22 February 2012: Parliamentary question from Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood about the delivery of CERT in London.
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much expenditure under the (a) Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and (b) Community Energy Saving Programme has been incurred in respect of properties in (i) London and (ii) the UK. [95626]
Gregory Barker: Best estimates of energy companies total costs in meeting their GB-wide Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) obligations were detailed in the respective impact assessments at the outset of the schemes. Regionally disaggregated cost estimates have not been made. However, in terms of delivery activity, latest figures published by the Energy Saving Trust show that around 2.6 million homes had received insulation measures by March 2011, including almost 132,000 properties in London.
At present, the Government do not have powers to require the obligated energy companies to disclose their CERT and CESP compliance costs. However, we are taking steps to ensure information is available about the cost of delivery under the forthcoming energy company obligation, which is due to replace the existing schemes at the end of 2012.
The latest EST figures for CERT are posted here (they are anticipated to be updated by the EST in early March). The data above once again highlights the low delivery of CERT and CESP in London, with London only achieving a level of around five per cent of all homes treated in the UK