§ Mrs. GilroyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 26 November 1999,Official Report, column 210W, on fuel poverty (1) if he will indicate the date of the first meeting of the inter-ministerial group to examine fuel poverty; [105470]
(2) if he will list the membership of the inter-ministerial group to examine fuel poverty. [105469]
§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answers 25 January 2000]: The Group met on Wednesday 19 January 2000. It is jointly chaired by myself and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The other members are: my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office; my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury; my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Health; the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley), and Callum McCarthy, Director General of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets.
The Group discussed and agreed its terms of reference and objective, and approved a programme of work. The agreed terms of reference are:
To take a strategic overview to ensure policies and new initiatives with a bearing on fuel poverty are co-ordinated across Government and integrated with the activities of relevant external bodies, such as the regulator and the energy industries.The Group's objective is:
295WTo develop and publish a strategy setting out the Government's fuel poverty objectives, targets for achieving those objectives, the policies to deliver those objectives, and how progress should be monitored".The programme of work to take these forward was agreed as:
- To improve identification of the fuel poor.
- To research the effect of changes in income, energy prices and energy efficiency on the number of fuel poor.
- To identify the projected impact of existing and planned policies on the fuel poor.
- To develop an understanding of the gap between the impact of existing and planned policies and fuel poverty objectives, and the policies and resources required to meet objectives.
- To develop a comprehensive strategy, setting out Government fuel poverty objectives, policies to deliver them, and targets and timescales for those objectives.
- To identify areas where further work is needed to ensure co-ordination of Government policy activity among the various different players, and setting up mechanisms to take this work forward.
- To establish methods of developing indicators, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes.