Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, issue 145Sept-Oct 2003

13. Only £268m for energy efficiency

The Association for Energy Conservation has been attacking the government for not living up to the rhetoric in its Energy White paper by avoiding any specific targets for energy efficiency in the paper. With other groups, it has been supporting the private members Sustainable Energy Bill tabled by Brian White MP (see previous page) which sets a target of a 20% energy saving by 2010, as was originally suggested in the Cabinet Offices PIU report. But undaunted, replying to a Parliamentary Question, DEFRA Minister Elliot Morley has made the best he could out of the funding that has been allocated. ‘Total funding available for energy efficiency from Defra in 2003-04 will be £268,042,000. This includes £33,500,000 for the Carbon Trust, £22,487,000 for the Energy Saving Trust and £22,055,000 for the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme.’

It has to be said that the last Labour government (and we mean the one in the 1970’s) allocated £250m to energy conservation, which, given inflation, was actually much more than this current allocation- and the latter has not been increased recently. All that Morely could say was that ‘in spite of heavy pressures on Defra’s overall spending, these budgets remain broadly unchanged from last year reflecting the importance we attach to energy efficiency following the Energy White Paper’.

But he did add that ‘in addition, more than £34,000,000 of capital grants and development support are available under the Community Energy programme. The budget for fuel poverty will be £156,000,000.’ His final point was that ‘No decisions have yet been taken about spending levels in future years’. So whether there will be more money made available remains to be seen.

Better Buildings

In parallel, Brian Wilson, then Energy and Construction Minister, urged all sectors of the construction industry to work together to improve energy efficiency. Energy efficiency and ultimately renewable energy must be key features of all future build, he told major industry figures in a speech at the 2003 Building Awards in London. He said that Government would lead by example in the public sector, but that it was everyone’s responsibility to play a part in the process of accelerated change, in keeping with policy set out in the recently published Energy White Paper.

On the Government’s lead role, he said: ‘The shift to far greater energy efficiency is also an ideal opportunity to intensify the efforts already being made to improve the productivity of the construction industry. We will bring forward to 2005 the next revision of the Building Regulations to raise standards for energy efficiency in new buildings and refurbishments. Crucially, we will set an example by improving energy efficiency in public buildings and procurement. We have also announced further measures to support the use of Combined Heat and Power. Achieving these bigger and faster changes will require the concerted effort of all parts of the industry.’

He concluded ‘Better, sustainable buildings- especially in relation to energy efficiency (and into the future, renewable energy)- is not an option; it is something that must be done through corporate social responsibility "pull" and/or regulatory "push". Overlaying this is the message that Government is seeking a partnership in the way we "de-carbonise" our building stock, involving all of the players in delivering greener, better buildings faster.’

* The Government has launched a cross- Departmental Better Buildings campaign to spearhead the new strategy.

For more on energy efficiency policy, see the comments on the Green Partys new Alternative Energy Review by Dave Toke and Horace Herring in our Reviews section.