Slightly more seasoned Utility Week readers will remember the BBC comedy Yes Minister, which centred on politician Jim Hacker and his chief civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby.
“Very brave, minister” was the typical reaction of the cynical mandarin when presented with his political master’s more off-the-wall proposals.
Among the current Sir Humphreys at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, there will be probably have been some similar eye rolling following last week’s publication of a report on housing by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).
Its most eyebrow-raising recommendation was that new-build homes should not be connected to the gas grid from 2025. The report argues that this radical move is required to help cut emissions from the housing stock, currently around one-seventh of the UK total, to zero.
The one-line recommendation has generated a ferocious response from the gas industry and its unions. The GMB union has called on ministers to ignore the CCC’s recommendation, while Calor accused the committee of stepping beyond its advisory remit into shaping policy.
But the furore unleashed by last week’s housing report is likely to be a harbinger of bigger clashes. In early May, the CCC will be publishing its advice to ministers on how the UK can cut emissions to net zero.
The CCC’s job is to deliver unpalatable truths about how to deliver the UK’s greenhouse gas reduction targets: it had better get used to being “brave”.