§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many households in the United Kingdom qualify for grant aid under the home energy efficiency scheme; how many houses have been improved under the scheme since its inception; and if he will give a breakdown for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. MacleanIn order to be eligible for a grant under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES), an applicant or his or her spouse must be in receipt of one of five passportable benefits: housing benefit, income support, family credit, community charge benefit and disability working allowance. In addition, his or her property must meet certain criteria concerning existing levels of insulation and receipt of a grant for similar work under previous schemes. Data on numbers of households eligible are not available.
Since the inception of the scheme on 1 January 1991, 208,055 homes have benefited from HEES grant; of these 155,776 were in England, 39,949 in Scotland and 12,330 in Wales. The scheme does not operate in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses in the network installer area which contains the constituency of Banff and Buchan have been improved under the home energy efficiency scheme since the scheme's inception.
§ Mr. MacleanWithin the network installer area which contains the hon. Member's constituency, 2,950 homes have benefited from HEES grant since 1 January 1991.