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12 Jan 2010 : Column 871W—continued

Population

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what account the 2008 population projections issued by the Office for National Statistics on 21 October 2009 took of recent trends of reductions in (a) net migration and (b) net migration from the A8 EU member states. [310514]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated January 2010:


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Valuation Office Agency: Training

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 55W, on the Valuation Office: training, if she will place in the Library a copy of each document for the Staff Inspection Techniques training course provided by the National School of Government to the Valuation Office Agency. [309393]

Tessa Jowell: This is a matter for the National School of Government. I have asked the principal and chief executive to assist by writing to you.

Letter from Rod Clark, dated January 2010:

Energy and Climate Change

Boilers: Scotland

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Executive on the possible extension to Scotland of the boiler scrappage scheme. [310377]

Joan Ruddock: The Department informed the Scottish Executive of its intention to operate a boiler scrappage scheme in England. As the scheme is an energy efficiency measure it is a devolved matter and it is for the Scottish Executive to take a decision on whether to operate a similar scheme in Scotland.

Energy Efficiency Schemes: Scotland

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will discuss with the Scottish Executive the location of the test hubs referred to in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan. [310546]

Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has discussed the location of the test hubs referred to in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan with
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the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Executive decided, in this case, that the test hubs should not be located in Scotland.

Energy: Prices

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the level of the average household (a) gas and (b) electricity bill; what the average bill was in each case in 1997; and if he will make a statement. [308165]

Mr. Kidney: The Department's latest estimates for the average annual domestic energy bills and provisional estimates for the year to 2009 and are published in 'Quarterly Energy Prices', published in December 2009:

For an average consumer using 18,000 kWh of gas per year and paying their bills on receipt (standard credit), the average bill for gas in Great Britain was £328 in 1997 and £717 in 2009. Adjusting for the effects of inflation, in real terms equivalent bills were £349 in 1997 and £574 in 2009 relative to prices in 2000.

For an average consumer using 3,300 kWh of electricity per year and paying their bills on receipt (standard credit), the average bill for electricity in the UK was £285 in 1997 and £461 in 2009. Adjusting for the effects of inflation, in real terms equivalent bills were £303 in 1997 and £369 in 2009 relative to prices in 2000.

UK domestic gas and electricity prices are the lowest and the fourth lowest in the EU15 respectively, with latest figures for the period January to June 2009.

Competitive energy markets are a key element of our energy policy. We think that companies competing for consumers is the most effective way of driving down energy prices. However, we are in close contact with the regulator and are monitoring retail energy markets closely. Government and the regulator between them have a number of potential options and we will be ready to take further action if we believe it is both necessary and in the customers' interests.

Recognising that energy is an essential commodity to vulnerable customers the Government negotiated the current voluntary agreement with suppliers to address the prices aspect of fuel poverty. The voluntary agreement comes to an end in March 2011 however, and we have included powers in the recently introduced Energy Bill to enable us to put social price support on to a statutory footing, building on the success of these voluntary arrangements. As announced in the Pre Budget Report, the Government will require energy suppliers to make available £300 million per annum by 2013-14 .This is double what energy suppliers have agreed to provide in the final year of the voluntary agreement and will mean being able to help more of the vulnerable households with their energy bills.

The Government are also actively promoting energy efficiency measures, as outlined in the Low Carbon Transition Plan:


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Fuel Poverty

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department has taken to eradicate fuel poverty in 2009; what steps he plans to take in the first six months of 2010; and if he will make a statement. [308167]

Mr. Kidney: The Government have a strong package of measures to help reduce fuel poverty among households. This is centred on tackling the three root causes of fuel poverty:

More specifically, during 2009, the Government have:

In 2010 the Government shall:

The Government, through their fuel poverty review, will continue to build and strengthen the evidence base on fuel poverty and explore better ways of targeting help at the most vulnerable fuel poor households.

The Government's new Strategy for Household Energy Management, building on the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation in February 2009, will set out the Government's plans for delivering and financing household energy management to all households, including the most vulnerable.

Furthermore the Government want all households to play a part in generating renewable energy. Although feed-in tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive will make payments over the life of installations, low-income households may still find it difficult to meet upfront costs. Building on the experience of Pay as You Save pilot project, the Government announced in the pre-budget
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report, that we will consult on measures to help low-income households take advantage of these clean energy cash-back schemes.

Fuel Poverty: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of fuel poverty in Leeds North West constituency. [309390]

Mr. Kidney: The Government have a strong package of measures to help reduce fuel poverty among households. This is centred on tackling the three root causes of fuel poverty:

More specifically, during 2009, the Government have:

In 2010 the Government shall:

The Government, through their fuel poverty review, will continue to build and strengthen the evidence base on fuel poverty and explore better ways of targeting help at the most vulnerable fuel poor households.

The Government's new Strategy for Household Energy Management, building on the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation in February 2009, will set out the Government's plans for delivering and financing household energy management to all households, including the most vulnerable.

Furthermore the Government wants all households to play a part in generating renewable energy. Although feed-in tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive will make payments over the life of installations, low-income households may still find it difficult to meet upfront
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costs. Building on the experience of Pay as You Save pilot project, the Government announced in the pre-budget report, that we will consult on measures to help low-income households take advantage of these clean energy cash-back schemes.

Government Departments: Carbon Emissions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what amount of carbon dioxide emissions arose from Government operations in (a) 2000 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available. [303520]

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.

Government are committed to achieving a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from its estate of 12.5 per cent. and from administrative road travel by 15 per cent. both by 2010-11. Progress against these targets is reported annually in the Sustainable Development in Government report.

The latest assessment of performance, published in December 2009 shows that emissions from the office estate in 2008-09 were 2,593,725 tonnes of CO2, representing a reduction of 10 per cent. against the 1999-2000 baseline year. Emissions from administrative road vehicles are baselined against a 2005-06 year, and at 2008-09 were 149,269 tonnes, representing a reduction of 17 per cent.

This information was published on the 18 December 2009, and is available on the OGC website:

Information on reporting years prior to 2008-09 was collated and published by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) can be found on the SDC website:

Housing: Energy

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with house builders on inclusion of (i) solar water heating and (ii) photovoltaic electricity generation technology in new build homes. [306339]

Joan Ruddock: The Communities and Local Government Department (CLG) has announced a policy that all new homes will be zero carbon from 2016, with interim changes to the building regulations in 2010 and 2013.

The Minister for Housing and the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change participate in the 2016 Task Force which brings together senior representatives of industry and other stakeholders to oversee the progress of the zero carbon homes policy. House builders via the Home Builders Federation are represented on that body.

CLG is providing financial support to the Zero Carbon Hub, an industry-led body which is leading on the practical delivery of the policy. The Hub has established a number of task groups which bring together relevant stakeholders including house builders. Government observers on this group includes officials from this department who are therefore engaging with the relevant stakeholders on an ongoing basis.


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