§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many instances there were in each English region in each month since June 2000 of(a) HEES and (b) HEES Plus grant being topped-up by the recipient to pay for the full costs of the improvements; what was the average amount of the top-up; and what was the average administration cost to Eaga Partnerships and Eastern Warm Front to process each top-up. [19348]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 29 November 2001]: The Eaga Partnership Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd. manage the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme, marketed as the Warm Front Team, under contract. The scheme provides packages of energy efficiency measures tailored to the circumstances of the householder and the property. Where the total cost of these cannot be met from the available grant, the scheme managers seek support from other programmes. If this is not possible, then the scheme manager advises the householder of the amount of money required to complete the work and asks them to contribute towards the excess cost if the full programme of recommended energy efficiency is to go ahead. Should they do so, the sum is paid directly to the installer concerned. If the client is unable to make the required contribution then those measures requiring additional funding are not installed.
The majority of requests for a client contribution occur at the £1,000 grant level, when it is not possible to repair a gas central heating boiler and a replacement is required. A decision on grant levels will be made shortly and will take into account the level of client contributions and advice from the scheme managers on the expected rates of labour and materials for the forthcoming year.
The table sets out the available information on the number of letters sent to HEES clients and the average contribution requested, month by month, since June 2000. Unfortunately, data are not available in the format requested by the hon. Member.
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Number of letters Average value of top-ups (£) 2000 June 10 690 July 10 320 August 20 210 September 90 520 October 200 300 November 290 360 December 180 420
Number of letters Average value of top-ups (£) 2001 January 350 330 February 370 540 March 400 390 April 350 430 May 540 450 June 980 540 July 1,250 830 August 1,260 640 September 1,190 510 October 1,490 370 November 1,100 400 The higher number of top-up requests over the last six months reflects the increasing number of householders receiving assistance through HEES. Currently, 98,000 householders are having work carried out on their properties. Since the launch of the scheme on 1 June 2000, 234,000 households have received assistance. Some 10,000 have been invited to make a contribution.
The cost incurred in seeking contributions is incorporated within the scheme managers' fees for administering the scheme. These fees are included in their contracts with my Department. It is not possible to identify their costs separately.