§ Mr. GummerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what measures the Government are taking to ensure that the new entrants to the electricity supply market will promote energy efficiency in the domestic sector; [67963]
(2) what measures the Government are taking to ensure that the liberalised energy market delivers higher energy efficiency in the domestic sector. [67964]
§ Mr. BattleIn the response to consultation on the Green Paper "A Fair Deal for Consumers, Modernising the Framework for Utility Regulation", the Government made it clear that Ministers would issue Statutory Guidance on the social and environmental objectives relevant to regulation for each utility sector. Regulators will be placed under a duty to have regard to such guidance in the exercise of their statutory functions. In addition, the Government are exploring, with the energy industry and others, the possibility of using a new standards of performance scheme to promote energy efficiency, and the options for how standards could work in the context of the liberalised energy markets.