Andy Burnham’s first 30 days: What has he done for energy, climate and green growth?

Andy Burnham said he wanted to be a “cost of living” government, but his first 30 days as Prime Minister have also been defined by a different challenge: extreme heat, wildfires and drought.

This has brought the climate crisis sharply into view – and highlighted tensions between his focus on affordability and his “pragmatic” stance on issues like the electric vehicles mandate and North Sea drilling.

How has this shaped the policy decisions he has made in his first 30 days? Our Energy Lead, Esther Griffin, looks at Burnham’s announcements so far – and finds it’s been a game of two halves.

Buses 1, EVs… nil?

Burnham wasted little time in delivering on his cost-of-living promise. One of his first announcements was to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills for six months from October, saving the average household around £45. There is a potential climate benefit here too: making electricity cheaper relative to gas could help encourage the switch to electrification and electric vehicles.

Then came buses. Burnham announced that single bus fares in England (outside London) will be capped at £2 from January 2027. It is another cost-of-living measure, but cheaper public transport should also help make lower-carbon travel more attractive.

By contrast, the government has just launched a consultation on changes to the ZEV mandate. The current trajectory requires 80% of new cars sold to be zero-emission by 2030. Three of the options put forward would reduce that target to as little as 50%, while another would keep the existing target but give manufacturers more flexibility.

The proposal reflects pressure from the automotive industry, which has argued that the current rules are too demanding given weak consumer demand and supply-chain pressures. But environmental groups have warned that weakening the mandate could slow the transition to EVs and increase emissions.

Drill baby drill, or burn baby burn?

Perhaps the biggest climate test for Burnham has been the one he could hardly have planned for.

His first month in office has coincided with a summer of extreme and prolonged heat, wildfires and widespread drought, with farmers harvesting crops early and millions of people facing water restrictions.

Burnham has been criticised for being quiet on the climate crisis. But as the heat intensified, his government rolled out a series of emergency measures, including a £65 million package for drought-hit farmers and a temporary ban on disposable barbecues.

These are, of course, largely responses to the immediate impacts of extreme weather rather than measures to tackle its underlying causes. But the events of the last month have made climate adaptation hard for the government to ignore.

In stark contrast is Burnham’s stance on North Sea oil and gas. Burnham has said he would take a “pragmatic approach”, telling the press, “There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that.”

It remains unclear exactly what this means in practice. The big decisions are likely to be around allowing production at the Jackdaw gasfield and Rosebank oilfield in Scotland. The timing is awkward. The Times has reported that the decision could be pushed into the autumn because of concerns about “optics”.

Will energy come under public control?

Another big theme of Burnham’s first month has been his ambition to put essential services under greater public control. He has said he wants regions to have more control over water, energy, housing and transport, drawing heavily on the model he developed in Greater Manchester.

The idea is not necessarily full nationalisation. Instead, Burnham has talked about models where public bodies have greater control over how essential services operate, while private companies can still provide them.

One exception is Thames Water, where the government has already objected to a proposed rescue deal and public ownership is firmly on the table.

For energy, this could become particularly interesting. If the government wants to bring down bills while also accelerating the transition to clean energy, greater public influence over infrastructure and investment could give it more levers to pull. But, we are still waiting for the detail.

Devolution – and what it means for domestic energy retrofit

One area we are watching for our HVAC clients is how Burnham’s devolution agenda will shape delivery of the Warm Homes Plan.  

His experience in Greater Manchester suggests he is comfortable giving regions more responsibility for delivering national priorities – and domestic retrofit could be a natural fit. With local authorities and combined authorities closer to the homes, communities and businesses involved, we could see more regional approaches to energy efficiency, low-carbon heating and retrofit.

A game of two halves

So, 30 days in, what is the verdict? It is difficult to call.

Burnham already has a strong track record on green growth. As Mayor, he set a target for Greater Manchester to reach carbon neutrality by 2038, expanded and began electrifying the bus network, backed home insulation programmes and made the green economy part of the region’s wider growth strategy.

But, as PM, there are some early decisions that point in the other direction – particularly the proposed weakening of the ZEV mandate and his pragmatic stance on North Sea oil and gas.

And then there is the climate itself, which has loudly forced its way to the top of the agenda.

So far, it is too early to tell – but we will be watching with interest.

Content Coms is a strategic B2B communications agency for energy, technology & sustainable businesses.

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Image: Official portrait of Andy Burnham (cropped). Licensed under CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/