Gas Heaters (Prohibition of Sale) Bill

A

BILL

TO

Prohibit the sale of new gas heaters for the purpose of heating buildings from 2030.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Section 1: Interpretations

(1) A “Gas Heater” is a boiler, or any other method of providing heat, using gas as the fuel.

(2) “Gas” is defined as the same as “gas” in the Gas Act 1986.

Section 2: Prohibition of New Sales

(1) It shall be an offence under this act for a person or persons to sell gas heaters for the primary use of providing heat to buildings that are constructed after this section comes into force;

(2) It shall be an offence under this act for a person or persons to purchase a gas heater for the primary use of providing heat to buildings that are constructed after this section comes into force;

(3) It shall be an offence under this act for a person or persons to install a gas heater for the primary use of providing heat to buildings that are constructed after this section comes into force.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable:—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding two times the value of the sale, purchase or installation of the gas boiler.

(b) on conviction by indictment, to a fine not exceeding five times the value of the sale, purchase or installation of the gas boiler.

Section 3: Extent, commencement, and short title

(1) This Act extends to the United Kingdom.

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force as follows:

(a) Section 1 and 3 immediately upon receiving Royal Assent. (b) Section 2 on the 1st January 2030.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Gas Heaters (Prohibition of Sale) Act.

This Bill was written by The Right Honourable Sir /u/model-ceasar KP OM GBE PC MP MS, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Member of Parliament for Kent, on behalf of the Official Opposition.

Deputy Speaker,

Last term I submitted the Green Grants Scheme Bill which was a bill that allocated money to a fund that can be used by homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their home. As part of this fund, alternative heating methods were eligible for this fund to be used for, especially when they are used to replace existing gas boilers.

This bill that I present to the House today is the next step in making our houses greener. The majority of our houses today are heated by the use of gas boilers. It goes without saying these boilers are bad for the environment, emitting tons of CO2 across the country for heating homes. This bill will stop that. By 2030 new gas boilers may not be sold or installed in a building in this country. Instead, more renewable options will need to be used for the heating of buildings.

For buildings that already have gas boilers, as they break or reach the end of their lifecycle, the green grant fund, which had full House support last term, can be used to replace them with a greener option. This will alleviate any extra costs on homeowners that may be as a result of the banning of the installation of new gas boilers.

This House has come out swinging in the fight against climate change again and again, and I hope that it will do yet again on this bill. The growing crisis is the biggest long term crisis that this country, and this world is going through and will be for many years to come. We must do everything we can to help to tackle it and to create a better planet and world for the newer generations.

Amendment 1 (A01)

Amend Sections 3(2)(removing a and b) to read:

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force on the 1st of January 2050.

This amendment was moved by The Marquess of St Ives.

Voting on the proposed amendment will end on the 28th October at 10pm BST.