Heating oil trade association The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) is urging the 76,837 householders across Devon and Cornwall who use heating oil, to take part in the Government’s consultation on the future of heat in homes before the June 11 deadline.

The FPS has also written to local MPs asking them to support their constituents who use heating oil and to help shape the Government’s upcoming policy so that heating oil can be part of a stepped change approach to reaching the Government’s 2050 carbon reduction targets.

Entitled A Future Framework For Heat In Buildings, the Government consultation is calling for ideas and evidence on how best to decarbonise the 1.2million homes across the UK that use oil for heating.

FPS chief executive Guy Pulham (pictured) said: ‘It’s vital that everyone who uses heating oil has a say on this most critical consultation and seizes the opportunity to voice their opinion to make a difference.

‘The current Government’s policy seems to be encouraging moving rural households and businesses currently using oil heating to electrically driven heat pumps to cut carbon emissions from the heating sector.

‘But we are concerned that may place a large financial burden on many rural communities whose housing stock will need additional costly insulation to make the investment in heat pumps provide competitive energy bills.’

To find out more about the Government’s latest consultation and to have your say, visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-future-framework-for-heat-in-buildings-call-for-evidence