§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what achievements his Department has recorded in the environmental field since the appointment of a666W Minister with special responsibility for the environment was nominated for the social security team; and if he will make a statement.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Department is committed to making the fullest possible contribution to achieving the aims of the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State was appointed the Department's environmental Minister in September 1990 and has established an environment steering group within the Department to undertake a comprehensive review of the environmental implications of all areas of departmental business and administration. This steering group is now being taken forward by the Benefits Agency.
The Department is participating in the Government's campaign to reduce its energy consumption by 15 per cent. by April 1996. Additional staff have been appointed and trained to offer specialist advice on energy savings and over £0.5 million has been made available for investing in energy efficient measures. This has enabled offices to introduce water saving devices, high-frequency, low-energy fluorescent lighting and more effective lighting controls.
To raise energy awareness issues among departmental staff, the April 1991 edition of the staff magazine featured a centre page spread on the environment. A further article covering environmental issues will appear in the February 1992 edition of the DSS quarterly journal.
Since January 1991 officially acquired vehicles have either been propelled by diesel fuel or petrol engines with catalytic converters fitted. The number of vehicles operating on leaded fuel has been reduced to 4.8 per cent. of the fleet and replacement policy aims to reduce this figure to zero by mid-1992.
In March an "unleaded petrol" only card was introduced for the purchases of fuel for appropriate cars.