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1 Mar 2010 : Column 910W—continued
Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which Departments (a) are and (b) are not on target to stay within their allocated carbon budget for 2009-10; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for which such budgets are likely to be exceeded. [318616]
Joan Ruddock: In common with UK carbon budgets, departmental carbon budgets are for five-year periods (2008-12, 2013-17 and 2018-22). We will be reporting on progress towards meeting the budgets in October in our response to the annual report from the Committee on Climate Change.
Housing: Energy
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department has taken to assist low income homeowners resident in properties without cavity walls to make their houses more energy efficient. [318814]
Mr. Kidney: Since 2002, through the Government's flagship tool for delivering household energy and carbon savings, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and its predecessors, over 6 million households have been helped with insulation measures with almost three million of these in a priority group of vulnerable households. Between April 2008 and June 2009 over 22,000 households received solid wall insulation measures. We are currently revising some of the delivery schemes (principally CERT) to ensure that household insulation work continues at increased rates to reach the target by December 2011.
The Department and National Energy Action (NEA) has begun a piloting exercise of external wall insulation for 100 park home properties. The pilot is expected to be completed in 2010. The pilot will assess the effectiveness of the insulation products against a variety of criteria, including cost of installation, energy savings and customer satisfaction.
The Government's Household Energy Management strategy, to be published shortly, will discuss how we are to meet our ambitious energy efficiency targets, including the delivery of measures such a solid wall insulation, and the need to address delivery in a fair way that takes account of the needs of the vulnerable and fuel poor.
Microgeneration: Certification
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the inspection requirement for the purposes of accreditation by BRE under the microgeneration certification scheme is based on paperwork. [318133]
Joan Ruddock: The proportion of time spent on inspection requirements for the Microgeneration Certifications Scheme (MCS) installer scheme varies from assessment to assessment, depending on the level and standard of quality management systems already in place.
BRE Global, along with other MCS certification bodies, look for evidence that an installer company meets MCS 001 which includes requirements to assess the Installation Quality Control (IQC). Written procedures, which need to be systematically followed in each installation, ensure that all MCS installations meet consistent standards.
MCS installer standards also require a certification body, such as BRE, to inspect an installation, e.g. a small wind turbine, to determine the competency of the installer company.
All the requirements of the MCS scheme for installer companies are set out at:
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/Product +Manufacturers+and+Installers/Installers
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average cost to a microgeneration scheme installer of complying with the standards required by the microgeneration certification scheme. [318134]
Joan Ruddock: It is not possible to provide a meaningful average cost for MCS certification of installer companies, as the costs for installer companies to become certificated under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) are dependent on a number of factors.
Costs for installer companies relate to the fixed rates of the certification body undertaking the assessment; the number of technologies being assessed; the cost of training requirements and the amount of work a company needs to do to put in place quality control procedures.
There are additional costs relating to mandatory membership of an MCS consumer code which meets OFT requirements. There is also an annual MCS administration fee (£100). To ensure the ongoing robustness of the scheme and that standards are maintained, MCS installer companies are also subject to annual surveillance visits.
The fees charged by MCS certification bodies are published on their respective websites. For contact details of all MCS certification bodies see:
Stress
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library a copy of the advice issued to staff of his Department on stress recognition and management. [314522]
Joan Ruddock: DECC is finalising its own HR policies including stress recognition and management. Once DECC's policy is finalised, a copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Stroud Transition Train Group: Finance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to the Stroud Transition Train Group to date; over what period such funding has been provided and for what purpose; and what mechanism is in place for monitoring and evaluating its effectiveness. [318901]
Joan Ruddock: The Department does not fund Stroud Transition Train Group.
Uranium: Mining
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2010, Official Report, column 620, on uranium: mining, which respondents' concerns over the impact of uranium mining abroad led to him seeking further information on the safety of uranium mining; from which organisations and sources he sought further information; whether the contract placed with Integrated Decision Management followed a competitive tendering process; and what qualifications Integrated Decision Management demonstrated to show suitability to provide technical advice on this matter. [319166]
Mr. Kidney: All responses to the Government's consultation on the Nuclear Industry Association's application for the Regulatory Justification of new nuclear power station designs have been placed on the Department's website at:
The further consultation on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's proposed decisions that the API000 and EPR nuclear power station designs are Justified under the terms of the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004 sets out the further information on the safety regime for uranium mining which he took into account.
The placing of a contract with Integrated Decision Management followed a competitive tendering process in which they and their partners the National Nuclear Laboratory demonstrated the ability to supply specialist technical support to help with the Regulatory Justification process.
Warm Front Scheme
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for the installation of (a) heating and (b) insulation under the Warm Front Scheme in (i) Chesterfield constituency, (ii) Derbyshire and (iii) England in each year since the scheme's inception. [319695]
Mr. Kidney: The following table provides information as to the average waiting time (in days) for the installation of (a) heating and (b) insulation measures under the Warm Front Scheme in (i) Chesterfield constituency, (ii) Derbyshire (iii) England in each year since eaga became the Scheme manager for this region.
| Waiting times for heating measured in days | |||
| Chesterfield | Derbyshire | England | |
| Waiting times for insulation measured in days | |||
| Chesterfield | Derbyshire | England | |
| Note: Waiting time data at a constituency and regional level is retained for 12 months only. | |||
Warm Front Scheme: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent on the Warm Front programme in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point in each year since its inception; and what recent steps his Department has taken to (i) encourage take-up of energy efficiency measures and (ii) reduce the level of fuel poverty in Castle Point constituency. [318079]
Mr. Kidney: The following table shows how much has been spent in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point through Warm Front under the present phase of the scheme which began in 2005.
| £ | ||
| Essex | Castle Point | |
| (1 )Data run to 31 January 2010. | ||
The Government have a strong package of measures to encourage the take-up of energy efficiency measures and help reduce fuel poverty among vulnerable households:
The ACT ON CO2 campaign encourages energy efficiency in the home through the use of advertising (broadcast, online and press), digital media, outreach events, PR and partnerships with appropriate commercial organisations. Typically this promotion encourages a range of behaviours from simple actions like turning down thermostats, turning off electrical appliances fully and using energy efficient light bulbs to more substantial measures like loft and cavity wall insulation. The current burst of advertising on insulation launched on 11 January and will run to mid-March 2010.
Schemes such as Warm Front, Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) and the Decent Homes Standard reduce the demand for energy by improving home energy efficiency.
CERT requires energy suppliers to meet at least 40 per cent. of their obligation by promoting and installing measures in the homes of a priority group of vulnerable consumers in receipt of qualifying benefits or people aged over 70 years. Measures are only reported at a GB level and details for the work carried out in Essex and Castle Point are therefore not available.
A regulatory framework has been introduced that: promotes competition as the main driver to ensure downward pressure on prices for consumers; improves licence conditions; and strengthens Ofgem's powers through the Energy Bill.
Measures such as the winter fuel payments and cold weather payments-alongside the wider tax and benefit system and through benefit entitlement checks (BECs) under the Warm Front Scheme-have raised real incomes. Since 2005, Warm Front has carried out almost 900 BECs in Castle point, identifying eligibility for a previously unclaimed benefit in over 350 households-leading to an average increase of £31.09p in weekly income.
We have also introduced legislation to implement mandated social price support schemes once the current voluntary agreement with suppliers comes to an end in 2011. These schemes will provide more of the most vulnerable consumers with help towards their energy costs. We have said that we are minded to focus the majority of the additional resources on older pensioner households on the lowest incomes as these households tend to have a high incidence of fuel poverty-over 50 per cent. of fuel poor households have a person over 60 living in them; their circumstances are relatively stable; and they are at the greatest risk of excess winter deaths.
The fuel poverty review which was announced in January 2009, has been looking across all three drivers of fuel poverty (income, energy prices and energy efficiency) and particularly the key issue of how we can more effectively identify and target assistance at the most vulnerable households.
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications from residents of (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point for (i) heating, (ii) insulation and (iii) heating and insulation
measures under the Warm Front scheme were approved in each of the last three years. [318080]
Mr. Kidney: The following table provides information as to how many applications were approved in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point for (i) heating, (ii) insulation and (iii) heating and insulation measures under the Warm Front scheme for the previous three years and up to 31 January for the current year.
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10( 1) | Total | |
| (1) Up to 31 January 2010. | |||||
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