Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will introduce a policy to bring homes in deprived local authority wards up to a national minimum standard for energy efficiency.

The Government has a target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015 and as of June we have improved over 750,000 homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Green Deal and other home energy efficiency incentives. We are also consulting on regulations to require more minimum energy performance standards in the private rented sector.

In addition, we have laid draft Regulations to create a new fuel poverty target that seeks to ensure that as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency standard of Band C by 2030. We are also proposing that interim milestones of as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable reach Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025 be laid out in the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy.