Teresa Coffey warned ban on oil-fired boilers would hurt her villagers

The Environment Minister has faced backlash in her constituency over plans to ban new oil-fired boilers that «fix» rural areas. fuel poverty.

Suffolk County Council has advised Teresa Coffey that the proposed 2026 deadline should be delayed or significantly relaxed as many families cannot afford to replace their oil boilers with expensive heat pumps.

Local authorities have warned that forcing families living in remote areas to switch to electric heating would also leave them vulnerable in the event of a power outage.

The plan board's strong verdict came just days after how the cabinet publicly defended the network. nil and stated that abandoning it would cost the votes of the Conservatives.

The Conservative members who take her place on the Suffolk coast are also urging the Environment Minister to lobby Downing Street to end the policy before it's too late.

< p>This came after one of the The party's highest-ranking deputies were warned that the ban on oil boilers could mean that the elderly could freeze in their homes and have to be thrown out.

Ministers are consulting on their proposals to ban the installation of fossil-fueled heating systems, including oil-fired boilers, from 2026.

This will be the first in a series of zero deadlines to come into effect, affecting 1.1 million houses in England that are not connected to the gas grid.

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The government wants these people to install heat pumps, but has admitted that the systems will not work in about 220,000 households at this time.< /p>

Nearly one in five households in Ms. Coffey's constituency and the wider Suffolk area are off the grid. , according to the House of Commons Library.

This compares to an average of 15% for England, Wales and Scotland as a whole.

The Conservative-run Suffolk County Council said the planned ban » unacceptable” and that it “will not receive public recognition.”

In its response to the consultation, the council wrote: «There is … a significant risk that existing inequalities and fuel shortages in rural areas will become further entrenched.» under these circumstances, in terms of a perceived lack of choice and public acceptance.»

Evidence from Suffolk Council, which was presented last January, says the ban should be shelved, at least in part because thermal pumps was «immature».

“A roll-out date of 2026 is a challenging target, so it would be appropriate to consider a combination of geographic and temporal phasing of this process,” it said.

He added that areas with high levels of fuel poverty needed “more flexibility» and that the «wide use» of alternatives such as biofuels to power oil-fired boilers should be allowed.

Adverse impacts

The council added: «A heat pump approach would increase households' vulnerability to the adverse effects of prolonged power outages.» heating systems using fossil fuels, he does not believe the proposed approach is acceptable or will gain public acceptance.»

One local Tory member said the ban would put many outlying families in «a very unpleasant situation «. tie,” and they accused the ministers of ignoring their concerns.

“This is a real problem for real people with lower incomes, and it’s very worrying that the time frame is so short,” they said.

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“This is good for the owners of second homes, but for people who live here permanently and have to make ends meet, it can become a real difficulty for them.

“As for the people who live here and vote, then, if the government does push it through, I think it's to lose the Conservative votes in this area.»

Sir Robert Goodwill, Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was the latest high-profile Tory to call on No. 10 to drop away from politics.

“This could have a disproportionate impact on rural communities, and the government needs to pay attention again,” he told The Telegraph.

“We are going to send older people to winter without heating. I suspect that waiting for heat pumps to be installed will be longer than waiting for a new boiler to be installed.

“We need to validate this policy in rural areas. Once again, it seems that such a policy is disadvantageous to rural areas that are not connected to the gas network.