§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what(a) is the predicted and (b) was the average period between initial application for a (i) HEES and (ii) HEES Plus grant and completion of the home improvements in (A) England, (B) each English region and (C) each local authority area in each month since June 2000; and what performance targets have been set regarding waiting times for HEES customers. [19349]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd. manage the Home Efficiency Scheme, marketed as the Warm Front Team, under contract. The table shows the average timelines for each of the English regions since the launch of the scheme in June 2000. It is not possible to provide the further breakdown requested by the hon. Member.
The scheme managers have a target time for completion of work following application. This is set at 40 days for insulation measures, and 120 days for heating measures. The delays experienced by householders have been due to the national shortage of gas heating engineers.
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Time taken from date of application to payment of grant1 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000 1 January 2001 to 30 June 2001 1 July 2001 to 30 November 2001 HEES: East 230 120 70 East midlands 220 110 70 Yorkshire and Humber 210 110 70 North-east 220 130 70 North-west 240 140 70 London 230 150 90 South-east 230 160 70 West midlands 220 130 70 South-west 230 140 60 Average for England 230 130 70 HEES plus East 220 130 80 East midlands 230 120 70 Yorkshire and Humber 220 130 70 North-east 240 130 70 North-west 260 150 70 London 260 150 80 South-east 250 160 70 West midlands 250 140 70 South-west 260 140 60 Average for England 250 140 70 1 There is usually a period of one to eight weeks between the date of actual installation and the receipt of the invoice from installers.