AQW 46880/11-15

Mr Gregory Campbell
Democratic Unionist Party
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 08/06/2015
Answered On Date: 15/07/2015
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Social Development how many homes does he estimate will benefit from the Affordable Warmth Scheme by 31st March 2016; and how that figure compares with the number benefitting under Warm Homes in the last full year in which it operated.

Answer:

In the last full year of operation (2014/15) the Warm Homes Scheme improved the energy efficiency of 7,004 homes.

The Affordable Warmth Scheme and Warm Homes Scheme are fundamentally different and the two schemes cannot be compared on a like for like basis.

The Affordable Warmth Scheme offers additional energy efficiency measures such as boiler replacement and window upgrades which were not available under the Warm Homes Scheme. The targeted approach is finding houses which need significant work to improve their energy efficiency and the additional measures available have resulted in a higher average grant level of £3,400 for the Affordable Warmth Scheme compared to £1,440 under the Warm Homes Scheme.

Officials recently briefed the Social Development Committee on the Affordable Warmth Scheme and discussed the budget and the Programme for Government milestone commitment. It was suggested that the current Programme for Government milestone commitment to assist 9,000 homes each year may need to be reviewed to reflect the higher average grant level and the budget available. My Department will develop and bring forward a new milestone target which reflects the new scheme more accurately.

The Information provided in this response is governed by the Principles and Protocols of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This is enforced by UK Statistics Authority.