Thousands of plumbers needed to install heat pumps in bid to fight rising energy bills
THE Government is being urged to launch a “plumbers army” recruitment drive to fight rising energy bills.
Ministers have been told thousands of installers are needed to speed up the switch to heat pumps and away from gas.
Training plumbers would ease Britain’s dependence on foreign gas and drive down the cost of bills, experts say.
Heat pumps are pricier but they may start becoming much more cost effective due to the soaring price of gas.
Top think-tank the Social Market Foundation found the country is far short of the number of skilled workers needed to replace millions of gas boilers by 2050.
Senior researcher Amy Norman said: “Energy bills are rising because we’re too reliant on imported gas.
Taking the gas out of home heating will reduce that demand and protect households from this volatility, so plumbers and heating installers are going to be vital to this huge national effort.
“We need government to call up a generation of climate heroes. The message is clear: your country needs you to get trained to fit the heat pumps that will help make homes cleaner, greener and less dependent on imported gas.”
Last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a £9billion package to help with energy bills, but Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Times Radio that must be “kept under review” and more help could yet be needed.
His comments came as Tesco chairman John Allan warned the “worst is yet to come” and that prices will surge by five per cent by the spring.
Meanwhile, business group the CBI said that the Government must start cutting taxes — or face a “decade of anaemic growth”.