Housing Insulation (Hansard, 18 April 1994)

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, the European Community last year issued Directive No. 93/76/EEC (the SAVE directive) which, among other things. requires member states to draw up and implement programmes for effective thermal insulation of new buildings. Building regulations in the UK already fulfil this requirement.

§ Viscount Hanworth
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply, which is encouraging. One must ask why we did not improve our standards of insulation long ago. 7 Obviously, if one is improving insulation, which we would all like to see, it costs money. Does he agree that, unless the consumer has some knowledge of the advantages and so forth, that will not happen? The Minister has simply not answered my Question at all.

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, the SAVE directive was adopted by member states in September last year. The purpose of the directive is for member states to limit carbon dioxide emissions by improving energy efficiency. The SAVE directive also requires that measures are cost-effective, and of course the new regulations will contain specifications to conform with the directive. When new buildings are built or old buildings are substantially altered, they will be in the building regulations that will be applied.

§ Lord Boardman
My Lords, does my noble friend believe that this is a classic case for subsidiarity? With the vast variations among different member states, does my noble friend agree that it should be a matter for them to decide what is the appropriate means of house insulation?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, my noble friend will be pleased to learn that subsidiarity has been applied to the directive and that it is for individual states to take their own action within a very wide framework.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, does the Minister agree that, although the Question specifically relates to new houses, the biggest problem of loss of energy through lack of insulation is in the older houses; millions of which have no insulation whatever? Will he make overtures to his Government to reconsider reinstituting the grants? They were unfortunately done away with in the late 1980s when people were starting to take them up and thereby save energy.

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, the noble Lord will be aware that new regulations apply to any building where there is substantial renovation. For example, if floors or roofs are altered the new regulations will apply. However, I shall certainly draw to the attention of my right honourable friend the noble Lord's comments about grants.

§ Lord Ezra
My Lords, can we hear what progress has been made with the establishment of a national system of home energy audits? As the noble Viscount is probably aware, that has been successfully applied in countries like Denmark and leads to considerable energy saving. Have we made any progress in that connection within the UK?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, I cannot answer the question asked by the noble Lord, but I shall pursue the matter and write to him in due course.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the supplementary question asked by my noble friend Lord Dean of Beswick is very important? Is he further aware that, if older houses were insulated to a very good standard, it would not be 8 necessary for the Government to impose the extra 9.5 per cent. VAT on domestic heating? Would not that be worthy of consideration?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, that question requires a mixture of answers. The VAT on fuel not only raises revenue but also encourages more efficient use of energy. It should lead to a reduction of 1.5 million tonnes of carbon. A package of measures costing £2.5 billion to ameliorate the effects of VAT on the less well off was introduced. The noble Lord will be aware of the home energy efficiency scheme which provides grants for basic energy efficiency measures such as loft insulation, tank and pipe lagging and so forth for vulnerable members of society.

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, I welcome the information which the Minister has just given. Can he say to what extent there has been a take up of these grants? Are central figures available on how many houses remain to be brought up to standard?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, your Lordships will be aware that on 1st April the provision of HEES grants was almost doubled. The extra £35 million per year for the United Kingdom will provide grants for more than 200,000 extra households per year, bringing the number of households receiving grants to almost half a million a year. It will reduce the fuel bills of recipients, save energy and help to fight the threat of global warming. It will also create about 1,500 extra jobs.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, is it not the case, as my noble friends have argued, that it is older houses which are responsible for the main leakages of energy? Is it not further the case that older houses tend to be inhabited by the more vulnerable members of society ? Will the noble Viscount take that factor on board? Further, is it not the case that the job of renovation is very difficult to define? When my noble friend Lady Nicol asks what the take-up rate is, does the Minister agree that he should be giving the percentage of those who are entitled to take up the benefit and in fact are doing so rather than global figures in millions of pounds?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, I cannot give an answer as regards the rate of take up. But I can tell the noble Lord that since the scheme began in 1991 more than half a million homes have been treated. In the current financial year about 440,000 dwellings expect to be treated with the £70 million which has been made available for grants.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, furthermore, is it not the case that the gas regulator, Ofgas, has ruled that companies cannot charge higher prices to take account of the cost of the Government's insulation programme for vulnerable people? Is that the case and, if so, why has the gas regulator so ruled?

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, I think that the noble Lord is referring to a recent decision concerning the Energy Savings Trust, which is an independent organisation. The Government support its aims and see it as an important contributor to meeting the targets of 9 the UK's climate change programme. The Director General of Gas Supply has recently queried the use of a levy on gas customers as one source of funds. Officials are currently reviewing the position and looking at alternative approaches.