To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date he assumes the next decade to end; and how he will judge the practical cost-effective energy efficiency potential of each household as referred to in paragraph 7.68 of the Budget 2007 Red Book, HC 342. (130021)

The Budget set out a series of measures Government are taking to help householders improve their energy efficiency, with the overarching aim that by the end of the next decade—the end of 2017—where practically possible, all homes will have achieved their cost-effective energy efficiency potential.

Cost-effective action on household energy efficiency refers to those measures that soon pay for themselves in reduced fuel bills for example, this includes where applicable hot water tank insulation, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, heating controls and draught proofing (see, for example, analysis in the Review of the Sustainability of Existing Buildings, November 2006, available on the Communities and Local Government website).