HC Deb 15 April 2003 vol 404 cc2-4W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development by what e-mail address members of the public may contact(a) her and (b) each of the Ministers in her Department; and for each e-mail address if she will state (i) the date it became active, and (ii) the number of e-mails received in each month since activation. [97462]

Clare Short

Members of the public can contact DFID Ministers at enquiry(S)dfid.gov.uk. The address has been active since November 1997.

The number of e-mails it has received from 1997–2000 are not stored centrally. Detailed records for 2001–03 are as follows:

Month 2001 2002 2003
January 558 924 875
February 553 780 846
March 650 817 1,574
April 526 900
May 580 934
June 497 869
July 571 965
August 536 747
September 578 776
October 653 872
November 802 891
December 636 602
Yearly Totals: 7,140 10,077 3,295
Monthly average: 595 840 1,098

Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement, in relation to her Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which her Department is responsible, on(a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and (ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years. [108872]

Clare Short

The information is as follows.

(a) and (b)(i): DFID's energy consumption figures for the last five years are as follows.

Energy consumption (GWh/y)1 Energy expenditure2 (£M/y) Energy/m2 3 (kWh/m2/y) Savings over 1997–8 (percentage) 4 Energy efficiency spend £(k/y)5
1997–98 6.82 225,513 315.49
1998–99 6.87 209,602 317.75 1
1999–2000 7.58 183,574 350.61 11
2000–01 7.99 215,590 341.30 8
2001–02 8.28 245,984 377.72 20 see below

Notes:

1 Energy consumption: this is weather-corrected in the usual manner, using annual degree days relative to the 20 year average for 1990–01. The figures are those reported on for the Central Government Estate campaign, and generally include each Department's main estate plus all agencies, but not NDPBs.

2 Energy expenditure: this is actual spend, and from April 2001, includes the climate change levy.

3 Energy/m2: this variable allows for changes in both weather and estate size on energy consumption. So annual changes will generally reflect efficiency changes.

4 Savings over 1997–98: These have been expressed as percentage savings relative to the first year quoted here, and are based on the figures in the preceding column.

5 Energy efficiency spend: Note that this is not necessarily a good measure of an effective energy efficiency policy. For example, when a new building is commissioned or an existing one refurbished, good design can actually reduce capital costs, e.g by avoiding air conditioning. The costs of an effective energy management team may also not be included.

In the past two years, energy efficiency has been built into the relocation/refurbishment plans for both sites. In London, some of the main features were: New plant ventilation systems (£1.5m), to replace the poorly performing existing systems; A new building management system (£800,000) which allows energy usage to be managed and controlled effectively; A new lighting installation (£1m), which is more energy efficient.

In our East Kilbride Office, some of the main changes which are about to be made include: New double-glazed window units with reduced u-value (low winter heat loss) and high performance glass (low summer heat gain), and therefore utilising energy free natural ventilation in lieu of air conditioning; Energy efficient lighting system, including presence detectors; Replacement of four existing boilers with three high efficiency units.

It is currently not possible to make meaningful direct cost comparisons on savings on energy efficiency measures with regard to the London office as we moved from a shared 1960s building (over whose landlords' policies DFID had little direct control) to a newly refurbished building in December 2001. However, energy efficiency was a major factor in the refurbishment specification. Similarly, extensive refurbishment works are currently being carried out in our office at East Kilbride, and the designs for these works have received an "excellent" BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) rating.

The Energy White Paper, Our Energy Future—Creating a Low Carbon Economy made clear the importance the Government attaches to improving energy efficiency in its own estate. This is reflected in several targets. There is currently an interim target of a 1 per cent per annum ongoing reduction in weather-corrected carbon emissions, pending the development of new indicators and targets based on benchmarking the performance of each Department's largest buildings.

In addition, the review of Government procurement has identified areas where procurement could reinforce the achievement of these targets, and arrangements are being made centrally for Departments to purchase goods with high energy efficiency standards and which provide good value for money.

On the purchase of renewable electricity, Ministers agreed the following target in May 2001: All departments will ensure that by 31 March 2003, at least 5 per cent. of their electricity comes from renewable sources that are exempt from the Climate Change Levy or from self generation, provided this does not entail excessive cost. This will rise to at least 10 per cent supply from such sources by 31 March 2008, but will be reviewed after 31 March 2003 to take account of market conditions following the introduction of the renewables obligation. The review of 2003 will include consideration of increasing or bringing forward the target. DFID has already more than achieved this target, as in July 2002 the London office changed its electricity supplier, resulting in a 100 per cent renewable supply for a lower unit charge (3.824p compared to 4.402p previously for a non-renewable supply).

Energy saving has therefore been an integral part of the Department's refurbishment/relocation programme. We are also on track with the development of our Environmental Management Strategy (EMS) in line with Central Government Sustainable Development policies and targets, and this will address the issue of Energy Management.

There are no agencies or non-departmental public bodies for which DFID is responsible.