Written question asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 May 2009.

Energy: Heating

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government with reference to the review by the National Audit Office of the data collected by the Building Research Establishment and published in March 2007 by the Sustainable Development Commission, why prisons in 2005–06used over 75 per cent of their energy for heating; and what steps they have taken to reduce energy used by prisons for heating.

Answer: Prisons use energy as a normal part of their mandate to keep in custody those committed by the courts. Since 2005-06, Her Majesty's Prison Service has implemented various measures at different sites to reduce energy use in prisons. These include cavity wall insulation, building management systems upgrade, automatic lighting controls, boiler controls and voltage optimisation. Her Majesty's Prison Service has contracted the help of the Carbon Trust to undertake an estate-wide systematic programme of identifying the most cost-effective opportunities for saving energy and putting in place a governance structure to deliver effective carbon management.

Secondary information