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3 December 2016	
Dan Jarvis MP
House of Commons
London  SW1A 0AA

			

Dear Dan,
I am writing to follow up the reply to your Parliamentary Question 52942 that Jesse Norman answered on 21 November 2016. You asked how much the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have spent to limit excess winter deaths in each of the last five years. 
The Government recognises there is a clear link between living in a cold home and ill-health. However, the factors contributing to the number of excess winter deaths each year are complex. 
The Department does not report specifically on spending under the heading you use but Government schemes have invested heavily in improving the energy efficiency of households that are vulnerable to the effects of the cold, as well as discounts to provide immediate support with energy bills. 
Policies designed to tackle energy efficiency and make homes warmer are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Spending under Government schemes to tackle cold homes
£, nominal prices	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	Total	
Warm Home Discount 	£238m	£290m	£283m	£326m	£315m	£1.5bn	
Energy Company Obligation 	n/a	£56m	£1606m	£957m	£529m	£3.1bn	
Warm Front	£100m	£43m	£20m	n/a	n/a	£0.2bn	
Central Heating Fund	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£25m	£0.03bn	
Carbon Emission Reduction Target	£681m	£742m	n/a	n/a	n/a	£1.4bn	
Community Energy Saving Programme 	£103m	£491m	£108m	n/a	n/a	£0.7bn	
Total	£1.1bn	£1.6bn	£2.0bn	£1.3bn	£0.9bn	£6.9bn	

At close to £7bn spent over the past 5 years and billions more committed over this Parliament, the Government is continuing to put significant support to helping households keep warm over winter. 
However, as highlighted by the statistics published by ONS on November 23rd, excess winter deaths remain a critical issue, and you are right to draw attention to it. It is also right that Government continues to take action to support people who are vulnerable to the impact of the cold. This includes the critical role of our health service and contributions from other Government departments, such as DWP.
I am placing a copy of this letter in the Libraries of both Houses.
Warm regards, 

BARONESS NEVILLE-ROLFE DBE CMG