asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much water in total and per occupant in cubic metres was consumed in the headquarters of the Department for Communities and Local Government since its creation; and previously in the headquarters of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in each year since its creation.[HL6569]
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006 and no water consumption data have yet been collated for the headquarters buildings. Data are available only for the water consumption within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's headquarters buildings of Eland House and Ashdown House (Victoria). Consumption between May 2002 and31 March 2005 was as follows.
Year Consumption (cubic metres/annum) Consumption (cubic metres/person/annum) 2002-03 18,882 8.10 2003-04 23,809 10.14 2004-05 17,772 6.92 2005-06 17,168 6.43 Note: Consumption per head is based on an estimate of the average number of people in occupation during the period and makes no allowance for visitors.
Specific water target in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate was that departments should reduce water consumption in office buildings to an average of:
7.7 cubic metres person per year by 31 March 2004; and
7 cubic metres per person per year for all new buildings/major refurbishments after 2002.
Departments have submitted data against the framework water targets in annual sustainable development in government reports. The lastreport published by the Sustainable Development Commission in December 2005, covering the reporting period 2004-05, is available at www.sd-commission.org.uk/watchdog. The data reported for ODPM cover all ODPM’s buildings, including those of its executive agencies and of the government offices.
Departments have submitted data for SDIG reports, including total volume of water used across the whole of their estate, as well as annual staff numbers and full-time contractors. From these data departments have calculated an average.
New targets have been set for the government estate—they were announced on 12 June; the targets include water consumption.