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to revise sub-head provisions to reflect Resource and Capital revisions in allocations between Top Level Budget Holders to match required defence outputs, with no overall impact on DEL;
The changes to Resource DEL and Capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £626,555,000.
Votes A Annual Estimate (2009-10)
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. John Hutton): The Ministry of Defence “Votes A Annual Estimate 2009-10”, will be laid before the House on 12 February as HC117. This outlines the maximum numbers of personnel to be maintained for service in the armed forces during financial year 2009-10.
Energy and Climate Change
Departmental Expenditure Limits
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Miliband): Subject to Parliamentary approval of the New Estimate, the total Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget for the Department of Energy and Climate Change will be £2,790,657,000 and the Administration budget will be £98,320,000.
The resource element of the DEL arises from:
i) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of a net negative £963,013,000 voted near-cash, £1,711,504,000 of non-voted near-cash, a net negative £2,980,000 voted non-cash and a net negative £47,752,000 of non-voted non-cash in respect of Supporting affordable, secure and sustainable energy and managing historic energy liabilities effectively and responsibly;
ii) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of £152,512,000 voted near-cash and £34,000,000 of non-voted near-cash in respect of bringing about a low-carbon Britain, Developing an international agreement on climate change and Promoting low carbon technologies in developing countries;
iii) a reduction in non-voted expenditure of £27,000,000 and a reduction in voted income of £28,932,000 relating to reclassification of entities within the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;
iv) an increase in non-voted expenditure of £296,782,000 and an increase in voted income of £296,782,000 due to updated income and expenditure forecasts for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority;
v) a Reserve claim of £54,100,000 non-cash in respect of an increase in provision for the Concessionary Fuel Scheme;
vi) utilisation of End Year Flexibility of £50,300,000 non-cash in respect of an increase in provision for the Concessionary Fuel Scheme;
vii) a transfer of £80,000 from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in respect of compensation for mesothelioma sufferers; and
viii) an increase in voted near-cash expenditure and a decrease in non-voted near-cash expenditure of £34,000,000 with respect to take up of Departmental Unallocated Provision for the Warm Front programme.
Also within the resource DEL, the Administration budget arises from:
ix) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of £52,471,000 near-cash and £3,000 of non-cash in respect of Professional support and infrastructure; and
i) a Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of £42,485,000 near-cash and £3,361,000 of non-cash in respect of Professional support and infrastructure.
The change in the Capital element of the DEL arises from:
i) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of a net negative £7,582,000 voted and £1,248,183,000 non-voted in respect of Supporting affordable, secure and sustainable energy and managing historic energy liabilities effectively and responsibly;
ii) A Machinery of Government transfer from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of £402,030,000 voted and £16,000,000 non-voted in respect of bringing about
a low-carbon Britain, Developing an international agreement on climate change and Promoting low carbon technologies in developing countries;
iii) A 2008 Pre Budget Report award of £50,000,000 in respect of bringing about a low-carbon Britain;
iv) a reduction in voted income of £52,782,000 and a reduction in non-voted expenditure of £52,782,000 due to updated income and expenditure forecasts for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; and
v) an increase in voted expenditure and a decrease in non-voted expenditure of £16,000,000 with respect to take up of Departmental Unallocated Provision for the Warm Front programme.
Home Energy Efficiency
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Edward Miliband): Together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Minister for Housing, I am today publishing three consultation documents, the “Heat and Energy Saving Strategy” (HESS), the “Carbon Emissions Reduction Target uplift” (CERT) and the “Community Energy Saving Programme” (CESP), which together make up a comprehensive package to save energy and reduce emissions from now through to 2020 and beyond and increase the UK’s energy security.
The consultation on “Heat and Energy Saving Strategy” sets out the Government’s long-term vision for dramatically improving the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses. If the UK is to achieve its targets on emissions reductions and renewable energy, we will have to move beyond conventional and easy to install energy efficiency measures and consider more radical ways of saving energy. We will also need to decarbonise the generation and supply of heat. By 2050, emissions from UK households need to be approaching zero if we are to meet our target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent.. The Minister for Housing recently published a consultation setting out proposals on making new homes zero-carbon from 2016, and seeking views on the Government’s ambition that non-domestic buildings should be zero-carbon from 2019. This strategy therefore concentrates on existing buildings. By 2020, our ambition is to have made available comprehensive whole house solutions to improve the energy performance of approximately 7 million homes. Building on this and by 2030, we aim to have made those measures available to all households.
In support of this, two consultations on increasing the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target by 20 per cent. and the Community Energy Saving Programme set out the Government’s immediate plans for households. In particular, they include increasing the current roll-out of energy efficiency measures and a new programme to deliver whole house solutions to the most vulnerable households in deprived communities. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is the Government’s principal tool for delivering household energy and carbon savings. Under CERT, electricity and gas suppliers are required to meet challenging carbon-saving targets by encouraging households to take up energy efficiency measures. Suppliers are free to decide how to deliver their obligations, but typically will promote free and subsidised offers on key measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation and high-efficiency lights and appliances. They are obliged to meet at least 40 per cent.
of their targets in a priority group qualifying, low-income households, including those aged over 70. The obligation applies in England, Scotland and Wales. By way of increasing the number of energy saving measures available to consumers and in response to high and rising energy prices, the Prime Minister, on 11 September 2008, proposed raising the CERT target by 20 per cent.. Making a significant contribution to the UK’s environmental and social ambitions, increasing the level of CERT will mean a revised carbon target of 185 million tonnes lifetime C02 savings (from 154MtC02) to be delivered by 31 March 2011. This means annual savings of 5:3 MtC02 (from 4.2 MtC02), equivalent to the annual C02 emissions from 940,000 homes. It is expected to drive increased energy supplier investment of some £576 million, taking total energy supplier CERT investment to some £3.2 billion.
The Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) was also announced on 11 September 2008 by the Prime Minister, and aims to deliver holistic packages of carbon abatement measures to vulnerable households in low-income, deprived communities in Great Britain and offers an opportunity to pilot some of the approaches outlined in the “Heat and Energy Saving” consultation document. The key proposals will deliver substantial emissions reductions and permanent fuel bills savings for those in the targeted areas, and are:
A new obligation on energy suppliers and electricity generators to deliver an estimated £350 million of energy efficiency measures, and to ensure fairness to be targeted at the most vulnerable domestic consumers.
Ensuring targeted households, and hard to treat properties, receive the most effective and expensive actions like solid wall insulation.
Measures to be offered as a package to deliver whole house solutions, delivered in a house by house, street by street approach.
To deliver support through a community partnership where local authorities and community groups work with the electricity generators and energy suppliers to help identify the households in most need.
The proposals in these consultation documents will help us to tackle both the immediate difficulties people face in paying their energy bills and the longer-term issues we face in becoming more energy efficient and decarbonising our heat supply.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Marine Management Organisation Headquarters
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Huw Irranca-Davies): I wish to inform the House of the process and decision on the future location of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) HQ, which will become the UK Government's marine delivery body, subject to the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
In line with the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, it is proposed the MMO will set the standard in the UK and internationally for strategy and planning in the marine and coastal environment, so delivering the Government's commitment to introduce a new framework for the sea that balances conservation, energy and resource needs.
In June 2008, KPMG were appointed to help provide an independent assessment of the most suitable locations for the MMO headquarters, ensuring that the process was transparent and fair. The first part of the process was an evaluation against agreed business and quality of life criteria, based on assessing published information and wide stakeholder consultation, to reach a short list. Copies of the final KPMG report along with an explanatory narrative will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
In consultation with the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA), DEFRA Ministers and senior officials along with other key stakeholders, KPMG produced a shortlist of five locations, while retaining London as the benchmark. Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth was added in order to ensure good geographical spread and to ensure that full consideration was given to any business benefits potentially arising from location alongside a directly related part of the DEFRA marine network. This made a final shortlist of six locations, all with considerable merit and some with an excellent foundation of marine expertise: they comprised Plymouth, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Merseyside, Tyneside, Carrick and Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth, in addition to London.
DEFRA officials—accompanied by KPMG—visited all the shortlisted locations to help inform the decision. Each location also had the opportunity to put forward a case to be the home of the MMO to me through its Members of Parliament. I would like to thank parliamentary colleagues for their time and effort, and for the quality of their presentations.
All of the shortlisted locations made professional, well-presented submissions and I would also like to thank all those people and organisations involved for their efforts, enthusiasm and time. All of the shortlisted locations had much to offer as a home for the MMO HQ.
Having assessed all of this information carefully, together with further analysis on the cost of the move, the impact a relocation would have on current MFA business and staff, and DEFRA's wider corporate responsibilities, I am pleased to announce that Tyneside will be the new home of the MMO. Tyneside has a broad range and a good balance of marine interests including a working port, fisheries, a growing renewable energy sector, environmental and industrial sectors, and a strong and developing university sector in marine specialisms, all of which will complement very well the role of the MMO. Tyneside also provides strong transport links to key stakeholders in London, Brussels, Scotland and across the UK. In addition, the extensive evidence
of partnership working in the area provides confidence that Tyneside will be able to help the MMO to fulfil its role under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
The House will also wish to know that whilst the North East has had some notable success in encouraging private sector investment in recent years, it has not benefited to the same extent as some other regions in the UK from the relocation of public sector organisations and employment following the Lyons Review.
As I indicated earlier, all of the shortlisted locations could have provided a good base for the MMO, and this is a tribute to the continuing strength of those locations, to the case made by their respective Members of Parliament, and to the professionalism of the teams who put their presentations together. There can however be only one MMO HQ, and in thanking all the other locations' teams, I am sure they will join me in offering Tyneside our congratulations and best wishes.
To ensure there is a smooth transition and to mitigate against any risks arising as a result of the relocation an MMO skeleton body is proposed from Autumn 2009. Subject to Royal Assent on the Bill, the expectation is that this will run in parallel with the MFA until midnight 31 March 2010 at which time the MMO will be operational.
The Marine Bill and further information about the Bill can be accessed at: http://defraweb/marine/legislation/index.htm
And further information on the MMO and its implementation on the MFA's website at: http://www.mfa.gov.uk/
Departmental Expenditure Limits
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Huw Irranca-Davies): Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DEL will be reduced by £656,314,000 from £3,746,278,000 to £3,089,964,000 and the Administration Budget will be reduced by £45,880,000 from £356,463,000 to £310,583,000. These movements in the DEL Budget are mainly due to the machinery of government transfer to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. That apart, the overall effect on DEFRA's DEL Budget is minimal with the forecast outturn anticipated to run close to allocated budget. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
| £000 | |||||
| Change | New DEL | ||||
| Voted | Non-voted | Voted | Non-voted | Total | |
| (1) Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting. | |||||
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