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9 Mar 2009 : Column 55W—continued
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what changes have been made to the estimates of UK carbon dioxide emissions for each year from 1990 to 2006 as a result of the methodological changes that have been adopted since January 2008. [259284]
Joan Ruddock: The 1990-2007 inventory is the latest UK inventory that considers methodological changes in CO2 emission estimates adopted since January 2008. There have been no major methodological changes affecting CO2 emission estimates in this inventory. Small changes in the CO2 inventory have occurred due to changes in reported energy statistics presented in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics and also as a result of introducing EU Emissions Trading Scheme carbon emission factors for some fuels burnt in power stations and refineries. The 1990-2007 inventory will be formally reported to the Framework Convention on Climate Change on 15 April 2009, after which the inventory report, which contains detailed explanations of methodologies, will be available.
Energy: Advisory Services
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many one-stop advice centres have been set-up through the Energy Saving Trust; and how many people have used each. [254123]
Joan Ruddock: The Energy Saving Trust has just begun running a nationwide network of 21 regional Energy Saving Trust Advice Centres (ESTACs). The centres were set up last year with the final advice centre opening in December 2008. The regional advice centres provide a one-stop shop offering consumers a range of free and impartial advice on how to reduce their carbon footprint including energy efficiency, microgeneration and renewable energy, low carbon transport, water efficiency and waste reduction and a range of independent services that will help them action that advice.
The Energy Saving Trust has provided the following table to show the number of customer contacts each centre has had since it opened. This is any interaction where a customer has been provided with advice, which includes all in-bound and outbound calls, responses to Home Energy Checks (HEC) and outreach events. The ESTACs replace the Energy Efficiency Advice Centres (EEAC) which ceased operating once an ESTAC opened up in their region.
These figures are for the early stages of the ESTACs. Once the ESTACs are fully up in running they will be supporting over one million customers annually.
| Regional breakdown of customer contacts April 2008 to December 2008 | |
| Total | |
| (1) The advice centre in the Anglian region was replaced after a pilot in October 2008 by the Eastern 1 region. | |
Energy: Public Sector
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans his Department has to promote energy efficiency in public sector buildings. [259280]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are a number of measures to promote energy efficiency in public sector buildings. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is a mandatory carbon cap and trade scheme designed to improve energy efficiency in large, non-energy intensive organisations, including the public sector. It is intended that the CRC will operate from 2010 and achieve carbon reductions of at least 4MtCO2 by 2020.
Performance indicators on climate change mitigation were included in the new local government performance framework which was introduced in April 2008. National Indicator (NI) 185, measures the reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide from local authority operations, including local authority owned and occupied buildings. All local authorities are obliged to report their performance against this indicator and 35 local area agreements include targets against the indicator.
For central Government, the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate targets include a requirement for Departments to reduce their carbon emissions from offices by 12.5 per cent. by 2010 and 30 per cent. by 2020 relative to 1999-2000 levels.
The Government funded Carbon Trust provides a range of services to promote energy efficiency in public sector buildings, in particular by working directly with public sector organisations to identify how they can improve energy efficiency across their operations.
Salix Finance Ltd. is an independent, publicly funded company set up by the Carbon Trust to accelerate public sector investment in energy efficiency technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills.
EU Emissions Trading Scheme
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which modelling and datasets his Department uses to assess the likely effects on carbon prices of including forest credits in the EU emissions trading scheme; and what recent assessment he has made of such likely effects. [260022]
Joan Ruddock: Forestry credits are not currently included in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The future provisions for land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) in a future climate agreement will be negotiated in Copenhagen in December 2009. In the event that an agreement is reached, the European Commission is required to assess the case for inclusion of LULUCF, including avoided deforestation, in the EU ETS.
Before forestry credits could be included in the EU ETS further understanding will be required of the effect of inclusion on the carbon price. Modelling commissioned by the independent Eliasch Review has helped to inform Government policy on assessing the likely effects on carbon prices of including forest credits in the EU ETS, and future carbon market scenarios.
The core scenario modelled for the review used DECC's EU ETS Model combined with the UK Office of Climate Change's Global Carbon Finance (GLOCAF) model (which in turn used the DIMA(1 )and GCOMAP(2) models for the underlying forestry emissions and costs data). The Government continue to monitor the variables that will affect the decision on inclusion.
(1) Dynamic Integrated Model of Forestry and Alternative Land Use (held by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis—NASA).
(2) Generalized Comprehensive Mitigation Assessment Process (held by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory).
Government Departments: Microgeneration
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much energy used by the Government estate is produced onsite by (a) micro-renewables and (b) combined heat and power generation. [260457]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 4 March 2009]: A number of Departments have already reported plans to install on-site generation technologies, some of which include microgeneration technologies. For example, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will be installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels; the Department for International Development are undertaking two projects—a wind turbine and a biomass installation; the Department for Work and Pensions plan to install a wind turbine; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have plans for a biomass project and a wind turbine project; and HM Revenue and Customs plan a mixture of biomass and wind turbine projects.
DECC also plans to consider options for microgeneration on its own estate, as part of a wider strategy to improve the energy efficiency and wider sustainability of the Department.
The current number of installations of onsite energy technologies is similar to that in 2007 when three Departments had renewable energy sources on-site. At that time, DEFRA generated 67MWhrs per year from solar thermal water heating. The Insolvency Service headquarters in London used a photovoltaic (PV) system which produces on average 9.1 kWhs a day and the MoD produced small amounts of renewable energy from off grid wind turbines/PV panels.
There are 10 combined heat and power (CHP) schemes located on the Government estate registered with the Government's CHP quality assurance programme (CHPQA). In 2007-08 these 10 schemes produced just over 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity. This represents around 0.1 per cent. of the 28,677 gigawatts electricity produced in total by good quality CHP plants in the UK in 2007. The Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report indicates that total CHP generated electricity consumed on the Government estate in 2007-08 was 311 gigawatt hours. 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity generated on the Government estate represents around 6 per cent. of the total CHP electricity consumed on the Government estate in 2007-08.
National Home Energy Programme
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what period extra funding from energy companies and generators for the National Home Energy Programme will be provided. [260611]
Joan Ruddock: The Government's consultation package launched on 12 February proposes that the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target should be extended through to December 2012 (on which the Government would undertake a formal consultation), with the new Community Energy Saving Programme also running until this date.
Natural Gas: Prices
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average cost of an (a) 11kg, (b) 12.7kg, (c) 18kg, (d) 19kg and (e) 47kg propane gas cylinder in each quarter of the last five years. [260701]
Joan Ruddock: DECC do not collect or publish prices of propane gas cylinders.
Data on average prices for propane for domestic use are collected in the Retail Prices Index by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Warm Front Scheme
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households eligible to receive assistance under the Warm Front scheme. [256005]
Joan Ruddock: Warm Front assistance is available to vulnerable households living in private sector accommodation in England, and who are in receipt of a qualifying income or disability related benefit.
In 2006, the last year for which figures are available, it is estimated that there were 3.3 million households eligible for Warm Front assistance.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Recruitment
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new recruits his Department took on in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09, how many of these were taken on as (i) permanent, (ii) temporary and (iii) agency staff; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11. [254468]
Paul Goggins: Northern Ireland Office departmental reports show that:
(a) 200 civil servants were recruited in 2005;
(b) 163 in 2006; and
(c) 152 in 2007.
As there is no difference in the terms and conditions of contract offered to both permanent and temporary staff, the published figures do not make a distinction in how the staff were recruited. The reports are available through the Northern Ireland Office’s website.
In 2008, 92 staff were recruited. This is broken down as follows:
(i) 80 permanent staff and
(ii) 12 temporary staff.
No central records are kept of the number of staff recruited through agencies and there are no estimates available of equivalent figures for (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11 therefore this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Electronic Tagging
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what effect he expects the introduction of electronic tagging to have on the number of (a) remand and (b) serving prisoners in Northern Ireland. [260078]
Paul Goggins: Electronic tagging to support the enforcement of curfews will be available to the courts as a condition of bail and as a licence condition for a range of custodial sentences from 1 April 2009.
In bail cases, it will be for the judiciary to decide in each case whether the use of a curfew with an electronic tag as a bail condition could be an appropriate alternative to custody. The ability to incorporate a curfew and tag, in conjunction with other licence conditions, will inform decisions being made on the release of offenders on licence. Each decision will be made on a case by case basis and it is not possible to estimate with any certainty how many remand and serving prisoners will be affected.
We have made provision for 500 electronic tags to be issued over the next two years.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Bankruptcy: Bexleyheath
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people have been declared bankrupt in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency in each year since 2000. [261427]
Mr. McFadden: The following table shows the number of bankruptcy orders recorded in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency in each year from 2000 to 2007. Figures are not yet available for 2008.
| Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Classifying bankrupt individuals into administrative geographies is done using the postcode that the person provides. 2. Inaccurate or missing postcodes mean that the numbers in the above table will be subject to an element of missing data. Nationally, this proportion has been decreasing from about 12 per cent. in 2000 to less than 4 per cent. in 2007. | |
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