SELECT has joined a number of leading industry bodies who have signed an open letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, calling for urgent action to reduce consumers' energy bills.

The association has joined the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and a coalition of fellow organisations to call on the Chancellor to take action in his upcoming Spring Statement.

The open letter from the REA, co-signed by SELECT and more than 20 organisations including the ECA, Energy Saving Trust and Electrical Industries Charity, is urging the UK Government to:

• Move 'green' levies into general taxation

• Suspend VAT on energy bills to save households an average of £100 this year

• Expand eligibility and increase the value of the Warm Homes Discount to ensuring additional support for nine million households

-- Advertisement --

• Remove VAT on all domestic renewable and clean technology, reducing costs and helping households, landlords and local authorities move away from fossil fuels

• Establish an effective home insulation scheme to ensure all houses are EPC rating C at a minimum by 2024/25, and

• Deliver an ambitious domestic heat decarbonisation policy and expand the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover the installation of millions of low carbon heating devices.

The letter adds: "By adopting these measures and providing the required investment to the relevant Government departments, you will help mitigate against an overnight rise in energy bills, while delivering a catalyst for a sustainable, cost-effective energy future.

Alan Wilson, Managing Director of SELECT, said: "Energy prices are climbing at a frightening rate and look certain to cause fuel poverty for thousands of people in Scotland and beyond.

"The UK Government needs to take action now to address this alarming issue, by introducing practical and proactive measure to help the people who will be most affected.

"If we don't take action now, it will be too late for both the environment and the people who will have to make a tough choice between heating and eating in the months and years to come."