Government help Grant Shapps understand energy performance certificates

One would expect the shadow-housing minister, Grant Shapps, to have a basic understanding of the workings of an energy performance certificate, particularly in the light of the repeated assurances he has given of late that the role of the 12,000 energy assessors working in the industry will be safe under a Tory Government.

You would also expect a man who is bright and ambitious, and who sits in the shadow cabinet to have taken the time to talk with energy assessors, to understand the work they do, and to look at and comprehend the content of the energy performance certificate. Quite important to know what you are talking about when a flagship policy – Refit Policy - is very much based on the energy rating contained within an energy performance certificate.

Expectation along these lines is not unreasonable when the man the electorate is being asked to trust with future housing policy is involved, and in whose hands the livelihoods of many within our industry could very well rest.

Unfortunately expectation does not often in the world of politics equate to reality, particularly when an experienced shadow minister makes an almighty big faux pau when asking a straightforward question about the energy ratings of domestic property.

In an attempt no doubt to obtain information to feed his obsession with the HIP and EPC, Grant Shapps tabled yesterday the following question:

‘Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what percentage of properties entered onto the domestic Energy Performance Certificate database to date have had an energy rating of more than 450. [315661]’

Fortunately for Mr Shapps there was somebody at hand who knew his stuff and who was able to come to his rescue with the following explanation:

‘John Healey: Domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) provide a rating for the energy performance of a building in the form of a rating from A to G using a scale of 1-100. It is not possible for a dwelling to have a rating of more than 100 and therefore, none of the properties that have had an EPC lodged on the Domestic EPC Register have been given an EPC rating of more than 450.’

I know that this was probably down to an error on the part of one of Mr Shapps’ researchers, but it must beg the question of whether he is genuinely interested in energy efficiency and carbon reduction, or whether all we have here is another ordinary politician whose only real interest is to win votes with populist and substance lacking sound bites.