Council Survey Scaremongering

In response to the Pimlico Unites survey, Westminster Council launched their own survey which was loaded and misleading: its questions were designed to scare residents about direct electric heating and hot water options, focusing solely on potential electricity costs while ignoring the costs of gas and the existing PDHU system. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, this approach was manipulative and irresponsible.

Residents raised questions about the biased content of the cost of electricity question in the Council’s survey at a recent residents meeting, and Council officers—including Debbie Jackson (Senior Director at Westminster Council on a salary of over £200k)—gave contradictory responses, further undermining the credibility of their results.

We already know that independent boilers are cheaper. We have compared two identical 3 bedroom flats on the Lillington and Longmoore estate, one which is connected to the PDHU and one which has an independent gas boiler. We have exposed that residents on the PDHU network are paying three times more for their heating and hot water than the flat using an independent gas boiler which is a staggering difference of just under 300% (see here for full comparison).

We doubt the council’s questionnaire would pass industry standards.  We wish we could say we expect better.

Pimlico Unites consulted an industry expert and received the following response “The Council’s survey shows a complete disconnect: residents consistently ask for individual control, lower costs, and minimal disruption, yet the Council pushes for heat networks, higher capital costs, and major disruption. This follows a well-documented pattern of Westminster’s poor consultation practices, suggesting the survey was intended to justify pre-decided policies rather than genuinely reflect resident input.”

Put simply: the Council’s survey is scaremongering and statistically unsound. It cannot be relied on to inform Cabinet decisions.