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11 Nov 2008 : Column 1137W—continued
Health and safety
Quality assurance
Customer care
Value for money
Training
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility
Environmental and waste reduction
Qualification to professionally recognised standards, i.e. Corgi, NICEIC, BBA, etc dependant on measure(s) bid for.
Eaga is currently undertaking the above tender process for installers to commence working on the scheme in June 2009.
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the administration costs of the Warm Front scheme have been in each year of its operation. [233642]
Joan Ruddock: The following table illustrates the administration costs and relative percentage of total funding in delivering the Warm Front Scheme under Eaga’s management.
| Administration cost | ||
| Scheme year | £ million | Percentage of total budge t |
Prior to 2005, the scheme was administered by two agencies (Powergen and Eaga), as such, the total cost figures for this period are unavailable.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent on grants under the Warm Front scheme in Bexley since its introduction. [229439]
Joan Ruddock: Between 1 June 2000 and 31 October 2008 £1,992,735.43 was spent on works undertaken through the Warm Front scheme in the London borough of Bexley.
Eaga plc continue to provide regular updates of Warm Front activity through secure constituency websites which MPs may access at any time.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: West Midlands
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Warwick and Leamington constituency received a grant through Warm Front in the latest year for which figures are available. [233635]
Joan Ruddock: Between 1 April 2007 and 30 March 2008 the Warm Front scheme assisted 36,530 households in the West Midlands. Over the same period 287 households were assisted in the constituency of Warwick and Leamington.
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was provided in Warm Front grants in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Warwick and Leamington constituency in the latest year for which figures are available. [233636]
Joan Ruddock: Between 1 April 2007 and 30 March 2008, £59,045,105.49 was spent on delivering energy efficiency measures to households through the Warm Front Scheme in the West Midlands. Over the same period, £393,471.65 was spent on delivering measures to households in the constituency of Warwick and Leamington.
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many suppliers in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Warwick and Leamington constituency had contracts with Warm Front in the last 12 months. [233637]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA secured national contracts with the Grahams Group and Plumb Centre to provide heating hardware for the Warm Front scheme. Integral to this process was quality of service, quality of hardware and value for money. All insulation material is secured privately by installers registered on the scheme.
In the Midlands, the Grahams Group has distribution depots in Coventry, Wolverhampton and Newcastle-under-Lyme. Plumb Centre's head office is in Leamington Spa and in the Midlands distribution centres are located in Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield, Smethwick, Cannock and Solihull.
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in what proportion of cases the Warm Front grant did not meet the full cost of work carried out which qualified for a Warm Front grant in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Warwick and Leamington constituency in the latest year for which figures are available. [233639]
Joan Ruddock:
The following table illustrates the number and proportion of households assisted by the Warm Front scheme in (a) the West Midlands and (b)
Warwick and Leamington constituency where the required works exceeded the grant maxima and a contribution was requested, in the period 1 April 2007 to 30 March 2008.
| West Midlands | Constituency of Warwick and Leamington | |
Insulation: Grants
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many pensioner households in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire have received grants or other assistance to improve their home insulation in each year since 1996-97; and how much public funding was spent on such grants in each such year. [232595]
Joan Ruddock: The following tables illustrate the number of pensioner households receiving insulation measures through the Warm Front Scheme and associated costs in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire by scheme year from 2005-06 onwards. We do not hold figures for measures prior to this period.
| Hemel Hempstead | ||
| £ | Number | |
| Hertfordshire | ||
| £ | Number | |
Since 2002, pensioners in Great Britain have also benefited from subsidised and free insulation measures, including loft and cavity wall insulation, under the supplier-funded Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC). During the period 2002 to 2008, 5 million households received insulation measures through the EEC. Suppliers were required to focus 50 per cent. of their efforts on a priority group of vulnerable and low-income households, including pensioners on qualifying benefits. However, suppliers were not required to provide a precise break-down of the types of households within the priority group that received assistance, or geographical information as to where measures were installed.
The current phase of the EEC, now known as the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, operated in similar terms to the EEC. However, supplier activity levels are more than double that of EEC and will benefit some
6 million households by 2011. 40 per cent. of these will be from the priority group, which now includes all pensioners over 70.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many pensioner households in York have received grants or other assistance to improve their home insulation in each year since 1996-97; and how much public money was spent on this in each such year. [230257]
Joan Ruddock: The following table illustrates the number of pensioner households assisted by the Warm Front Scheme in the City of York and Vale of York constituencies between 1 June 2005 and 30 September 2008. (Prior to this period the scheme was administered by a different agency and the data held by the current administrator are not sufficient to provide an accurate response to the question.)
| Scheme year | Number of pensioner households assisted | Associate cost (£) |
Since 2002, pensioners in Great Britain have also benefited from subsidised and free insulation measures, including loft and cavity wall insulation, under the supplier-funded Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC). During the period 2002 to 2008, 5 million households received insulation measures through the EEC. Suppliers were required to focus 50 per cent. of their efforts on a priority group of vulnerable and low-income households, including pensioners on qualifying benefits. However, suppliers were not required to provide a precise break-down of the types of households within the priority group that receive assistance, or geographical information as to where measures were installed.
The current phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment, now known as the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, operates in similar terms to the EEC. However, supplier activity levels are more than double that of the EEC and will benefit some 6 million households by 2011. 40 per cent. of these will be from the priority group, which how includes all pensioners over 70.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has held on the establishment of grant schemes to assist low income owner occupiers to insulate older properties without cavity walls. [233665]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 6 November 2008]: Warm Front, which is the Government's main scheme for the eradication of fuel poverty, is always seeking to asses and incorporate new technologies which can improve the energy efficiency of vulnerable households. Those homes without cavity walls present a typical case of hard to treat properties, not least because the present alternative forms of insulation available are prohibitively expensive to deliver. My Department continues to work with stakeholders to ensure that all viable options are considered and incorporated into the scheme where appropriate.
Natural Gas
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of UK gas demand will be met by imported natural gas in 2008. [233928]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 6 November 2008]: Net UK import dependence of gas for the year to August 2008 (defined as total imports as a proportion of gas output from the National Transmission System) was 27 per cent. The Department's latest oil and gas production projections—available online at:
suggest 26 per cent. net gas import dependence for the UK in 2008 as a whole.
Nuclear Power: Decommissioning
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what provision he has made for the costs of (a) decommissioning and (b) future nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement. [231791]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government are committed to meeting the costs of decommissioning the existing civil nuclear legacy sites by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). This is funded through a mixture of grant in aid and the NDA's commercial income. Over time the contribution from commercial income will decline as the NDA's operational units enter their decommissioning phase. The discounted lifetime cost of delivering the NDA's decommissioning and clean up programme, which is expected to take over 100 years to complete, is estimated at £40.7 billion. With regard to the costs of future nuclear power stations, it will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning.
Nuclear Power: Northern Ireland
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) meetings and (b) discussions he and his predecessor with responsibility for nuclear energy has had with the Minister for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the Northern Ireland Executive on the implications for electricity consumers in Northern Ireland of the Government's decision on the future of nuclear generation in Great Britain in the last 12 months; and what correspondence has been undertaken between his officials and those of his predecessor department and officials in the Northern Ireland Executive on the matter over that period. [228680]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: None, but officials in the Department have been in regular touch with officials in the Northern Ireland Executive on matters relating to new nuclear including on the justification process, the strategic siting assessment process and criteria and the Energy Bill.
Plutonium
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions Ministers or officials from his Department, or its predecessors, have had with officials from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on the development of plutonium management and security policies since 2006. [228374]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Officials have an ongoing dialogue with the NDA on the development of plutonium management strategies.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to meet the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to discuss the next steps in the plutonium management strategy. [228643]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A date is not fixed yet but I hope to meet with the NDA in the coming weeks. However my officials are working closely with it on this matter.
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