When the Low Carbon Buildings Programme was launched in April 2006, we always intended to review grant levels at the end of the first year. After discussions with industry, it was decided that the level of support for solar PV should be reduced in April 2007, from a maximum of £3,000 per kWp installed to a maximum of £2,000 per kWp installed.
This measure, among others, will help us to make funds available to householders until June 2008 when some of our wider measures to support microgeneration should be taking hold.
It is important to note that in the Budget 2007, the Chancellor announced that a further £6 million will be made available to the household stream of the programme, taking the total available to householders to more than £18 million. We are discussing in detail the restructuring of the scheme with industry to ensure we can make the best use of the additional funds, and to address the operational difficulties that have been encountered over recent months. Taking into account the work required to re-shape the scheme, we have taken the necessary step to suspend the scheme for the monthly allocation in April, with a view to restarting the household stream of the programme in May 2007.