The government is keen to learn from previous energy efficiency schemes, and from the devolved administrations.

Fuel poverty is devolved, and we will work with the devolved administrations to share best practice on how to tackle fuel poverty and deliver energy efficiency improvements. We are currently consulting on a new fuel poverty strategy for England.

We have kickstarted delivery of the Government’s Warm Homes Plan, which will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. Further details on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out in due course.

The last year of the Warm Front Scheme was 2012-13. There has been no further change in the Warm Front figures for York local authority area since my answer to the hon. Member on 9 July 2013.

The last year of the Warm Front Scheme was 2012-13. There has been no further change in the Warm Front figures for York local authority area since my answer to the hon. Member on 9 July 2013.

The annual spend, number of households assisted and average spend per household, split by one pensioner and two pensioner households, in the York local authority area under the Warm Front scheme is provided in the following table. Data are only available from 2005.

The annual spend, number of households assisted and average spend per household, split by one pensioner and two pensioner households, in the York local authority area under the Warm Front scheme is provided in the following table. Data are only available from 2005.

The Warm Front scheme has been a key policy in tackling fuel poverty among private sector households in England though the installation of a range of heating, insulation and other energy efficiency measures. The last year of Warm Front's operation was 2012-13 and to ensure there was no gap in the support for vulnerable households the Energy Company Obligation was introduced in January 2013.

The energy company obligation is expected to lead to more cost-effective delivery of measures to low income, vulnerable households.

Under Warm Front in 2010-11, around 80,000 households received major heating and/or insulation measures from a budget of £366 million. By contrast, the ECO Affordable Warmth obligation is expected to deliver heating and insulation measures to around 130,000 households each year of the scheme for an annual cost of around £350 million. Coupled with the ECO Carbon Saving Communities obligation, worth around £190 million per annum, we expect some 230,000 low income households to be assisted each scheme year. We also expect the main ECO carbon obligation to assist further low income households.

The number of households assisted each year through the Warm Front scheme in (a) Kingston upon Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North are presented in the following table:

The number of households assisted through the Warm Front scheme in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England is presented in the following table:

The average grant provided to households assisted through the Warm Front scheme in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England is set out in the following table:

Although there is inherent uncertainty, the Department closely monitors spend and activity under the Warm Front scheme using information from the scheme manager (Carillion Energy Services) on the level of demand for the scheme and the delivery times experienced. Our monitoring suggests that spending on Warm Front applications made in 2012-13 could amount to some £70 million. The fuel poverty capital budget for 2012-13 is £100 million. In order to maximise the use of this budget, we have established a Local Authority Fuel Poverty Competition. Through this, £30 million has been awarded to local authorities across England to improve the thermal efficiency of dwellings for low income and vulnerable local residents, for example through installation of efficient central heating systems and insulation.

The energy company obligation formally launched on 1 January 2013. This will provide targeted support with energy efficiency measures worth around £1.3 billion per annum to low income households and those living in hard to treat properties.

The Affordable Warmth obligation will provide heating and insulation measures to low income, vulnerable households living in private tenure properties, including the elderly, disabled and families with children. We anticipate that 130,000 households will be assisted each year through this obligation. Further, the Carbon Saving Communities obligation will provide insulation measures to around 100,000 households per year in specified areas of low income.

The Carbon Saving Obligation is available to all types of households, providing insulation measures to those living in properties which are harder to treat, including solid wall insulation.

Ministers constantly look to publicise all of the Department’s schemes and policies, including through visits, events and media activity.

ECO Affordable Warmth is targeted at those in receipt of certain means-tested benefits living in private tenure properties. This obligation supports low-income consumers who are vulnerable to the impact of living in cold homes, including the elderly, disabled and families. Full eligibility criteria are set out in the Electricity and Gas (Energy Companies Obligation) Order 2012 at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3018/contents/made

Warm Front is now closed to new applications. Since 2011-12, the eligibility criteria for the scheme have been focused on low income households in private tenure with a thermally inefficient home. At the time of the scheme's closure, eligible households were those in receipt of certain means-tested benefits (precisely the same benefits as those now used for Affordable Warmth) living in private tenure with a SAP rating of 63 or below.

Marketing and publicity forms an integral part of the Department's contract with the Warm Front scheme manager, Carillion Energy Services (CES). It is therefore not possible to provide specific figures on expenditure purely associated with publicity for the scheme.

During the scheme's operation, both the Department and CES regularly publicised it, either directly or working in partnership with stakeholders and wider delivery partners.

The Warm Front scheme has been a key policy in tackling fuel poverty among private sector households in England through the installation of a range of heating, insulation and other energy efficiency measures. The Scheme was introduced in 2000 and has helped around 2.3 million households vulnerable to fuel poverty. The specific targeting of Warm Front assistance has changed during the lifetime of the scheme, however assistance was generally targeted at low income households.

As specific households in fuel poverty change year on year, it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of households removed from fuel poverty as a direct result of the assistance provided by the Warm Front scheme overall since 2000. There is however a strong correlation between fuel poverty and low income, and we therefore expect many of the 2.3 million low income households assisted by Warm Front to have been lifted out of fuel poverty, or have the extent of their fuel poverty reduced, as a result.

We did not mention the source of funding in the press notice announcing the outcomes of DECC Local Authority Fuel Poverty Competition, along with a whole range of other issues and factor, because this was not needed.

Where underspends are forecast, DECC may use internal processes for re-allocating budget to other priority areas. Where underspends cannot be re-allocated, the Government's stated policy is that Departments can use the Budget Exchange mechanism to transfer forecast underspends from one year to the next, up to certain limits. Details on Budget Exchange can be found in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance for 2012-13, which can be found at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/consolidated_budgeting_guidance_201213.pdf

Although there is inherent uncertainty, the Department closely monitors spend and activity under the Warm Front scheme using information from the scheme manager (Carillion Energy Services) on the level of demand for the scheme and the delivery times experienced.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) is responsible for decisions about the use of the fuel poverty capital budget. HM Treasury is supportive of the local authority fuel poverty fund that has been established and, as required under the Local Government Act 2003, has given express approval to the use of Section 31(6) for making the relevant grants to local authorities.

The original budget for Warm Front and associated fuel poverty expenditure for 2011-12 was £110 million. During 2011-12 total expenditure was almost £108.6 million leaving an underspend of only £1.4 million (equivalent to a little over 1%). Expenditure was reduced to £94.4 million following receipt of agreed rebates from Carillion Energy Services worth nearly £14 million. A further £35 million was also made available to the Department's fuel poverty capital budget. By the close of the financial year, £50.6 million of the total fuel poverty capital budget had not been spent. However, it was not possible given the timing of budget receipts and requirements for internal budget allocations to reallocate this sum to other schemes within the same financial year.