To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps have been taken by (a) his Department and (b) its agency to improve the thermal efficiency of their buildings in the last 12 months. (266754)

No steps have been taken by the Department in the last 12 months. However during the refurbishment of its Cockspur street building in 2007-08 the Department took the opportunity to upgrade its lighting facilities, to install new boilers, chillers, air handling and fan coil units.

When carrying out building refurbishments over the past 12 months, The Royal Parks has taken the opportunity to install or upgrade secondary glazing, install modern and more efficient heating systems and boilers, introduce thermostatic controls to radiators, and, where possible, lay floor insulation.

There has been one new build in the Royal Parks in the past twelve months, which was designed in accordance with the Building Regulations Part L.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress his Department has made towards the target of increasing its energy efficiency per square metre of its Estate by 15 per cent. by 2010, relative to 1999-2000 levels; and if he will make a statement. (266884)

The Department has implemented a series of measures to ensure progress against the target of increasing its energy efficiency. We have already met and exceeded the target by 12 per cent.

The target is managed and tracked through our ISO14001 accredited Environmental Management System.