Leaders: Home insulation penalties would not be enforceable

WHAT happens when “nudge” becomes shove – or worse still, chastisement? We may be about to find out, if Alex McLeod, chairman of the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE), gets his way.

Nudge is the current fashionable means by which policy wonks seek to induce us to change our ways. To combat obesity, for example, a nudge approach would recommend more prominent positioning of low-fat foods, or price incentives. However, when it comes to home insulation, Mr McLeod believes he has far more effective methods. He proposes that Scots who do not insulate their homes should be forced to pay higher council tax or stamp duty. He blames “apathy” for the low rates of use of insulation in Scotland and says “our European neighbours” are much better than we are in this area.

Few people would take issue with the desirability of home insulation. And millions of homeowners have undertaken measures in various forms, whether through cavity wall insulation or loft lagging. Indeed, there have been so many “loft-lagging initiatives” announced in successive Scottish Government budgets, it is a miracle the entire parliament building has not been smothered in insulation fibre.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, some households have stubbornly held out for reasons best known to themselves. Mr McLeod now says it is time for sticks as well as carrots. The loft-lagging refuseniks, he declares, should be penalised for not taking action, through an increase in their council tax or a rise in stamp duty. Clearly, the austerity era is not biting hard enough for ACE.

The association is hardly a disinterested body. Since 1981 it has represented the energy conservation industry, undertaking research and running parliamentary campaigns.

Its members include the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency, Dow Chemical, Knauf Insulation, Pilkington and Ursa, a Spanish insulation company.

It would be odd, to put it no stronger, if the Association of Toothpaste Producers took to advocating fines for loose teeth and extra dental charges to force the public to use its products. But ACE may just have hit on the perfect method of boosting sales without all the tedious business of advertising and promotion.

Novel though the solution is, it immediately encounters problems of enforceability. The reason many properties do not have insulation is that they may be flats, or older terraced property where, for practical reasons, insulation cannot be undertaken. An appeals procedure would then need to be in place, and a large bureaucracy of inspectors required to assess and evaluate the non-compliers.

At least Mr McLeod has stopped short of advocating humiliation in the stocks or public floggings to bring recalcitrants into line. Nudge may have its limits, but here is an idea best kept firmly sealed in insulation foam.

Huhne’s departure has a mixed effect

As PRIME Minister David Cameron succinctly put it, “given the circumstances”, it was right that Chris Huhne resigned from the UK Cabinet yesterday to fight criminal charges of perverting the course of justice which relate to allegations that he persuaded his then wife, Vicky Pryce, to take his penalty points for a speeding offence in 2003.

Announcing his decision, Mr Huhne said he would mount a “robust defence” against the charge which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Following the principle that we are all innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty, it would be both unfair and unwise to speculate on whether the now former energy and climate change secretary has committed this serious offence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, we can try to judge what effect his resignation will have on the government coalition of which he was part, and on his Liberal Democrat Party.

For the Tories in the coalition, Mr Huhne’s departure is probably a boon, as he was known to be a thorn in their side when it came to negotiations not just on environmental policy, but across the board.

For Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, it may, paradoxically, be both a blessing and a blow. As he defeated Mr Huhne in the battle for his party’s leadership, Mr Clegg may benefit in the short term from the fall of a rival. On the other hand, losing a second cabinet member – following David Laws’ resignation over expenses – and someone who, for good or ill, had been a substantial figure in party and government, may further damage the Lib Dems, who do not have their troubles to seek.

Radio Scotland plan should be kicked into touch

All we hear is radio ga-ga, radio goo-goo, radio ga-ga. Tune in to many commercial radio stations today, and that is exactly what you get: the same few songs, by the same few groups, over and over again. It is bland and predictable music for the lowest common denominator. Listen too long, and you go ga-ga.

Thankfully, not all radio is like that – Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth show, for example. Janny on the tranny on Saturday mornings may not be to everyone’s taste, but her programme provides a lively mix of good chat and good music. Axing it after almost two decades is bad news for those who value diversity in radio programming.

And what is it to be replaced with? Something more like Radio 2? Classical music? No, instead of Janice we are, in an astounding piece of creative programming, going to get … more sport. This on a station which is already in danger of becoming male-dominated Radio McFitba.

BBC Scotland should remember it is funded by the licence-payers and has a responsibility to provide variety to its listeners, with programmes which they would not hear elsewhere. It should not be turned into all-day radio bla-bla for football fans. This bad decision should be reversed. Radio what’s new? Janny on the tranny, someone still loves you!

Related topics: