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14 Oct 2003 : Column 131W—continued
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Department has to encourage people to increase the installation of household energy-saving appliances. [131394]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Energy White Paper details the steps being taken to encourage greater energy efficiency in the UK, and sets out an ambitious strategy for energy efficiency up to 2010 and beyond. Energy efficiency is expected to deliver about half the carbon savings needed to meet our goals for 2020. This will mean roughly doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement of recent decades.
Key measures proposed in the White Paper include extension of the Energy Efficiency Commitment beyond 2005 at possibly twice its current level of activity; revisions to the Building Regulations; faster improvements in the
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standards of new household appliances; and consultation on economic instruments to improve household energy efficiency.
Tighter building regulations will have an impact on new homes, alterations to existing stock and all replacement windows and boilers. We have already begun work on the next major revision of the building regulations, which we will aim to bring into effect in 2005. Tighter building regulations will also encourage developers to use low carbon solutions such as solar water heating and photovoltaics.
As announced in Budget 2003, following the initial consultation last year the Government are consulting in more detail on specific economic instruments to encourage greater energy efficiency by households, including the use of measures to change the price differential between efficient and inefficient products.
Micro-CHP could also in due course provide a useful contribution towards improving household energy efficiency. An estimated 250–500MW could be generated from micro-CHP by 2010, although the Government do not have a specific target for the amount of electricity to be generated by micro-CHP technology.
The Government intend to publish an Energy Efficiency Implementation Plan within a year of the White Paper's publication, which will provide further detail on all of these policies.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment she has made of the cost of energy wasted by UK households each year; [131395]
- (2) what estimate has been made of the average potential financial saving to UK households through the implementation of energy-saving home improvements. [131396]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government estimates the potential for cost-effective improvements in energy use in homes at almost £ 3 billion a year or around 20 per cent. of current total expenditure. This is almost £120 per household. These figures are based on the installation of cost-effective insulation and the replacement, at the end of their useful lives, of boilers, lights and domestic appliances by the most efficient equivalent models available. Precise estimates vary, since new products reach the market and existing measures are installed but there is broad agreement on the 20 per cent. estimate.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much energy was produced per person in 2002; and what estimate she has made of production levels in EU countries. [131077]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
Energy production figures are shown in the following table. This information is for 2001, as this is the most recent date for which data for all the member states of the EU are available.
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| Country | Total Energy Production (Millions of tonnes of oil equivalent) | Population (Thousands) | Energy Productionper capita (Tonnes of oil equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 27.17 | 5,349 | 5.08 |
| UK | 262.19 | 59,862 | 4.38 |
| Sweden | 34.38 | 8,883 | 3.87 |
| Netherlands | 60.44 | 15.987 | 3.78 |
| Finland | 15.16 | 5,181 | 2.93 |
| France | 133.19 | 59,038 | 2.26 |
| Germany | 133.74 | 82,260 | 1,63 |
| Belgium | 13.08 | 10,263 | 1.27 |
| Austria | 9.72 | 8,121 | 120 |
| Greece | 9.97 | 10,554 | 0.94 |
| Spain | 33.02 | 40,122 | 0.82 |
| Italy | 26.26 | 57,844 | 0.45 |
| Ireland | 1.73 | 3,826 | 0.45 |
| Portugal | 3.40 | 10,263 | 0.33 |
| Luxembourg | 0.06 | 440 | 0.14 |
| Total | 763.50 | 377,993 | 2.02 |
Source:
Figures for total energy production are from the International Energy Agency publication "Energy Balances of QECD Countries, 2000–2001" and relate to 2001. Population figures are from Eurostat and relate to 2001 (except Greece—2000).
Farm Animals (Health)
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to (a) review compensation arrangements for all notifiable diseases in farm animals and (b) review the information systems used to administer and record compensation payments for each notifiable disease. [131872]
Mr. Bradshaw: (a) We intend to consult on proposals to rationalise existing compensation arrangements for all notifiable animal diseases later this year. The main aim of the exercise will be to increase transparency and operational simplicity by creating a single approach for all notifiable diseases.
(b) Work is in hand to improve business processes for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Animal Health Offices and this includes the systems used to administer and record TB compensation payments.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the levels of compensation available for bovine TB reactors in the context of known market values over each of the last five years for which records are available. [131873]
Mr. Bradshaw: An internal audit review of compensation paid for animals slaughtered as part of the TB control strategy has found a steady increase in valuations in England since the compensation rate was changed to 100 per cent. of average market price in 1998. However, the auditors concluded that finding data against which TB valuations can be compared in a meaningful way is not a straightforward process.
The total amount of compensation paid in GB from 1998–99 to 2002–03 is given in the table.
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| Financial year | GB expenditure on TB compensation |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 3,491 |
| 1999–2000 | 5,303 |
| 2000–01 | 6,632 |
| 2001–02 | 9,243 |
| 2002–03 | 31,146 |
Farming Incomes
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes have taken place in the annual (a) net and (b) gross incomes of farmers in each of the past three years; and what estimates she has made of income levels in the next three years. [129236]
Mr. Bradshaw: The gross income of the UK agriculture industry, as measured by the gross value of production, and the net income measures of Total Income from Farming and Total Income from Farming per full time person equivalent, are given in the table for the years 2000–02:
| Gross value of production | Total income from farming | Total income from farming per full time equivalent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 15.0 billion | 1.74 billion | 7,848 |
| 2001 | 15.3 billion | 2.04 billion | 9,298 |
| 2002 | 15.5 billion | 2.36 billion | 11,107 |
Total income from farming is an aggregate measure of income across the whole farming industry. It is income generated by production within the agriculture industry, including subsidies, and represents business profits plus remuneration for work done by owners and other unpaid workers.
Forecasts of the key drivers of future business prospects—in particular commodity prices and exchange rates—are highly uncertain.
An increase in Total Income from Farming per full time equivalent of around one third is expected for 2003 due primarily to the effects of the exchange rate. There has been a recovery in the Euro so far in 2003 which has led to a rise in prices across a range of commodities and will result in higher direct subsidy payments.
Beyond 2003, there is likely to be only a modest recovery in commodity markets over the medium term future.
More detailed information may be found in a regular notice on the economic position of the farming industry published on the Defra website at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/repfi.pdf.
Fishing Industry
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will (a) seek to initiate a review of fisheries science by the
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EU and (b) commence an independent study into the Icelandic and Faeroese models of maintaining fish stocks and the fishing industry. [131787]
Mr. Bradshaw: I see no need to initiate an EU review of fisheries science, given the advisory role that the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries is already required to play in relation to EU fisheries management measures. I expect that the forthcoming independent report from the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on its UK Fisheries Project will review among other things the fisheries management systems applied by other countries.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fishing vessels registered to other countries than the UK fished in each of the statistical fishing regions which fall within the UK's national waters in each of the last five years. [131786]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information held by Fisheries Departments in the UK relates only to the activity of foreign vessels when a landing has been made into the UK. It would be necessary to invite the various member states involved to supply the data.
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