Caroline Flint

We are improving the skills of the project leaders of our major projects through attendance at the Major Projects Leadership Academy established by the Major Projects Authority.

Similar training is available to others working on major projects. The Department also has a range of guidance, in-house training and specialist support available to those working on its projects and work to establish the Project Delivery profession in DECC is underway.

DECC’s major projects also benefit from assurance provided within the department from their own governance structures, scrutiny of progress from the relevant corporate governance Committees and external assurance provided through the Major Projects Authority.

The effectiveness of all of these activities is regularly assessed so that improvements can be made when needed.

In July last year Ofgem committed to reporting annually on the progress of competition in the retail markets, including the impact of its retail market review measures. Ofgem is looking at a wide range of indicators and will publish its first year’s findings this summer.

I have asked Ofgem to brief me on the findings shortly before they are published.

DECC estimates, from our Domestic Fuels Inquiry that around 19 million households (75%) pay standard variable tariffs for electricity and 15 million households (72%) for gas. These figures include those on variable rates who receive dual fuel or online discounts and include all payment types including direct debit and pre-payment.

DECC do not produce statistics for tariffs by customers’ income.

Under our proposed grace period allowing entry to the Renewables Obligation beyond the proposed closure date of 1 April 2016, projects must, by 18 June 2015, have planning consent, a grid connection offer and acceptance, and evidence of land rights for the site on which their project will be built. The precise grace period eligibility requirements will be determined through the legislative process and are subject to approval by Parliament. It will be for the developer of each individual project to determine whether they meet those eligibility requirements and to apply for the grace period. It will only be possible to publish a list once it is clear to us which projects choose to apply for the grace period and have produced the evidence necessary to qualify.

The cost to the Competition and Markets Authority of its investigation into the supply and acquisition of energy in Great Britain was around £2,478,000, as at 31 May 2015.

Onshore wind has made a valuable contribution to the UK energy mix in recent years but there is now enough capacity in the pipeline to help the UK meet its 2020 renewable commitments. We will consider carefully the level of investment that developers are likely to bring forward under the proposals announced by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 18th June.

The Government expects to announce a decision shortly.

Since the 1960s, it has been routine for the electricity network operators to re-site or remove electricity network assets as a result of railway works, under the terms of a Master Wayleave agreement.

The current programme of rail electrification may result in the need for extensive works on the electricity network infrastructure.

The Department is in discussion with the industry, the Department for Transport and Cabinet Office about appropriate funding arrangements.

NDA Properties Limited holds approximately 2620 acres of land. It expects to sell approximately 520 acres in 2014-15 and 190 acres in 2015-16.

The only category that has increased by more than £10m during the period is Security. The reasons for this can be summarised as being the increased security requirements at nuclear sites across the country (particularly Sellafield) which has required additional expenditure on both capital investment and operating costs.

No fees are paid to Nuclear Management Partners (NMP).

The information requested is as follows:

DECC publish energy bills on an annual basis. Bills for 2013 and provisional estimates of bills in 2014 are published in Quarterly Energy Prices (QEP) available on the DECC web site (table 2.2.1 for electricity and table 2.3.1 for gas). Energy price indices are published monthly by the Office for National Statistics and republished by DECC within QEP, with quarterly data available in table 2.1.3.

The attached table sets out information on compensation packages for consumers obtained by Ofgem since 2001. The table reflects cases where final notifications of fines and redress have been issued and so recent notices of intention to issue penalties and redress have not been counted.

For the first time, the Energy Act 2013 gave the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA) powers to issue non-financial penalties as part of the remedial action package stemming from consumer redress orders, such as variation or termination of contracts with affected consumers, for any breaches that occur on or after 18th February 2014.

In addition, GEMA has issued three Provisional Orders (one in 2010 (First Utility with respect to disconnections of customers in debt) one in 2011 (MA Energy –compliance with Energy Codes) and one in 2014 (Economy Energy – complaints handling and transfer blocking)). It has also accepted commitments on two occasions (once in 2005 (SP Manweb– delays in connections services) and once in 2012 (Electricity North West – connection charges). In 2014, Ofgem agreed sets of targets to improve customer service at Npower and Scottish Power. These cases are ongoing.

The attached table sets out information on fines imposed by Ofgem using its enforcement powers since 2001. The table reflects cases where final notifications of fines have been issued and so recent notices of intention to issue penalties have not been counted.

Information about suppliers’ charges if an incoming customer wants to switch from a prepayment meter to a credit meter and the approach to security deposits are available from the individual company’s website or customer service team.

Eligibility criteria for ECO were adopted before the Low Income High Cost indicator, now used for measuring fuel poverty, came into use.

Eligibility criteria for ECO were adopted before the Low Income High Cost indicator, now used for measuring fuel poverty, came into use.

I would like to update the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye.

In May 2010 there were 7 independent companies supplying gas and/or electricity to households in Great Britain. Since 2010, thanks to the pro-competition, pro-consumer policies of this Government, as part of our long term economic plan, the number of independent suppliers has not just trebled, but almost quadrupled.

The Domestic Energy Market Snapshot 31 October 2014, published by Energy UK, notes that the number of suppliers in the domestic market has reached an all-time high of 26 suppliers.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication.html?task=file.download&id=5017

DECC does not itself estimate wholesale market prices for electricity and gas. These prices are provided to us on a commercial basis by Marex Spectron and ICIS Heren for electricity and gas respectively.

We have calculated yearly averages of the day-ahead wholesale electricity and gas prices (respectively) provided to DECC by Marex Spectron and ICIS Heren respectively on license. These are shown in the table below. Wholesale gas data provided to DECC is only available from 2007.

The Domestic Energy Market Snapshot 31 October 2014, published by Energy UK, notes that the aggregate major supplier share of the domestic dual fuel energy market had dropped to 89.5%.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication.html?task=file.download&id=5017

DECC estimate, from our Domestic Fuels Inquiry, that 71 per cent of gas customers and 73 per cent of electricity customers were on their supplier’s standard variable rate tariffs. These percentages include those on standard variable rates who receive dual fuel or online discounts. This survey does not cover most of the independent suppliers.

Final spends are not yet available.

The Campaign is running for a period of 5 weeks up till 21 March 2015.

All supply companies may ask for a deposit of money as security for the future payment of energy charges if a customer’s credit status is unsatisfactory, they have repeatedly failed to pay their energy bills or have broken an agreed payment arrangement, or a new customer is unable to provide proof of identity and/or details of previous place of residence. Deposits must not exceed a reasonable rate.

Suppliers will not ask for a security deposit when a customer agrees to have a prepayment meter installed to repay a debt, or their personal circumstances means it would be unreasonable to require one.

Supply companies will refund a security deposit in full when a customer has demonstrated their ability to pay their energy bills by paying each bill in full during an agreed period - often 12 months.

The Department does not hold information on the approach of individual suppliers to security deposits.

All supply companies may ask for a deposit of money as security for the future payment of energy charges if a customer’s credit status is unsatisfactory, they have repeatedly failed to pay their energy bills or have broken an agreed payment arrangement, or a new customer is unable to provide proof of identity and/or details of previous place of residence. Deposits must not exceed a reasonable rate.

Suppliers will not ask for a security deposit when a customer agrees to have a prepayment meter installed to repay a debt, or their personal circumstances means it would be unreasonable to require one.

Supply companies will refund a security deposit in full when a customer has demonstrated their ability to pay their energy bills by paying each bill in full during an agreed period - often 12 months.

The Department does not hold information on the approach of individual suppliers to security deposits.

All supply companies may ask for a deposit of money as security for the future payment of energy charges if a customer’s credit status is unsatisfactory, they have repeatedly failed to pay their energy bills or have broken an agreed payment arrangement, or a new customer is unable to provide proof of identity and/or details of previous place of residence. Deposits must not exceed a reasonable rate.

Suppliers will not ask for a security deposit when a customer agrees to have a prepayment meter installed to repay a debt, or their personal circumstances means it would be unreasonable to require one.

Supply companies will refund a security deposit in full when a customer has demonstrated their ability to pay their energy bills by paying each bill in full during an agreed period - often 12 months.

The Department does not hold information on the approach of individual suppliers to security deposits.

Using average annual consumption of 3,200kW/h per year for electricity and 13,500kW/h per year for gas, the annual cost of the cheapest deal on the market (in London) was £913 on the 15 January 2015. DECC estimate that this is around £100 lower than the cheapest deal a year earlier.

New rules to tighten up doorstep sales practices were introduced in 2009 and investigations into the doorstep selling practices of larger suppliers were launched by Ofgem, with the larger suppliers’ voluntarily ceasing doorstep selling from 2011/ 2012.

The time series data DECC publishes on switching [1] shows a downward trend following the cessation of doorstep sales.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-switching-statistics

Contractual termination costs are determined based upon the terms of the contract with Nuclear Management Partners. The precise terms of the contract are commercially confidential but these costs equate to approximately one per cent of average annual fee.

As owners of Sellafield Ltd, under the terms of the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract, Nuclear Management Partners is paid dividends funded by the fees earned by Sellafield Limited. The estimated fee payable to Sellafield Limited for 2014-15 is commercially sensitive and will not be disclosed until after it has been determined following the end of the financial year. For financial year 2015-16 the amount of fee pool available is still subject to discussion between Sellafield Limited and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Contractual termination costs will be determined based upon the terms of the contract with Nuclear Management Partners. The precise terms of the contract are commercially confidential but these costs will equate to approximately one per cent of average annual fee (this arrives at around £430K plus interest from the start of 2014/15). NMP will earn fees in line with its contract over the course of its contract notice period.

The information requested is in the table below:

Support costs for security, procurement, head office costs, environment health safety and quality, regulatory engagement cannot be accurately disaggregated from wider NDA expenditure.

Due to internal reporting changes and/or organisational structure changes, certain headings may not be consistent across the five years.

Finance costs include internal audit costs and NAO audit fees, in each year.

The information requested is not available.

The NDA did not record the number of individuals employed full-time under reachback contracts between 2009-2011. The number of full-time equivalent staff employed under reachback contracts in each of the last three years are:

• 2011-12 126
• 2012-13 149
• 2013-14 134.

The information requested is below:

£k

• 2008/09 3,211
• 2009/10 8,463
• 2010/11 9,068
• 2011/12 11,066
• 2012/13 8,629
• 2013/14 6,658

NDA Properties Limited holds, in approximate figures: 30 acres of land at Berkeley, Gloucestershire; 130 acres at Bradwell, Essex; 220 acres at Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire; 340 acres at Dounreay, Caithness; 10 acres at Harwell, Oxfordshire; 5 acres at Hunterton, Ayrshire; 30 acres at Drigg, Cumbria; 1,570 acres in West Cumbria; 14 acres at Springfields, Lancashire; and 270 acres at Trawsfynydd, Gwyndd. The land covers a wide variety of uses, including agricultural land, woodland, land used for operational purposes, and offices. For commercial reasons, NDA Properties does not make public its valuations of land held.

NDA Properties Ltd has completed five land sales in the last five years, with a total net sale price of £867,000. The sales were at Dounreay in August 2011, at Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria in June 2013, at Springfields in July and November 2013, and at Dungeness in January 2014. The largest sale was of agricultural land at Springfields (November 2013) for £548,000.

NDA Properties Ltd will consider selling land at Dounreay, Harwell, Springfields and in West Cumbria in the next two or three years, depending on market conditions. For commercial reasons it does not make public its valuations of its holdings.

NDA Properties Limited received from its land and property holdings income of £6.402m in 2009-10, £6.234m in 2010-11, £6.107m in 2011-12, £5.589m in 2012-13 and £6.115m in 2013-14.

NDA Properties Limited’s staff costs and other operating expenditure was £44,662 in 2009-10, £122,244 in 2010-11, £163,652 in 2011-12, £315,420 in 2012-13 and £402,140 in 2013-14. The increase in expenditure reflects increased activity, notably relating to the Albion Square development in Whitehaven.