§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what schemes the Government have introduced since May 1997 to promote energy conservation and energy efficiency within the services sector; and what their impact has been on energy consumption per square metre within(a) commercial, (b) retail and (c) Government offices. [63373]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government has introduced a wide range of measures to encourage energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy, including the commercial, retail and public sectors, which includes the Government Estate. The Climate Change Levy was introduced in April 2001 to encourage the more efficient use of energy. As part of the Climate Change Levy package, an Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme was introduced to provide fiscal incentives for businesses to invest in energy efficient technologies. The Carbon Trust was also set up to encourage business and the public sector to take up low carbon and energy efficient savings and measures.
The Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme provides free information and advice to these sectors. Since 1997, it has been delivering targeted energy efficiency briefings to boardrooms in the retail sector to raise awareness of energy efficiency, which has had a positive response. The Programme has also concentrated on providing groups within the commercial office sector with information on the business benefits of taking up energy efficiency measures.
The Government Estate has had energy efficiency targets since 1990–91. We introduced a new 1 per cent. per year greenhouse gas reduction target in 2000–01, which will be reported on later this year. We are also developing new energy efficiency targets for the Government Estate, based on an assessment of the Estate's performance against national standards.
246WThe Best Practice Programme estimates its impact on annual energy efficiency improvements for the commercial and retail sectors. Actual consumption and floor space data are not collected on an annual basis, but for calendar years 1998–2000, total energy efficiency improvements stimulated by the Programme are estimated to have been 7 per cent. for the retail sector and 6 per cent. for the commercial sector.
Annual consumption and floor space data are collected for the central Government Estate (excluding Ministry of Defence) to monitor performance against the Estate's energy efficiency target. Energy consumption in the Government Estate per square metre fell by 6 per cent. between 1997–98 and 1999–2000. Since this figure is collected on a different basis from the figures quoted above for the retail and commercial sectors, it cannot be directly compared.