Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-06-26.

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.

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.