Press Association: Households are wasting hundreds of pounds a year on gas and electricity bills – despite Government efforts to cut energy consumption, the Whitehall spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that while the Government is currently spending £2.6 billion-a-year on energy reduction programmes, household consumption has risen by 19% between 1990 and 2004. The increase came despite a 19% increase in household energy efficiency over the same period. While …