§ Virginia BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in reducing fuel poverty through the Warm Front Scheme; how many households have been assisted in(a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01; how much the average cost was in (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 2000–01 of assisting each household via the Warm Front Scheme in terms of (A) actual cost of the measures carried out and (B) the average cost of the administration which enabled households to receive the measures; what the measures, the planned expenditure is on warm front in (1) 2002–03 and (2) 2003–04; and what the percentage change has been in expenditure in each region of the UK since 1999–2000. [60668]
§ Mr. MeacherThe new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme, launched in June 2000 is marketed as Warm Front.
The table provides details for the previous HEES, which provided insulation measures only (column two), Warm Front from launch of the scheme in June 2000 to March 2001 (column three) and April 2001 to March 2002 (column four).
49W
April 1999 to March 2000 June 2000 to March 2001 April 2001 to March 2002 Number of households assisted who receive either insulation, heating or both 339,000 106,800 254,600 Average value per household (£) 176 322 464 Value of measures (£) 59,670,000 34,360,000 140,600,000 The reduction in the number of households assisted by Warm Front reflects the introduction of the package approach of measures combining insulation and heating under the scheme. There was also a slow start for gas heating due to the national shortage of trained heating engineers. Measures installed may include cavity wall, loft insulation, draught proofing, individual gas wall heaters or electric storage heaters and either gas or electric central heating systems.
These figures do not identify the scheme managers' administration costs. Information regarding administration costs is commercially sensitive and could be used in future tender rounds to unfairly distort the competition process.
The budget for Warm Front, an England only scheme. for the financial years 2000 to 2004 is over £600 million. The information on the percentage change of expenditure for each region in the UK is not held in the format requested for individual households and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information on the measures installed at individual property in 2000–01 has previously been provided on 15 January 2002, Official Report, column 261W. A copy of the data referred to in that answer is available on CD-Rom in the Library.
Numbers of varroa samples received Region 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Varroa positive samples Northern 0 0 0 2 19 34 105 141 230 North East 1 10 30 103 124 162 132 47 25 Western 1 28 75 81 197 198 93 34 9 Eastern 17 55 31 200 252 68 17 12 7 South West 124 166 114 87 57 25 7 3 4 Southern 33 176 207 283 152 53 13 15 5 South East 128 165 142 179 116 35 11 9 6 Wales 1 0 11 53 54 94 61 47 15 Totals 305 600 610 988 971 669 439 308 301 Varroa negatives Region 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Northern 221 345 288 273 309 213 158 92 42 North East 588 734 837 415 611 237 32 5 1 Western 594 752 609 617 607 221 40 10 3 Eastern 530 530 288 254 168 19 2 3 1 South West 593 279 158 86 66 17 3 1 0 Southern 933 837 518 214 110 23 2 3 0 South East 604 508 286 120 35 8 6 2 1 Wales 329 341 310 492 284 160 43 18 21 Totals 4392 4326 3294 2471 2190 898 286 134 69 Total no samples received 4697 4926 3904 3459 3161 1567 725 442 370 12002 data to 20 June
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent(a) representations she has received from and (b) discussions she has had with the beekeeping industry; and if she will make a statement. [63522]
§ Mr. MorleyMy officials meet annually with representatives of the UK beekeeping sector. The most recent meeting was held on 8 November 2001, when a
50WWe will carry out a review of Warm Front during this financial year to look at how effective its delivery has been, the issues faced, solutions found, examples of best practice and future priorities. This will include consideration of the impact of the scheme on reducing the number of vulnerable fuel poor households.