Rachel Reeves pledged to be the UK’s first green Chancellor, and her first Budget certainly showed her true colours, particularly with her pledge to commit £3.4 billion towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency over the next three years as part of the government’s Warm Homes Plan.

This includes helping more than 225,000 households reduce their energy bills by £200 through an £1.8 billion injection into fuel poverty schemes. There was also a promise of more funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales this year and next – over-allocating vouchers by up to £50 million – along with funding to grow the heat pump manufacturing supply chains as more homeowners start to realise the benefits.

This is all very positive, but Reeves strikingly omitted the commercial sector. Apart from announcing £163 million for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which helps firms install energy and carbon reduction measures in their industrial processes, there was nothing new in the Budget to support landlords or tenants of commercial buildings to improve energy efficiency. Along with the government’s ongoing failure to announce a MEES deadline for commercial buildings, this is a growing imbalance which needs addressing. The government must recognise that many firms are taking the lead in the country’s transition to net zero, but they can’t do it alone.

Other green initiatives in the Budget include investing more than £200 million in 2025‑26 to accelerate EV chargepoint rollout, by supporting local authorities to install on‑street chargepoints across England. There were also measures to support fleet managers with electric vehicle adoption, extending the Plug-in Van Grant and company car tax benefits as well as confirmation that zero-emission cars will pay the lowest first-year rate of Vehicle Excise Duty from April next year. The Chancellor confirmed £125 million for Great British Energy and announced funding for 11 green hydrogen production projects under the Hydrogen Business Model, with £3.7 billion given to hydrogen and carbon capture and storage next year.

While these pledges contribute towards energy security and move the UK towards net zero targets, it raises the question of whether the government is doing enough to support those generating their own renewable energy through solar panels and heat pumps. Reeves made no mention of bringing down electricity prices which would help convince more people to switch out their gas boilers for heat pumps.

This Budget has laid out the government’s determination to put green issues firmly on the political agenda – such as outlining how clean energy industries will be supported to create green jobs across the UK – but the execution of its plans depends on a better staffed and skilled workforce. That’s why I was pleased to see the promise of a £40 million investment to transform the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy, delivering new foundation and shorter apprenticeships in key sectors. As I’ve said many times, the current NDEA qualifications and training programmes are no longer fit for purpose, so any extra funding to make courses more vocational is very welcome, but we need to know how they’re going to actually develop apprenticeships which would be a vital step towards tailored training for Energy Assessors. Skills England is now conducting a consultation to ensure that levy‑funded training meets the needs of employers, providers, and learners, and secures good value for money. Let’s hope they include the energy efficiency sector in their research.