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15 July 2009 : Column 414W—continued
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what initiatives to tackle fuel poverty are being provided by private companies under his Department's direction; how much has been spent on each in the latest period for which figures are available; and whether any other such schemes are planned. [285902]
Mr. Kidney: Warm Front is the main Government scheme for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England and is managed by eaga plc. Over 1.9 million households have received assistance with heating, insulation and other energy efficient measures since the scheme's inception in June 2000. Funding for the scheme has been increased to more than £950 million in the current spending round. The scheme is managed for the Government by eaga plc.
The carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) is an obligation placed on energy supply companies that have more than 50,000 customers to achieve CO2 savings in the homes of domestic consumers-40 per cent. of which must be met by installing measures in the homes of a priority group of low-income consumers in receipt of qualifying benefits or are aged 70 and over.
Energy suppliers do not disclose the amount of money that they spend on promoting CERT measures, as they regard this as being commercial-in-confidence. However, we understand that under the previous two phases of the energy efficiency commitment (EEC), which ran from April 2002 to March 2008, suppliers invested £1.325 billion promoting measures. The Government's estimate of likely spend for the current CERT is £3.2 billion. With 60 per cent. of this investment expected to be directed at the Priority Group, the total investment over nine years would total £2.7 billion.
DECC has provided funding of £3 million between 2008-09 to 2010-11 under the Low Carbon Buildings programme-together with revenue funding from
partners-to deliver pilot microgeneration projects for deprived communities in the north-east, Yorkshire and Humberside, East of England and, possibly, Wales.
The new Community Energy Saving programme (CESP) will see the main energy companies deliver energy efficiency measures worth around £350 million to homes in low income areas around the country. The scheme will deliver both carbon savings and fuel bill savings to assisted households, and subject to parliamentary approval is expected to come into force in September this year.
The Government are currently undertaking a wide-ranging review of our fuel poverty policies. The review is examining whether existing measures to tackle fuel poverty could be made more effective and whether new policies should be introduced to help us make further progress towards our goals.
Future Energy Networks Team
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff in his Department are working in the future energy networks team. [285096]
Mr. Kidney: The Future Electricity Networks (FEN) team is part of the Renewables Directorate and is made up of 12 people.
Insulation: Housing
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent from the public purse on insulating the homes of pensioners in each local authority area in Greater Manchester in each of the last five years. [285381]
Mr. Kidney: The following table details the Warm Front funding spent on insulating the homes of over 60's in each local authority area in Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.
| £ | ||||||
| Local authority | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10( 1) | Total |
| (1) From 1 March 2009 to 30 June 2009. | ||||||
Low Carbon Buildings Programme
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much new funding for the Low-carbon Buildings Programme announced in Budget 2009 there will be in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) subsequent years. [285098]
Mr. Kidney: The new £45 million funding for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme announced in Budget 2009 will be allotted over (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) subsequent years as follows:
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | Total | |
There is no planned expenditure after 2011. The Low Carbon Buildings Programme will be superseded by Feed in Tariffs in 2010 and Renewable Heat Incentives in 2011.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the first payments of money from the new funding for the Low-carbon Buildings Programme announced in Budget 2009 will be made. [285099]
Mr. Kidney: The new grant funding under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme became available from 1 July 2009 when new applications were welcomed. With a lead in period of approximately three months between grant offer letter and payment upon completion of project-the first payment of grant money allocated is expected to be in October 2009.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the new funding for the Low-carbon Buildings Programme announced in Budget 2009 will be made available for solar photovoltaic installations in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) subsequent years. [285100]
Mr. Kidney: The proportion of the new £45 million funding for Low Carbon Buildings programme (LCBP) announced in Budget 2009 which will be made available for solar photovoltaic applications under LCBP Phase 2 in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) subsequent years is as follows:
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | Total | ||
There is no planned expenditure after 2011. The Low Carbon Buildings programme will be superseded by feed in tariffs in 2010 and renewable heat incentives in 2011.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary in his Department plans to reply to the e-mail of 31 March from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on a replacement low carbon buildings programme. [274636]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 12 May 2009]: I apologise for the unacceptable delay in replying to the hon. Member, which was due to administrative error in my Department.
The e-mail the hon. Member refers to forwarded correspondence from Councillor Anne Mackison regarding the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. My colleague, the previous Minister of State in this Department, replied directly to Councillor Mackison on 20 April 2009. I apologise that the hon. Member was not copied in to that letter, and I have therefore sent a copy of that letter to him today.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Charles Hendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount of commercial income that will be
earned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13. [285087]
Mr. Kidney: The budget of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for 2009-10 and 2010-11 was considered within the context of the 2007 comprehensive spending review (CSR07). The settlement assumed that the NDA's commercial income would be £2.2 billion for 2009-10 and 2010-11. The commercial income budget for 2011-12 and 2012-13 has yet to be determined, and will take into account the end of life of existing Magnox electricity generating stations and the evaporative capacity at Sellafield.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much commercial income was earned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [285088]
Mr. Kidney: The NDA publishes commercial income in their annual report and accounts. Their commercial income for 2007-08 was £1,458 million. The accounts for 2008-09 will be laid before Parliament later this month.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's budget is for (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13, broken down by budget heading. [285089]
Mr. Kidney: The budget of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for 2009-10 and 2010-11 was considered within the context of the 2007 comprehensive spending review (CSR07). The settlement provides the NDA with £3.3 billion direct Government funding over the last two years of CSR07 (£1.6 billion in 2009-10 and £1.7 billion in 2010-11) of which £0.9 billion is resource and £2.4 billion is capital. Together with its commercial income the total funding available over the last two years of CSR07 is projected to be £5.5 billion. The budget for 2011-12 and 2012-13 has yet to be determined.
Nuclear Power
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the Nuclear National Policy Statement will be launched. [280360]
Mr. Kidney: The Government will publish a draft Nuclear National Policy Statement (NPS) in autumn 2009 for public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. We aim to designate the NPS in spring 2010.
Nuclear Power Stations: Construction
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress has been made on the generic design assessment for nuclear new build against the Office for Nuclear Development's draft timeline. [285042]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 8 July 2009]: The UK nuclear regulators are currently assessing two designs under the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process-EdF/Areva's UK-EPR and Westinghouse's API 000.
This process is being undertaken by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) (both part of the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Directorate) and the Environment Agency.
GDA began in July 2007 on a contingent basis, pending the outcome of the Government's consultation on nuclear power in January 2008. Regulators completed their initial stage of the assessment in March 2008. The more detailed assessment stages of GDA commenced in June 2008.
Regulators have stated that they remain on track to complete GDA by June 2011. The NII will produce interim reports in November 2009 and the Environment Agency aim to undertake a public consultation on their findings in spring 2010. This is consistent with the Government's indicative timeline for the first new nuclear power stations coming online from around 2018.
Regular updates on the progress of GDA, including quarterly reports, are published on the regulator's joint website:
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