§ Mr. PendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what specific measures his Department has taken to promote energy efficiency; what further measures his Department intends to take to promote energy efficiency; and by what amount and what percentage of its total energy bill his Department's energy bill has been reduced over the past year.
§ Mr. EggarThe Department has actively encouraged local education authorities to conserve energy in educational buildings. Savings have been achieved by supporting development projects, dissemination of guidance on good practice and commissioned research. LEAs are currently spending £43 million a year less in real terms on energy than they did in 1978–79.
Current initiatives include supporting work being undertaken by the building research energy conservation support unit (BRECSU) in connection with its four-year £1 million programme to save energy in schools. DES publications offering advice on how to make energy savings are also in the course of preparation.
Regarding DES buildings, a sum of £10,000 was spent on power factor correction equipment at its Darlington headquarters offices in the 1989–90 financial year. This built on a sum of £28,000 spent on electrical lighting control sensors at the same site in the previous financial year. Expenditure on energy-saving equipment at the Department's London HQ cannot be justified as insufficient time remains in which to recover capital outlay prior to a move to new premises. A building management system has been specified as an energy-saving measure for the Department's new building which is in the course of construction.
Complete statistics are not available to enable us to say by what amount and by what percentage the Department's total energy bill has been reduced over the past year, but our target savings for the 1990–91 financial year are 3 per cent. compared with the previous financial year.