§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy, following his statement in the
718Wif he will give the number of official journeys civil servants of his Department made in each quarter of 1976 and the first three quarters of 1977, by each quarter, between the United Kingdom and other parts of the EEC, on matters consequent on the United Kingdom's membership of the EEC; and what has been the total cost of all these journeys in 1976 and in 1977 so far, respectively.
§ Mr. Tomlinson, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15th December 1977; Vol. 941, c. 362–3], gave the following answer:
The information requested is set out in detail in the table below. The total cost of the journeys recorded in the table during the four quarters of 1976 was £34,651 and of the journeys during the first three quarters of 1977 was £42,423. The EEC has refunded approximately £49,000 of the cost of journeys made between the beginning of 1976 and the end of the second quarter of 1977.
The journeys in column 3 of the table—which were almost all made from Brussels—include journeys by Home civil servants on temporary loan to the Diplomatic Service, usually made at the request of their parent Departments in London.
Transfer journeys by officers taking up or leaving appointments in British missions in EEC capitals are not included.
House on 12th December, what specific proposals he has for assisting private households to pursue conservation of energy; and if he will compare the approach adopted by each European Community State in this sector.
719W
§ Mr. EadieI cannot go beyond my right hon. Friends statement of 12th December, which announced a major programme aid for those private house holders who live in public authority housing. Owner occupiers obtain both capital and running cost benefits from energy conservation measures, and a major part of the "Save It" campaign, including, for example, the booklet "Compare your home heating costs", is directed at helping them to do so cost-effectively. Consideration is being given to further measures. Other aid is available in the circumstances set out in paragraph 19 of the White Paper "Energy Conservation" (Cmnd. 6575) of July 1976. A table setting out financial arrangements in EEC countries is in theOfficial Report for 22nd November 1977.—[Vol. 939, c. 563–4.]