Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce energy costs in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to meeting the Greener Government Commitments and to reducing the energy use of its operations. In 2014/15, the FCO will be undertaking the following measures to reduce the energy costs of its UK operations: installing additional LED lighting; installing additional daylight and motion sensors on lighting; improvements to equipment and operation of the heating infrastructure in the King Charles Street main building; virtualising and consolidating the server estate in our main data-centre; adjustments and interventions to reduce the cooling requirement of its main data-centre; and installing additional automated meter reading and more efficient pumps. Consolidation of the FCO’s principal London offices into one building in 2015 will also bring large net energy savings.

The energy savings from these measures in 2014/15 will add to numerous energy saving initiatives in recent years such as installation of voltage regulation equipment and thermostatic radiator valves; LED lighting; decommissioning legacy IT systems; powering down desktops at night and staff switch off campaigns.

In addition the FCO enjoys the benefits of utilising the centralised Government Procurement service framework for the purchasing of its electricity and gas.

The answer relates to the FCO's UK Estate, which comprises King Charles St, Old Admiralty Building, Lancaster House, Carlton Gardens, Hanslope Park and Northgate House. It would incur a disproportionate cost to source this information from our network of overseas Posts, as this information is held locally.