Down with home information packs

Open Europe comments that

As MPs debate the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) today Open Europe has released a new study which describes them as “expensive and ineffective”. We calculate that the Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) – an EU requirement which forms the major part of HIPs - will cost more than the Government has admitted, and that the benefits will be far smaller. The study reveals that the cost of the EPCs to UK households will now be around £337 million a year rather than the £112 million predicted in the Government’s Regulatory Impact Assessment. By 2020, EPCs will have cost the UK £4.7 billion. The study also calculates that over 12 million tonnes of carbon could be saved every year if the money being spent on EPCs were spent instead on real emissions reducing investments.

Yvette Cooper was trying to defend the indefensible in interviews yesterday. She was probably as dishonest as she could be, short of outright lying. But that's no excuse. She deserves to see her political credibility suffer permanent damage.