§ 6. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress the Government have made in establishing a standard assessment procedure for home energy labelling.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe Government have introduced a standard assessment procedure for rating the energy performance of homes. I am pleased to say that both the leading organisations which carry out home energy labelling, the National Energy Foundation and MVM-Starpoint, have agreed to incorporate the procedure into their labels. That will enable consumers to make direct comparisons between labels.
§ Mr. BurnsI thank my hon. Friend for his extremely helpful reply. Will he accept that it is of particular interest to householders in Chelmsford because they accept that home energy labelling will lead to substantial energy savings?
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryI know that my hon. Friend has a long-standing interest in promoting energy efficiency in his constituency. These developments will help all those buying a home, moving house or taking a house to rent to choose dwellings that will not only save money on their fuel bills, but help to improve the environment.
§ Mr. Anthony CoombsGiven the importance of home energy labelling in saving energy and the Government's excellent record of funding an eightfold increase in expenditure in the past 12 years, will my hon. Friend consider the possibility of incorporating energy labelling with other initiatives undertaken by the National House-Building Council so that new homes have adequate levels of energy labelling and, therefore, energy efficiency?
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryYes, we believe that the recent moves would give greater assistance to the organisations that are undertaking energy efficiency assessments of homes, including new ones. I urge all those considering the purchase of a house—including brand-new houses—to look carefully at the energy efficiency or otherwise of those dwellings. An authoritative energy-labelling system will assist them to do that.