Oral Answers to Questions

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

4. What recent progress he has made on the roll-out of the green deal.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

8. What recent progress he has made on the roll-out of the green deal.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

The green deal went live, on time, on Monday 28 January. The Government’s “Green Deal With It” communications campaign was launched the same day. By the end of February, according to the official statistics, 1,803 assessments had been carried out.

[Gregory Barker]

A whole range of installers will be absolutely vital, and I was delighted to see that Wolseley has said that it is seeing strong demand not only for its products, but for adviser training, as it is a trainer. For small and medium-sized enterprises, we are waiving all fees and oversight costs for the first two years. We are hosting a range of networking events with the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Chambers of Commerce and the CBI, and we are co-hosting eco roadshows with Energy UK. We are also committing money to training assessors and installers, and there is more to come.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

Stafford borough council is working with green deal providers to raise awareness among my constituents of access to the scheme. Will the Minister and his green deal team meet me and the council to discuss how we can encourage the best possible take-up in Stafford and the surrounding areas?

[Gregory Barker]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and his council. We are seeing a very encouraging degree of not only commitment but real enthusiasm from local authorities across the country. Local authorities will be key to a really ambitious roll-out.