The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPHE) welcomed Government support to help with rising fuel and living costs but wanted an immediate solution to the lack of installers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement covered several issues for the plumbing and heating industry which included a 5p cut to fuel duty, 0% VAT on energy-saving refurbishments for the next five years and funding for Household Support Fund to increase to £1billion from April.

In addition, while the National Insurance increase of 1.25% is still going ahead, the earning threshold will rise by £3,000 to £12,570.

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CIPHE also pointed to the significance of employment training, including apprenticeships and the Apprenticeship Ley to be reviewed as part of a new ‘tax plan’ and business tax cuts, including changes to research and development credits, to be announced in the budget.

In addition, it highlighted employment allowance to raise to £5,000 in April and plans to cut income tax from 20p in a pound to 19p as being of particular interest to plumbing and heating.

CEO of CIPHE Kevin Wellmann commented: “While we battle the cost of living rises, installers and the public alike will welcome the fall in fuel duty, and the rise in earning threshold for National Insurance.

“It is also encouraging to see the Government support the most vulnerable households through increased funding for the Household Support Fund.

“There is good news for consumers looking to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and invest in green technology.

“The 0% VAT rate will help cut costs and increased demand. However, we must ensure systems are designed and installed correctly to offer the required energy savings.

“Savvy installers will be signing up to renewable training, such as the CIPHE’s Low Temperature Heating and Hot Water Systems in Dwellings qualification, to ensure they have the knowledge and skill to install such systems.

“As was seen via the Green Homes grant scheme’s failure, the UK does not currently have enough trained installers of the green technologies supported by the VAT cut.

“I would have welcomed an immediate strategy to address this, but a review of employee training and the Apprenticeship Levy is long overdue.

“As we have documented in our manifesto, there is a dire need to kickstart apprenticeships starts in the plumbing and heating sector.

“Tax breaks for R&D will only help manufacturers become more innovative at a critical time for our industry, and we would urge the Government to be generous.

“Finally in an industry that includes so many small businesses, it is good to see them get a boost of around £1,000 through the rise in the employment allowance.”