§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to encourage hospitals to be more energy efficient; and if he will make a statement. [8738]
§ Mr. MilburnThe Department of Health is committed to encouraging hospitals to be more energy efficient. The Department will be requesting all National Health Service298W trusts to comply with the new target level as made by the Secretary of State for the Environment on 17 March 1997 at columns 457–459, of an overall 20 per cent. improvement by March 2000.
NHS trusts are required to provide data on energy consumption which is analysed by NHS Estates, an Executive Agency of the Department of Health. NHS trusts receive detailed information on energy usage in the NHS which they can use to effectively monitor their efficiency performance.
To assist energy efficiency performance management, NHS trusts are encouraged to participate in benchmarking networks to enable them to compare their performance relative to other similar trusts.