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Boiler Scrappage Scheme: Why Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie Has Got It Wrong
10th March 2010
At OilFiredUp.com, we prefer to report the news, rather than to make it. And we prefer to publish the opinions of others, rather than those of ourselves. But, following the dismissal earlier this week of a straightforward Boiler Scrappage Scheme in Northern Ireland, it is but right we set aside our preferences, to offer an opinion direct from the province.
Since the start of the year, the Boiler Scrappage Scheme in England has been making headlines for the right reasons. Even some of its harshest critics have had to admit that despite initial reservations, the scheme has been a success. Indeed, such has been its success, that there are now calls for the scheme to be extended further.
By contrast across the Irish Sea in Northern Ireland, since the turn of the year, much political energy has been exerted upon trying to resolve the issues surrounding the transfer of responsibility for Policing and Justice issues from London to Belfast. Ten days and ten nights were apparently spent discussing and resolving the issue, resulting in what has become known as 'The Hillsborough Agreement'. Policing and Justice are important issues. But it is generally accepted the transfer of Policing and Justice powers will make no difference whatsoever to the day to day operations of the Police Service and the Judicial System in Northern Ireland. Beyond the political elite at Stormont, the transfer of Policing and Justice Powers in the province has barely registered. We have yet to meet one person who has woken up in the morning and thought to themselves, "Wouldn't my life be so much better today, if the Minister for Policing and Justice was based in Belfast and not in London?"
We have however met many ordinary people who wake up each morning and think, "Wouldn't my life be so much better if I spent less money on fuel, and more money on feeding my family?" We too have met plumbers and boiler technicians, who wake up and think, "Wouldn't my life be so much better, if I had a heating system to install today, instead of spending the day wondering where my next job is going to from?" And we've even met the occasional climate alarmist who apparently wakes up each morning thinking, "Wouldn't my life be so much better, if my boiler emitted less CO2?"
That's why we were disappointed when Northern Ireland's Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie MLA appeared to dismiss a request for a scheme similar to the highly successful English Boiler Scrappage Scheme to be introduced in Northern Ireland.
Understandably, Ms. Ritchie's key concern as Minister for Social Development is reducing the unacceptably high levels of fuel poverty in Northern Ireland. And bizarrely, that's why the Minister claims, she is not prepared to introduce a 'first come, first served' Boiler Scrappage Scheme in Northern Ireland. Ms. Ritchie claims the primary purpose of such a Scheme is to reduce CO2 emissions and not to reduce fuel poverty. Yet in so doing, she is effectively playing down the wider economic and societal benefits of such a scheme.
Yes, modern, high efficiency boilers do reduce CO2 emissions, which we are led to believe is apparently a good thing, even if some of the science behind such assertions is a tad suspect. High efficiency boilers also reduce home heating costs and therefore, reduce fuel poverty. Their installation provides work to a heating and plumbing sector which has been forced to contend with the full force of the credit crunch and the resulting recession. And their manufacture sustains thousands of manufacturing jobs across Northern Ireland, within the boiler, storage tank and ancillary equipment sectors.
Ironically, Northern Ireland has led the way in attempts to tackle fuel poverty, via an extensive modernisation of the province's social housing stock and a variety of publicly financed, private sector initiatives, targeting the private rented and owner occupied sector. The Department for Social Development and Ms. Ritchie deserve credit in this regard. However, despite the best efforts of both the Department and the Minister, fuel poverty levels in the province remaining stubbornly above those in the rest of the UK. Nobody, disputes there is much to be done.
In her announcement, Ms. Ritchie said, "A boiler replacement scheme should not be delivered on a first-come, first-served basis. Given the limited availability of resources in the current economic climate, I must ensure that resources are specifically targeted at those who are most in need. I have reservations about introducing a scheme that would require those on the lowest income to provide an additional £1,000, at the very least, towards the cost of installing a new and efficient boiler." And it is here again that Ms. Ritchie misses the point. There already are schemes that target 'those' who Ms. Ritchie describes as 'most in need'. The Minister should be well aware of them, as her Department is responsible for funding them. However, there are no schemes which target those who are not eligible for help through existing schemes.
Even if the breadth of existing, means tested schemes were to be extended, there will always be people who whilst suffering from fuel poverty, will fail to meet the necessary eligibility criteria. Indeed, there are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland, who fall outside the existing safety net. People who earlier this week, Simon Hamilton MLA quite correctly described as the 'working poor'. People who earn too much money to qualify for assistance, yet earn too little money to be able to justify the cost of installing a new boiler. So long as any scheme is means tested, such people will always exist.
And this is where a Boiler Scrappage Scheme with its universal entitlement, is uniquely positioned to help. To some politicians in Northern Ireland, a £400 discount on the purchase and installation of a new boiler, may not sound like a lot of money. But to many of their constituents, it is the difference between being able to escape from fuel poverty and remaining fuel poor. As far as the environment is concerned, the difference can be measured in tonnes of CO2. And for the hard pressed heating and plumbing contractor, it can be the difference between a day at work or a day on the dole.
When the discussions on Policing and Justice were underway in Hillsborough amidst a threat of the political institutions in Northern Ireland collapsing; the people of Northern Ireland were lectured by their own politicians and other people's politicians, that local decision making was a good thing. Almost by default we were told, local decision making would result in better decision making. However, if Northern Ireland did not have its own local Minister for Social Development, then it is likely the highly successful English Boiler Scrappage Scheme would have automatically been extended to Northern Ireland. In the very same week the future of the political institutions in Northern Ireland were apparently secured it is somewhat ironic, that such an extension by a remote Minister would have been better for Mr. Hamilton's 'working poor', better for the environment, better for the plumbing and heating industry and above all, better for the people of Northern Ireland... than a decision made by a locally elected, locally accountable Minister in Northern Ireland. Such a situation is not just ironic; its dysfunctional.
