To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) households and (b) rural households in England received Warm Front grants in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the average value of a Warm Front grant to a rural household in England was in that period. (180759)

A total of 277,194 households in England received Warm Front grants for the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007.

Of these, 41,044 were classified as rural households under the criteria set out by the Office for National Statistics.

The average value of a grant to those rural households was £1,332.44.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of funding raised by the Energy Efficiency Commitment is ring-fenced for hard to heat rural houses; and what arrangements for such houses were planned under the carbon emissions reduction target obligation. (181162)

It is open to energy suppliers, who are responsible for the costs of meeting their targets under the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) and Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), how they do so. Under CERT there will be an option for suppliers to focus a proportion of their activity on those who may occupy hard to treat homes. Suppliers may promote solid wall insulation to those on low incomes in the private sector and ground source heat pumps to those on low incomes in the private sector who are off the gas grid. Accordingly, EEC/CERT does not ring-fence money in the manner suggested. However, the Government have sought to encourage energy suppliers to target their activity at hard to treat homes. Any activity promoted in this sector will result in greater carbon savings being attributed to a measure than would otherwise be the case.