £7,500 off the cost of a heat pump – which is currently much more expensive to buy and install than a conventional boiler.
And it will change planning rules that require heat pumps to be at least one metre from the property boundary to help encourage the take-up of the clean technology, which needs to be rolled out at scale to help cut carbon emissions from building heating.