Iain McKenzie
Main Page: Iain McKenzie (Labour - Inverclyde)
Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)
1. What steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
Before I answer may I, on behalf of many Members of the House, welcome the election of the new pope, Pope Francis?
The green deal, which went fully live on Monday 28 January, will help transform the homes of British people over the coming decade and beyond. This transformational policy, along with the energy company obligation and the roll-out of smart meters, will drive the development of a new energy efficiency market, providing unprecedented choice, benefits and access to low-cost finance for British households.
Mr McKenzie
The Government claim that the green deal will be the biggest and best home improvement plan since the second world war. Can the Minister tell us how many households have taken out the green deal so far?
Mr Davey
The green deal has got off to an excellent start. As the hon. Gentleman may know, we have released data today which show that nearly 2,000 green deal assessments have been made, and already that figure is out of date. There are more than 600 accredited advisers and more than 600 installing firms have been accredited. Nearly £30 million of ecos have been traded on eco-brokerage. The hon. Gentleman should listen to the industry. I do not often recommend that people listen to tweets, but if he looks at the tweets of British Gas, GHE Solar, Toriga and Green Deal Shop, they will tell him and other right hon. and hon. Members how well those firms are doing with assessments and, they believe, taking those on to installations.