Author Archives: Mark Hofman

Ministers have approved a gas field that will create 27 jobs, while heat pump grants face the axe in next week’s budget. They are backing the wrong horse.

Gas is in terminal decline in British homes, and today’s decision to approve the Jackdaw gas field will not change that. Every year, more developers and families choose clean electric heating over a gas boiler. My own home is one of them: it no longer burns any gas, thanks in part to the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

That scheme is now under threat. With Whitehall hunting for savings to fund defence ahead of next week’s budget, heat pump grants are reportedly on the table. So in the space of a week, the government could back a new gas field and cut the support that helps families leave gas behind. That is exactly the wrong way round.

Look at what Jackdaw actually offers. Over its lifetime, it would produce around 2 months of UK gas demand, a sliver of what the country burns. Its developers say it will create just 27 full-time jobs. And it will not bring down bills. North Sea gas is sold at international prices, so British households will keep paying whatever the global market demands.

What Jackdaw does do is tell investors that gas is still a safe bet. That is the last message they should be hearing. We need every pound of capital flowing into wind, solar, nuclear and the grid connections that bring cheaper, cleaner power to all of us.

There is a better use for what is left under the North Sea: leave it there. Gas is not just a fuel. It is also the raw material for the fertiliser that grows our food, and there may be times ahead when we need it far more than we do today. Keeping our remaining reserves as a strategic store would give future generations a buffer in a crisis, instead of burning it now for a short-term return.

In the meantime, we can import cleaner gas. According to the regulator’s own figures, pipeline gas from Norway is produced with less than a third of the emissions of Britain’s North Sea output.

The threat of another energy crisis raises a simple question: did we actually learn the lessons from the last one?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a surge in energy prices that drove household bills sharply higher. The shock had a profound impact on the UK economy and on household finances. Government support reportedly cost around £80 billion, and without emergency intervention typical household bills could have reached over £4,000 a year. Even now, prices remain more than a third higher than before the war.

But the crisis was not just economic. It was also a public health issue. New NHS data shows a sharp rise in cold-related illness between 2020 and 2025. Pneumonia admissions increased by 66%, hypothermia cases rose by 45%, and incidents linked to excessive cold climbed by 33%. Freedom of Information data recorded 4,701 admissions in England, with a further 1,127 cases in Scotland.

This should focus minds. Cold homes do not just affect comfort or bills. They affect health, and they place real pressure on the NHS, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Now there are warnings that rising tensions in the Middle East could trigger another spike in energy prices. If wholesale costs rise again, those pressures could return just as we approach another heating season.

So the question is whether the UK is becoming more resilient to energy shocks.

The government has brought forward around £15 billion through the Warm Homes Plan to 2030 to help households reduce their dependence on gas and improve energy efficiency. That works out at less than £3 billion a year. Given the scale and cost of the last crisis, it is unlikely to be enough on its own, particularly when awareness of the support available remains low among both households and policymakers.