Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the cost to a local authority of processing an environmental impact assessment for unconventional oil and gas extraction.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Our expectation is that the costs to minerals planning authorities of processing an environmental impact assessment linked to a planning application for unconventional oil or gas extraction will be broadly comparable to those already incurred in respect of conventional oil and gas extraction applications.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of his Department's consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Under this Government, the DCLG Group has made considerable financial savings in energy consumption, reducing its greenhouse emissions by 54 per centre from 2009-10 to 2013-14, saving £1 million comparing 2009/10 energy costs to 2013-14, through energy efficiency measures and better procurement practices.
I would note that under the last Administration, the Department's main building (Eland House, Victoria) was one of the least energy-efficient buildings in Whitehall, despite it being the lead Department on energy efficiency standards in buildings. In June 2011, the building was awarded a ‘D' grade display energy certificate, having improved from a notional ‘G' grade in 2006-07.
It is not possible to provide meaningful comparable monthly figures since June 2010, as (a) from 2011, the residual parts of the Government Office for the Regions estate became part of the core DCLG estate, (b) due to billing credits following consumption estimates by suppliers, (c) changes in consumption due to cold weather and (d) additional consumption due to empty office space being sub-let to third-party tenants, generating income to save taxpayers' money.