Our project explored how this could work in practice, engaging stakeholders through discussions and workshops across the UK. We aimed to understand the necessary processes and structures for planning and implementing a coordinated transition.

Stakeholders included community groups, contractors, policymakers, government officials, and manufacturers. Based on their input, we've developed a policy blueprint for this coordinated approach to low-carbon heating in the UK.

This report synthesises the policy blueprint. It illustrates the organisations, stakeholders and key stages that should be refined and considered.

The organisations involved

A coordinated switching approach is likely to involve new institutions or new roles for existing institutions. We have split the institutions needed into five groups that we call personas. We have not specified the exact form these organisations should take, but we have set out the role, skill sets and resources required for these bodies to be effective. The existing groups are national planning and governance, delivery organisation and citizens. Alongside these groups, we propose two new organisations: a national heat transition unit and local heat bodies.

An overview of the process

We break down the end-to-end policy into five key steps: resourcing, planning, procurement, delivery and reporting. The report outlines what each stakeholder group, or organisation, would be responsible for at each stage.

What this may look like

During this section, we dive into the details of particular sections of the policy proposal and detail how this may work, for particular stakeholders. What this actually looks like for those involved.

This coordinated approach should aim to gradually scale up over time, complementing the individual-led approach that the UK currently uses.

To scale up a coordinated approach, we recommend the following actions as first steps:

• Develop local heat bodies in as many areas as possible to fill the gap in heat planning and coordination at a local, granular level. Bodies should be built from the ground up and be flexible to accommodate the local context. The development of local bodies should build on this work, convening stakeholders to understand their requirements and ultimately de-risking rollout.
• Pilot the development of several communal shared infrastructure schemes. The government should fund these pilots in some of the more advanced local areas, most likely to be city regions. These should vary in approach to technology, property and tenure type. These pilots should seek to understand to what extent schemes require guarantees by the government to mobilise private finance.
• Pilot a coordinated approach to individual home upgrades. These pilots should focus on how groups of homes could benefit from switching to individual low-carbon heat sources (ie, air source heat pumps). The pilots should understand the extent to which local government-led low-carbon heat zoning and planning is enough to signal to households and trigger action. The pilots should test commercially viable offers for collective purchasing and potential partnerships with finance providers.
• Data gathering and feedback loops should be piloted as part of recommendations two and three above. The role of a national heat transition unit should be examined to ensure that it is providing the best possible support for delivery partners and local government. The pilot should seek to understand how information should be integrated back into guidance, playbooks and advice on the formation of teams for local governments.