| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Feb 2010 : Column 468W—continued
In 2007 Defra funded Phase 1 of a UK-India collaborative study on the barriers to technology transfer. This work was led by the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex university, which received £73,000 in funding. SPRU partnered with TERI on this study.
Defra funded the International Conference on Community Rights, Forests and Climate Change, 17-18 August, 2009, New Delhi (jointly organised by TERI and the Rights and Resources Initiative)-£46,000. In 2006 Defra also funded the Delhi Sustainable Development summit (£12,000) and work on sustainable development governance (£6,000). In 2007 Defra funded the Delhi Sustainable Development summit (£70,000).
DFID India have provided £132,000 to TERI over this period, including £40,000 for Delhi Sustainable Development summit 2009 and £31,000 for Delhi Sustainable Development summit 2008. In addition TERI has received £137,000 from DFID UK as part of wider research consortia.
DFID have also announced plans to provide TERI with up to £10 million over the next five years. This funding will help to bring electricity and clean energy to
millions of the world's poorest people by supporting renewable energy projects in India. As is routine, DFID is undertaking a full institutional assessment of TERI as part of their due diligence process before releasing funds.
TERI's Decentralised Energy Solutions Division is one of the participating institutes in a £4 million research initiative 'Off-grid energy for international development' run by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
(2) Funding for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership:
| Funding ( £ million ) | ||
(3) We are not aware of any Government funding for TERI Europe or the Asian Energy Institute
Energy: Prices
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many tariffs each energy provider has for its domestic customers in each region; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of tariff ranges. [313744]
Mr. Kidney: Table 1 as follows indicates the number of tariffs available to a new domestic gas, electricity and dual fuel customer based on a snapshot of 23 January 2010, with figures provided by Ofgem(1). The table excludes: social tariffs; any tariffs that were closed to a new customer as at 23 January 2010; and tariffs for companies other than the main six energy suppliers. The majority of tariffs are available in each region, however there are regional price variations due in part to regional variations in network costs for both gas and electricity.
(1) The tariff data were provided by Energy Services Online Ltd [TheEnergyShop.com].
| Table 1: Average number of tariffs available to a new customer in a region, across main six energy suppliers | |||
| Electricity | Gas | Dual fuel | |
Around half of UK gas and electricity customers pay for their energy via direct debit. Table 2 indicates the number of direct debit tariffs available to new customers in each region by each of the main six domestic energy suppliers. Generally a customer choosing to pay for their energy via any other method will have fewer tariffs open to them.
Any customer looking for a tariff at any one time may be constrained by what region they are in, their meter type, their access to the gas grid, and to some extent by payment method. This will limit the number
of choices open to them by varying degrees. The information provided also contains tariffs for Economy 7 and Economy 10 customers, many of whom will be limited to only these types of tariffs to switch to or sign up to.
Government recognise that there are many tariffs for consumers to choose from. We recognise that some customers may value this range of choice in the market; however, we note that this may make it difficult for others to find the best deal. In some cases, two tariffs will have the same price and payment method-but there could be small differences such as club card points, vouchers or donations to different charities turning a single price and payment plan into multiple options. We are talking to Consumer Focus who are working with switching sites to try and resolve this problem.
From this year suppliers will be obligated to provide each customer with additional information to help them understand and compare their energy tariff to other offers in the market.
Suppliers are also obligated under their supply licence to improve the conduct of their face to face sales and marketing activities by providing consumers with information that is clear and not misleading.
Additionally, Ofgem's new over-arching Standards of Conduct state that energy suppliers must not sell a customer a product or service that he or she does not fully understand, or that is inappropriate for their needs and circumstances, or offer products that are unnecessarily complex or confusing.
Ofgem will be monitoring the effectiveness of these remedies. As part of this process they will review whether these changes have proved sufficient to help consumers understand and benefit from the range of tariffs available to them, and consider what further steps may be needed. My officials are discussing the issue of number of tariffs and its impact with consumer groups.
Warm Front Scheme
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for the installation of (a) heating and (b) insulation measures under the Warm Front scheme in (i) Mid Bedfordshire constituency, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England, Wales and Northern Ireland in each year since the scheme's inception. [317703]
Mr. Kidney: The following tables show the average waiting time (in working days) for the installation of (a) heating and (b) insulation measures under the Warm Front scheme in (i) Mid Bedfordshire constituency, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) the East of England in the current scheme year, and (iv) England in each year since the scheme's inception.
Average timescales quoted for years 2005-09 run from the completion of the technical survey to the completion of works. Timescales for the current scheme year run from the allocation of work to a registered installer to the completion of work following a change in recording processes under the revised contract for the scheme's delivery.
| Heating timelines | Mid Bedfordshire | Bedfordshire | East of England | England |
| n/a = not available. (1 )Data run to 31 January 2010. | ||||
| Insulation timelines | Mid Bedfordshire | Bedfordshire | East of England | England |
| n/a = not available. (1 )Data run to 31 January 2010. | ||||
Neither the Department nor eaga, the scheme manager, has previously grouped data by constituency or county: as such, the regional data for 2005 to 2009 are not available. However, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell) on 1 December 2009, Official R eport column 717W, which presents the average timelines for heating and insulation work by each local authority area between May 2008 and November 2009.
Fuel poverty is a devolved issue and the Warm Front scheme operates in England alone: as such, it is not possible to provide data for Wales and Northern Ireland.
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes were constructed in 2008-09. [315663]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information on additional new build affordable homes can be found in Table 1009 on the CLG website:
Not all affordable housing is provided by new build completions, some can be provided through acquisitions.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 866-8W, on affordable housing, what expenditure his Department has incurred on (a) HomeBuy Direct, (b) New Build HomeBuy, (c) Open Market HomeBuy, (d) First Time Buyer's Initiative, (e) Social HomeBuy and (f) Rent to HomeBuy in 2009-10. [317535]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 867-68W.
Jim Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been bought under the Rent to Homebuy scheme in each (a) local authority and (b) region since
the inception of that scheme; and what the monetary value of such sales was in each area on the latest date for which figures are available. [318014]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 22 February 2010 to PQ 316761.
Affordable Housing: Salford
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on increasing the standard of social housing in Salford since 1997. [317391]
Mr. Ian Austin: The following table shows Salford city council and their arms length management organisation, Salix Homes, capital investment in council housing in the city.
| Expenditure £000 | |
| Source: Annual returns to Communities and Local Government | |
The TSA cannot provide the data requested for housing associations in the City.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |