Great British Energy Bill

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 15th January 2025 Grand Committee

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, in moving Amendment 95, I will speak also to my Amendments 96 and 97, on accountability to Parliament. This group is all about GB Energy reporting to Parliament. As I have said, the Bill is quite short and some bits are missing, so I think noble Lords are just looking for as much reassurance as the Minister can give on these matters.

As the Bill stands, there are no real basic requirements for GB Energy to produce an annual report, or requirements for it to report to Parliament, beyond those in Clause 7 and what the Minister has said at the Dispatch Box today. I note that GB Energy will be subject to the same general reporting as other arm’s-length government organisations.

My Amendment 95 would ask GB Energy to publish an annual budget report, which would be sent to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee or a successor committee of the House of Commons. That report must include but not be limited to,

“a breakdown of current and expected funding sources … spending per sector … grid spending … future spending … estimations of future profitability”.

It goes on:

“A representative of Great British Energy must appear before the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, or any successor Committee, if requested”.


Amendment 96 says:

“Great British Energy must publish an annual report and send it to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, or any successor Committee, of the House of Commons”,


and that that report

“must consider Great British Energy functions and activity in the contribution to the following … supporting local communities and economies … the achievement of the United Kingdom’s climate and environmental targets … the relationship with The Crown Estate … a just transition to green energy … a jobs and skills transition into the green economy”.

It would also provide that Great British Energy must appear before that committee if requested.

Amendment 97 would require GB Energy to commit to an ongoing sustainable development review of its activities. It states:

“Great British Energy must keep under review the impact of their activities on the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom”.


This would require GB Energy to keep under constant review the impact of its activities on sustainable development goals, as recognised by the United Nations, the Commonwealth and other bodies that refer to human rights developments, which aim to meet the economic, environmental and social needs of the present, while also ensuring the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

At the outset I acknowledge to the Committee that my amendment is a direct copy of one tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and so skilfully negotiated with the noble Lord, Lord Livermore, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, as part of the Crown Estate Bill. It was agreed as a government amendment to that Bill as it left your Lordships’ House. I wish to put on the record my thanks to both of them for their work in getting the amendment into the Bill. My reasons for bringing the amendment here again are, as I said, simply to mirror the other Bill, because the two organisations are so closely interlinked. For me, this is a minimum backstop amendment. I have added my name to Amendment 116, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and I continue to support it, but I wish to make clear that if that amendment falls, this one is a kind of backstop.

My amendments are relatively straightforward, so I will turn to the other amendment in this group, Amendment 117, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist. This would hold Great British Energy accountable to the relevant parliamentary committees of both Houses of Parliament.

The Minister has said—I already suspected that this would be the case with an arm’s-length body—that this would be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. It is good that he has confirmed that from the Dispatch Box. I just wanted to indicate my full support for the amendment and the principles that it sets out. It is obviously important that all bodies that the Government set up should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny from the Select Committees.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I shall speak to the amendments in this group, which contains amendments in my name and those of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, one of which he moved. I thank the noble Earl for introducing this group; I appreciate the sentiment and spirit of his amendments, and his support for mine.

I do not wish to repeat noble Lords’ arguments from previous groups, but these amendments again seek to shape the governance, accountability and sustainability of the proposed Great British Energy entity. They have been drafted in line with the values of responsible governance, fiscal prudence and national interest, so, although I will not repeat his arguments, or those of my noble friend Lady Noakes from earlier, I wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by my noble friend Lord Roborough on the first group.

On Amendment 95, which would require GBE to publish an annual budget report, I appreciate the sentiment of ensuring transparency in how public funds are utilised. On these Benches, we have always championed the prudent use of taxpayers’ money, and this amendment acknowledges that principle. However, we must ensure that such reporting is not merely a box-ticking exercise. The report must provide meaningful insights, ensuring that GBE operates efficiently and delivers value for money. We cannot allow an additional layer of bureaucracy to stifle innovation or create unnecessary costs. Therefore, I agree with the noble Earl, Lord Russell, on the spirit of this amendment, and I look forward to hearing from other noble Lords about how the reporting requirement could best be used to ensure that GBE operates in the best interests of the nation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to my Amendments 106 and 107 in this group and to support my noble friend Lady Bloomfield’s Amendment 118. These amendments are closely aligned with Amendments 27, 28 and 29 in the name of my noble friend Lord Effingham, which were debated on the first day in Committee. Amendment 106 introduces a new clause that ensures that Great British Energy must annually report on the impact of activities on coastal communities. Amendment 107 similarly requires GB Energy to report on its impact on commercial fishing.

The Government have committed to substantial wind developments, promising to double onshore and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. It goes without saying that there is a difficult balance to strike when undertaking considerable developments while minimising the damage to the communities and industries that are most likely to be affected. That said, we must not lose sight of the communities and sectors to which GB Energy’s activities may be costly. I remind noble Lords that the Government have said that GB Energy will work closely and collaboratively with local communities to achieve their clean energy targets. I therefore see no reason why they should not consult and report on the impact of its functions on the communities they suggest will reap the rewards of GB Energy.

The impact of GB Energy’s activities and the Government’s green energy agenda on communities throughout the UK has been a recurring theme and a point of serious concern throughout the debate on the Bill. Last year, I highlighted the burden facing rural communities in particular, as the Government looked to ramp up transmission and distribution infrastructure. It is essential that the energy transition, and GB Energy’s role within it, do not come at the expense of the communities and associated industries.

Many in this House urged the Minister to ensure that the Secretary of State and GB Energy consult local communities. I point to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering, who rightly raised concerns that offshore wind development risks forcing fishermen out of the seas in which they operate. It is essential that we carefully consider the use of our country’s marine space. Preliminary results from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory concluded that all the proposed offshore wind farms in the UK are predicted to impact fishing, with fishermen pointing to both financial and safety concerns resulting from the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Ultimately, this is an issue of spatial competition.

Amendment 115 of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, is broader, addressing the impact of GB Energy’s activities on both fishing and commercial shipping. He is right to extend the scope to commercial shipping. I turn to the UK Harbour Masters’ Association, which notes the challenges faced by the sector from offshore renewable energy installations. It calls for a report on the impact of such installations on the shipping industry and insightfully draws a link with commercial fishing, noting that fishing vessels may be squeezed out of their usual channels and enter shipping routes to avoid sites of renewable energy generation. We must not ignore the worries and recommendations of these industry bodies. With this in mind, many environmental, biodiversity and wildlife bodies have called for GB Energy to deliver for nature alongside climate. I welcome and support my noble friend Lady Bloomfield’s Amendment 118, which requires GB Energy to make

“a positive contribution to nature recovery”.

Careful consideration is key to the success of GB Energy. We must not isolate but include those communities and sectors that will be most impacted by the Government’s attempts to create this green energy superpower. Additionally, we ought to consider how GB Energy will act in a way that seeks to benefit both the climate and biodiversity, which are inextricably linked.

I look forward to hearing the contributions of all noble Lords in the debate on this group of amendments, and the Minister’s response.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, Amendment 118 in my name would introduce a new clause which requires GB Energy and its partners to make only investments that make a positive contribution to nature recovery. As my noble friend Lord Offord of Garvel rightly explained, the UK is facing both a climate and a nature crisis.

Nature recovery, the restoration of our country’s biodiversity and the climate are matters that are so closely interwoven. They cannot and should not be considered in a separate capacity. Therefore, if GB Energy is to be established in an effort to achieve clean energy by 2030 and net zero by 2050 and to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions in an attempt to tackle climate change, GB Energy ought to operate in a way which looks to make a positive contribution to nature recovery.

The Government themselves recognised the ties between climate and nature recovery. Indeed, they were elected on a manifesto which said:

“The climate and nature crisis is the greatest long-term global challenge that we face”


and

“The climate crisis has accelerated the nature crisis”.


The omission of a nature recovery duty is another shortcoming of the Bill. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity both compound and reinforce one another. The Royal Society has acknowledged that a flourishing ecosystem has the ability to combat the effects of climate change. We know that the UK’s biodiversity is under serious threat, yet we know that natural habitats have a significant role to play in absorbing and storing carbon and regulating the climate.

Wildlife and Countryside Link has called for nature recovery to be put in the Bill and the amendment in my name would do just that. It recognises that restoration of the UK’s nature has the ability to provide up to a third of the climate mitigation effort that is required if we are to achieve net zero by 2050. Rightly, it describes the Government’s failure to include a nature recovery duty as a “missed opportunity”.

A nature recovery duty ought to be a general principle of GB Energy. It would hold the Government to account on the manifesto they were elected on. It would introduce a clear condition, ensuring that GB Energy and its partners operate in a way which seeks to contribute to the biodiversity targets introduced by the previous Government in the Environment Act.

Nature recovery must not be seen to inhibit the facilitation of the production, distribution and storage of clean energy. Instead, it must go hand in hand with the objectives of GB Energy, helping to protect and restore carbon-rich habitats. Indeed, it is complementary to the objectives of GB Energy surrounding clean energy generation and distribution.

We must be cautious that the establishment of this body to rapidly ramp up the installation and generation of renewable energy technologies does not adversely affect biodiversity in the UK. We must seek to mitigate the risk of further diminishing or undermining the UK’s natural assets. The amendment in my name would do just that by embedding a nature recovery duty into law.

[Lord Teverson (LD)]

My Lords, I shall speak to my Amendments 114 and 115. I agree very much with the spirit of the other amendments in this group. I say to the Minister that only one of my amendments is labelled as a probing amendment but they are both, in effect, probing amendments and I would not expect them to proceed beyond Committee as I have written them.

Amendment 114 is about national defence. Clearly, even since I wrote the amendment, this has become even more important in terms of offshore infrastructure, as we saw in the Baltic at the end of last year and following the serious shenanigans of “Eagle S”, the shadow Russian oil tanker which disrupted cables in the Baltic Sea, after which there was a NATO conference yesterday.

The purpose of this amendment is to hear from the Minister that GB Energy, in its offshore investments, will be plugged into the Ministry of Defence, and that the Ministry of Defence—which, if I may be slightly candid about it, has not always been positive about renewable energy onshore—will fully engage in these investments.

I think this is going to get more and more important. All sorts of technologies are coming out to ensure that, as soon as cables or pipelines are tampered with, it is quickly recognised and action can be taken. There is an Oral Question on this area in the House tomorrow, and I will be pressing more on the defence side, as we need to be a little more upfront in our reaction, as the Finns have been. I am really probing to see where that co-ordination with the Ministry of Defence is going to happen.

Great British Energy Bill

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 13th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 59 and to speak to Amendments 60, 61, 63, 65, 69, 70, 72 and 76 in my name.

Amendment 59 requires an annual report on how Great British Energy’s activities are contributing to reducing consumer household energy bills by £300. This frequently repeated claim, that the purpose of Great British Energy is to save each household £300 on their energy bills, seems conspicuously absent from the legislation, which states that the “objects” of Great British Energy are only to facilitate, encourage and participate in the production of energy,

“the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions … improvements”

in

“energy efficiency, and … measures for ensuring security of … supply”.

It is imperative that the Government be held accountable for their promises. The Secretary of State has reiterated that clean energy will deliver cheaper energy, and this has been repeated in this House, in the other place, on the campaign trail, in videos and on leaflets. It is therefore important to enshrine accountability for that ambition in the Bill that creates the institution of Great British Energy. We must introduce a mechanism by which the Secretary of State and Great British Energy are accountable to households for their pledge to reduce bills through investment in renewables, and for their specific promise to reduce household bills by £300 per household.

Amendment 60 in my name also seeks to introduce a mechanism by which the Secretary of State and Great British Energy are held accountable. Amendment 60 holds the Government to their word by requiring Great British Energy to report to the Secretary of State on the progress made towards creating 650,000 new jobs—another election pledge.

Amendment 61 in my name introduces a specific strategic priority for Great British Energy to develop UK energy supply chains and requires that an annual report be produced on the progress of meeting this strategic priority. It is essential that our transition to net zero does not increase our reliance on foreign states, particularly hostile foreign states. I am sure we can all agree that we want the so-called “clean energy” transition to utilise British industry, whereby offshore wind turbines and solar panels are produced by domestic manufacturing companies and erected by British workers. It is with that in mind that I bring Amendments 61 and 76.

Amendment 61 requires a fixed percentage of materials sourced or purchased as part of any investment made by Great British Energy to be produced in the UK and supplied from UK manufacturers. The transition to net zero presents our country with a great opportunity for investment and job creation; we must ensure that it is domestic companies and the British people who benefit from the increased investment promised by Great British Energy.

We must not outsource our energy transition. Amendment 72 in my name requires Great British Energy to report on the impact it has on imported energy. The Government’s target to achieve clean energy by 2030 must not increase our reliance on imported energy, which risks jeopardising our energy security and exposing British consumers to price spikes. It is already concerning, given that the hike in the windfall tax to 78% is already cutting investment in UK natural resources and oil and gas production, and will make the UK increasingly dependent on imported supply.

The distribution and transmission of electricity is intrinsic to the production of clean energy as set out in Clause 3. It is therefore critical that Great British Energy should take all reasonable steps to ensure that access to the national grid is ready for any energy infrastructure invested in by Great British Energy, and Amendment 65 in my name works to do just that.

The “Great Grid Upgrade” is without doubt a necessary component of our journey to net zero by 2050. Currently, new energy infrastructure—new wind turbines and new solar farms—have a significant wait time for grid connection. That is why the previous Government commissioned the Winser review, setting out recommendations on how to reduce this timeframe. The previous Government accepted advice on all areas—all 43 recommendations—to ensure that we could continue the work to drive down construction and connection times.

Despite the work that we on these Benches initiated in government by accepting these recommendations, the timeframe for obtaining grid connections for a new project can be as long as 10 years. In fact, a project without grid connectivity today might not come online until the mid-2030s, well beyond the Government’s ambitious goal of grid decarbonisation by 2030. It is therefore essential that the development of the national grid coincide with the development of renewable energy production.

Amendments 69 and 70, in my name, require GBE to report to the Secretary of State on the impact of each investment on carbon emissions and on the progress made by GBE towards reducing those emissions. I am grateful to my noble friends Lord Petitgas and Lord Trenchard, whose Amendment 80 would require Great British Energy to produce a quarterly unaudited and an annual audited report, including on the rate of returns for and the carbon emissions resulting from each investment. I support my noble friends’ amendment, which neatly covers both emissions resulting from, and the rate of return of, each investment. I expect that the latter will be debated thoroughly in the following group.

Supposedly, Great British Energy is to be established to drive the Government’s clean energy by 2030 goal and net-zero target, yet the Bill makes no provision for reporting on the impact of each investment on carbon emissions, which is critical if the Government are to achieve that pledge. Amendments 69 and 70 in my name, and Amendment 80 in my noble friend Lord Petitgas’s name, seek to rectify that, as does Amendment 85A in my noble friend Lord Hamilton of Epsom’s name, which I wholeheartedly support.

Finally, I return to the strategic priorities of Great British Energy as set out under Clause 5. As I have discussed previously, it is critical that we have sufficient oversight of and reporting measures on the financial assistance provided to Great British Energy. In that vein, Amendment 63 requires Great British Energy to report on the projected cost of fulfilling all its strategic priorities.

I trust that the Minister has listened to and carefully considered the array of issues raised in the amendments in my name and in those in my noble friends’. We must not lose sight of the sweeping powers that the Bill provides to the Secretary of State in issuing Great British Energy with directions over which Parliament will have no oversight. We must give due consideration to the purpose and impact of each direction. I beg to move.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, Amendment 77 in my name

“would require … 75 per cent of all materials purchased as part of an investment by Great British Energy”

to be produced in the UK. I will speak only briefly, as my noble friend Lord Offord of Garvel’s Amendment 61, for which I thank him, similarly requires a fixed percentage of materials sourced or purchased as part of any investment made by Great British Energy to be produced in the UK and supplied by UK manufacturers. However, I will make some additional points.

It is essential that the race to clean energy by 2030 and net zero by 2050 benefit British industry. As my noble friend Lord Offord explained, we must not outsource our energy transition. I draw attention to the warning from the former head of MI6 that the courting of Chinese investment risks handing power to Beijing. Up to 40% of solar panels in Britain are produced by companies linked to forced Uighur labour in eastern China. Furthermore, Chinese businesses have funded or provided parts for at least 14 of the 15 offshore wind projects in, or about to be in, operation. Firms owned by the Chinese Government have large stakes in three projects, together producing the energy for 2 million homes. While the Government’s energy agenda is overly ambitious, it could benefit the domestic manufacturing industry if we look to prioritise British industry over that of foreign states.

I am sure that the Government will have no hesitation in supporting my amendment, considering that the Secretary of State has repeatedly said that Great British Energy will deliver jobs for the British people. Can the Minister tell the Committee what impact Great British Energy will have on British industry? Will he confirm that the Government’s clean energy targets will not increase our reliance on foreign supply chains?

--- Later in debate ---

Moved by

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist]

78: Clause 6, page 3, line 38, at end insert—
“(1A) The Secretary of State must give a specific direction to Great British Energy that it must re-invest all profits into the company.”Member's explanatory statement
This would require Great British Energy to re-invest all profits back into the company.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 78 and speak to the other amendments in this group on Great British Energy. It is essential that we approach the future of energy in this country with the urgency that it warrants. The energy security of this nation is far too important to be left to chance. Today we have a pivotal opportunity to shape the future of Great British Energy in a way that prioritises transparency, accountability and the long-term benefit of the British people.

My Amendment 78 requires that all profits made by Great British Energy be reinvested in the company. This is a crucial provision that would seem to be self- explanatory. It is designed to ensure that Great British Energy focuses on long-term growth and the sustainable development of the UK’s energy infrastructure. It is crucial. If we are to establish a state-run energy company, it must operate with financial discipline and focus. Reinvesting profits ensures that GBE’s resources are used to strengthen its core business, to innovate and to contribute to the UK’s energy independence, rather than being diverted elsewhere. We must ask ourselves whether we want a national energy company that builds the future of Britain or one that becomes a drain on the public purse, burdened by external obligation?

I turn to Amendments 79, 81 and 82, tabled by my noble friend Lord Petitgas. Amendment 79 seeks to prevent Great British Energy from investing in projects that are reliant on government subsidies. Let it be clear. Subsidies distort markets, breed inefficiencies and create dependency. My noble friend sees this as a critical step in ensuring that Great British Energy operates as a self-sustaining entity. By preventing reliance on subsidies, we are ensuring that Great British Energy focuses on projects that stand on their own merits, fostering true innovation and competition. This is about making Great British Energy a commercially viable entity that does not lean on taxpayer funding but instead drives growth through its own strategic investments.

Amendment 81 introduces a critical measure of accountability and transparency. It requires that all investments made by Great British Energy undergo an independent third-party valuation. We cannot allow public funds to be spent without rigorous scrutiny. Independent valuations, such as the one that the UK Infrastructure Bank endured, will serve as an essential safeguard against potential mismanagement, ensuring that every investment is sound, justifiable and aligned with the long-term interests of our energy sector and taxpayers. This amendment goes beyond the traditional notion of financial oversight. It is about ensuring that every decision made by Great British Energy is transparent, free from political influence and fully accountable to the public. As we are entrusting a significant portion of taxpayers’ money to GBE, it is only right that we have an independent mechanism in place to assess whether the investments are wise and sustainable.

Amendment 82 limits Great British Energy’s investments to UK-registered companies. This is a straightforward yet powerful measure. Britain’s energy security in our national economy must be the top of this Government’s priorities when discussing this Bill. In an age when national security and economic resilience are increasingly under threat, why should we allow public money to flow into foreign companies when it can support British jobs, British innovation and British energy security? Investing in foreign registered companies undermines this goal. We must ensure that any investment of public money supports British interests first and foremost.

I now address the important amendments tabled by my noble friend Lord Effingham, Amendments 83, 84 and 85, which ensure proper governance of fiscal prudence for Great British Energy. Amendment 83 refers to the cost control and prioritisation of resources. It seeks to limit the size of Great British Energy’s delegation to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, ensuring that taxpayer money is used efficiently and that the company remains focused on its primary mission rather than on unnecessary expenses for international events. Amendment 84 requires Great British Energy to publish its principles and criteria for evaluating investments. This promotes transparency and clarity for universities, companies and innovators seeking backing, while ensuring that the investment process is accessible and competitive.

Finally, Amendment 85, which my noble friend Lord Effingham tabled jointly with my noble friend Lord Trenchard, mandates that Great British Energy does not co-invest with Chinese state-owned companies without prior notice to the International Trade Committee. It requires Great British Energy to not co-invest with Chinese state-owned companies without giving prior notice to the International Trade Committee of the House of Commons. In light of ongoing concerns about foreign influence, particularly from state- controlled enterprises, this amendment would provide a necessary safeguard. It ensures that any such investments are subject to proper scrutiny, maintaining the integrity of our energy sector and the security of British taxpayers’ money.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, I support these amendments. I have certain reservations about my noble friend Lady Bloomfield’s Amendment 78, because it assumes these investments will make money. I have a bit of a problem with that. The real difficulty, as we have discussed, is that all the low-hanging fruit when it comes to investment in renewable energy has already been picked by the private sector. It does this quite simply by calculating a return on guaranteed income. Therefore, what worries me is that Great British Energy will be left picking up the bits that other people do not want to touch. The chances of it making money are probably quite small. Of course, it will have to count off the losses against the profits, so you need to have something at the end of the day. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, has achieved something little short of miraculous by investing other people’s money and actually making money, but that is an exception rather than the rule. The chances of Great British Energy squandering billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are rather higher than it making any profits for anybody.

Clearly, accountability is very important when it comes to these sorts of sums. We should do everything we can to ensure that taxpayers’ money is looked after in the best way possible. Everybody should have great reservations about believing—to come back to the point I made earlier—that politicians are able to pick winners. The record on this has been absolutely abysmal. The chances of more money being lost than made are, I am afraid, very great indeed.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I urge the Minister to give serious consideration to the amendments in this group. They are designed not only to strengthen the accountability and transparency of Great British Energy but to ensure that the promises made to the British public, particularly on national security and economic prudence, are fully delivered. During the last election, the party opposite made numerous promises to the British people, including a commitment that Great British Energy would first and foremost protect and benefit the British people. At the same time, we must remember that this is not just about creating another energy company but about establishing a cornerstone of national resilience—an entity that must operate with the highest standards of responsibility, transparency and accountability to the taxpayers who are entrusting it with significant public funds.

My noble friends’ amendments reflect three core principles: fiscal restraint, operational transparency and the safeguarding of national interests. As we consider these amendments, whether on reinvesting profits into the company, ensuring strict investment criteria or introducing greater scrutiny of foreign involvement, I urge us to draw from the examples set by the erstwhile UK Infrastructure Bank. When the bank was established, it was supported by clear frameworks for accountability, transparency and rigorous oversight, ensuring that taxpayer money was spent efficiently and aligned with national priorities. Let us learn from this experience and ensure that Great British Energy, in its critical role in our national energy strategy, is similarly held to account.

We must remember that the future of energy is not just about ensuring supply but about safeguarding our economy, our security and the well-being of future generations. By taking these steps, we will ensure that Great British Energy not only is accountable to the public but operates with the highest standards of governance, efficiency and integrity. The amendments before us are crucial to delivering that vision and I commend them to your Lordships, but at this stage I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment 78 withdrawn.

Great British Energy Bill

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Morris of Bolton) (Con)]

My Lords, I must inform the House that if Amendment 21 is agreed to, I cannot call Amendment 24 for reasons of pre-emption.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I draw attention to my interests as outlined in the register and thank my noble friend for introducing this amendment. His insights underline the importance of collaboration as we address the dual challenges of energy security and achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

The amendment would build on prior commitments and take the steps needed to ensure that nuclear energy plays a full role in our energy mix. The amendment is not a new initiative but an essential next step in fulfilling the Government’s stated commitments to nuclear energy. It would ensure that we moved from exploration and consideration to concrete action in facilitating, encouraging and participating in the production of nuclear energy. By accepting it, we can bridge the gap between aspiration, implementation and participating in the production of nuclear energy.

The Government have already acknowledged the importance of nuclear energy, but acknowledgement alone will not suffice. There must be a tangible, unequivocal commitment to its production. This includes setting clear targets for both large-scale nuclear reactors and, more importantly, small and advanced modular reactors. A stronger commitment sends a signal to investors, developers and the broader energy sector that the UK is serious about leading the world in advanced nuclear technology.

Public investment is critical to establishing a foundation for nuclear development, but, equally, we must incentivise private sector involvement. This requires the Government to offer meaningful incentives, loan guarantees, tax breaks or grants so that private investors see nuclear as a viable and profitable area to support. Such a strategy will not only unlock funding but drive innovation, reduce costs and bring nuclear projects online faster.

I must also highlight the critical role of Great British Nuclear, which my noble friend mentioned earlier. Established by the previous Government, GBN is uniquely positioned to co-ordinate and drive nuclear development across the country. The Government should not only recognise the value of GBN but ensure that it is fully resourced and empowered to develop on its mission. GBN can act as a central point for collaboration between public and private stakeholders, fostering innovation and scaling up nuclear energy production.

The importance of nuclear energy in securing the UK’s future cannot be overstated. It is vital for energy independence, affordability and achieving our climate goals. By accepting this amendment, the Government would take a decisive step towards fostering a robust nuclear sector, one that combined public investment, incentivised private participation, reduced barriers to progress and built on the foundation laid by Great British Nuclear.

I was delighted to hear earlier in the Committee the Minister mention a new siting policy. As he will know, this will be crucial in supporting the ambitions of data companies such as Microsoft to base operations in the UK. If we can deliver security of supply of energy, with that will come jobs, new technologies and the possibility of levelling up those areas of the country which so desperately need it.

[Lord Ashcombe (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak very quickly in support of my noble friend Lord Offord. Nuclear fuel is very much a positive, as it is a baseload generator, which to me is critical. That is what we are short of in this country. Unfortunately, wind, solar, whatever, are not always with us. The excess that is produced by wind and solar when they are actively working, which is fantastic, could then be used to drive hydrogen production—we have touched very briefly on that in this House this afternoon. Hydrogen is the clean fuel of the future, possibly the cleanest; but we need to be able to store and then burn it, in times of need, to generate the electricity that will reduce our dependence on gas generation, particularly, which I know we are all in favour of. I just wanted to add that to this small debate, knowing that nuclear reactors are also most useful for data centres.

Great British Nuclear: Modular Reactors

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress Great British Nuclear has made with its plans to deploy small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors, and what assessment they have made of the process for evaluating their design and manufacturing.

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) (Lab)]

My Lords, Great British Nuclear is pushing forward the SMR competition for UK deployment and is now in negotiation with bidders, with final decisions to be taken in the spring. The Government are also actively exploring how we can enable alternative routes to market for advanced technologies, including AMRs, and we will set out our policy position in due course.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer. Will he explain exactly what has caused the damaging schedule slippage within GBN? Is it the shortage of staff, underfunding, underestimating the workload required or the many layers of approval—11 separate Whitehall approval committees at the last count—in order to allow GBN to announce the latest download of SMR technologies?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I think the noble Baroness will know the answer, because 16 months of the lifetime of GBN occurred under her party’s Administration. The fact is that we are working very closely with GBN. It has to go through considered processes. It has done two rounds of assessment and, as I have said, four technologies have been shortlisted, all of which are viable options for development. Crucial talks are now taking place. Companies will be invited to make final bids, and decisions will be made in the spring. I am confident that GBN will ensure that we get to that final decision as soon as possible.

Domestic Solar Panels

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

I am very grateful to my noble friend for that very helpful suggestion. I will make sure the taskforce gives it earnest consideration.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, as the Government’s Great British Energy Bill enters Committee in the coming weeks, can the Minister confirm whether this will include the deployment of solar panels as part of its strategy? Given that I have the Minister’s attention, and following on from the questions from the noble Baroness, Lady Winterton, and the noble Viscount, Lord Hailsham, I draw his attention to GB-Sol, a spin-out from Cardiff University, which manufactures Welsh slate-looking tiles, which are suitable for both listed and heritage buildings.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

That is a very interesting point. It is worth making the point also that a number of British companies are assembling some of the solar panels imported from China. I agree that we need to look at all these areas.

In relation to the GB Energy Bill, the noble Baroness will know it is not our intent to place in the Bill the exact amount of energy generation we require from each source. That will be a matter for the GBE board in light of the Government’s overall priority-setting towards clean power and net zero.

Great British Energy Bill

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 18th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, for so ably introducing this debate on a Bill which relates to one of the most critical issues this country must address: energy security. I very much look forward to the maiden speech of my noble friend Lord Mackinlay of Richborough and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Beckett—a very warm welcome to them both.

This Bill gives the Secretary of State total power to establish the publicly owned Great British Energy, which will receive £8.3 billion of British taxpayers’ money. The purpose of Great British Energy will be to assist the Government in ramping up renewables, which will always be naturally unreliable, to achieve their unachievable target of 100% clean energy by 2030. I am fully in favour of ambitious targets, but this is a target driven by political ideology which industry experts have described as aggressive, unrealistic and expensive—requiring far more than the allocated £8.3 billion of funding. Yet the Bill contains little detail on how this will be achieved. We have not seen a business plan or a framework agreement, nor do we understand how the Secretary of State and Great British Energy will be held accountable.

Over the past month, as was the case both this time last year and in March, we have seen another dunkelflaute, indeed in March the capacity factor—the measure of how often turbines generate their maximum power— failed to reach 20%, and for the past two weeks it has been virtually zero. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that average wind speeds in the UK will decline and that wind droughts will become more frequent. Relying on new interconnectors to Belgium and Holland will not offer energy security if either their wind farms suffer the same weather conditions as ours or their countries’ needs are greater than ours. Indeed, it is possibly only Xlinks’ proposed HVDC cable bringing solar and wind-generated energy from Morocco to the UK that comes close to offering baseload power as well as exclusive supply.

Throughout the election campaign, the Government repeatedly promised that Great British Energy would cut household energy bills by an average of £300. A similar claim was made by at least 50 MPs as well as by both the Science and Work and Pensions Secretaries of State. The Chancellor said:

“Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company, will cut energy bills by up to £300”.


In an interview in June, the Secretary of State claimed that Great British Energy would lead to a “mind-blowing” reduction in bills by 2030. However, the quotes in the weekend press from the wind farm industry are damning. They say that the rush to deliver by 2030

“would create very short-term resource constraints, spikes in prices and the consumer risks losing out”—


a fear also expressed in the recent NESO report that supply chain pressures might add a whopping £15 per megawatt hour to the price of our electricity.

I therefore express my deepest concern that in the other place the Government voted against a Conservative amendment to make cutting energy bills by £300 a strategic priority for Great British Energy. By doing this, they voted against an amendment that would hold them to their word and to their election promise. the Minister confirm by how much they anticipate energy bills to fall by 2030? The pledge to cut household energy bills by up to £300 was not the only promise the Government made. They also promised that Great British Energy would create 650,000 jobs. Yet this too was defeated from becoming a strategic objective of Great British Energy and is absent from the Government’s Explanatory Notes to the Bill and the Great British Energy founding statement. Why?

These are not trivial matters; they are promises that are important to people, and the Government have already put 200,000 jobs at risk through their plans to shut down North Sea oil and gas. The Secretary of State has made huge promises which greatly impact people’s energy bills, their businesses and their jobs. It is therefore crucial that the Government are held accountable. Will the Minister tell the House how the creation of Great British Energy will impact employment in the UK?

The Government have said that Great British Energy is part of their plans to ramp up renewables, which they say will result in cheaper energy and greater energy security. This is simply not true. Instead, the Government’s renewables plans will cost the British people. First, analysis by Cornwall Insight found that the contracts for difference round that the Secretary of State bumped up will increase people’s energy bills. Secondly, if we build renewables faster than we can develop and connect them to the grid, the constraint payments needed by 2030 could increase bills by hundreds of pounds. Why was the need for long-term energy storage not realised before the approval of all these huge solar farms being built on prime agricultural land?

Thirdly, the cost of the transition to renewable energy will be paid for by consumers, through environmental levies on bills. The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that this tax will increase by 23% by 2030, highlighting the upfront cost of the Government’s ambition to decarbonise the grid by the end of the decade. In fact, households in the UK are expected to pay the equivalent of £120 per year, via green levies, to fund the Government’s race for clean energy. This is far from the Government’s promise that Great British Energy and the race to renewables would cut bills.

It is clear that the cost of investment in renewable energy projects will be incorporated into prices. Not only will consumers be burdened by environmental levies but experts have warned that the funding required to build new electricity pylons and overhead wires, enabling the connection between wind and solar farms to the grid, is and will be added to bills in the form of network charges. The Government have not modelled the cost of constraint payments, network costs or green levies. What is more worrying is that they have deprioritised new technologies such as small and advanced modular reactors.

The inescapable truth is that intermittent, non-dispatchable renewable energy sources can never compete on level terms with nuclear power, which can harness the extremely high-energy density of nuclear with very little fuel and very little waste. For its entire lifecycle, it is the lowest-carbon electricity source and that is even before the potential uses of its excess heat, such as the creation of green hydrogen, are taken into account. Shockingly, solar requires 17 times more material and 46 times as much land for the same installed capacity as nuclear. Moreover, these new technologies will not only bring supply chain opportunities, jobs and inward investment but will attract data centres such as Microsoft to the UK if we can deliver the kind of co-located energy sources as offered by such companies as TerraPower, X-energy and others.

In the meantime, by increasing the windfall tax by 3% in the Budget, the headline rate of tax imposed on UK oil and gas firms is 78%. Energy firms have described this as “a devastating blow”. This hike will cut investment in UK natural resources and oil and gas production and will make the UK increasingly dependent on imported supply. Not only will this compromise the UK’s energy security but consumers will be exposed to price fluctuations. If investment in UK oil and gas decreases, the revenue generated from the energy profit levy, which the Government are relying on to help fund Great British Energy, will decrease. Twelve billion pounds in tax receipts have been lost from the North Sea by pressing ahead with ending oil and gas licences, a move no other major economy has taken. This, combined with £8 billion which will be spent on Great British Energy, is a staggering £20 billion.

I come back to the details of the Bill, or the lack thereof. I repeat that we have not seen a business plan or a framework agreement. This is deeply concerning. We have learnt that Great British Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen—incidentally, in a country totally opposed to nuclear power—but that the chair will be based in Manchester. Another promise was that Great British Energy would turn a profit for the taxpayer, yet there is nothing in the Bill that elucidates an investment profile or even a targeted rate of return. Why not? The British taxpayer must be able to see what the Secretary of State is doing with £8.3 billion of their money.

We have also not seen an explanation of how this Bill is different from the UK Infrastructure Bank, which was set up to do the exact same thing. Great British Energy is almost a duplicate of the UK Infrastructure Bank. This was established to provide loans, equity and guarantees for infrastructure to tackle climate change, funded by £22 billion. Great British Energy seeks to do something extremely similar but gives far greater powers to the Secretary of State. The UK Infrastructure Bank Bill had important accountability and report measures which are removed from this Bill. Why is this and why should taxpayers be burdened twice?

Furthermore, how is Great British Energy going to link in with the underresourced Great British Nuclear, which has yet to receive this Government’s encouragement to craft a vision that industry, government and the private sector can work collectively towards? Indeed, the word “nuclear” does not even appear in the Government’s new industrial White Paper, and the Minister reported at the all-Peers briefing last week that Great British Energy will not be investing in nuclear at all. What is going to happen to Wylfa?

In conclusion, this legislation is premature, lacking in detail and fuelled by an unrealistic target which will be unnecessarily costly to the people, jobs and economy of this country. This is particularly concerning given the wide-ranging powers the Bill gives to the Secretary of State and the absence of accountability measures and a business plan. We need clarity from the Government on the priorities and intention of Great British Energy. I hope that the Minister—indeed, the Minister for Nuclear—for whom I have the greatest respect, will engage constructively with these concerns.

Drax Power Limited: Ofgem Investigation

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, on the issue of data, I have checked with Ofgem. At the moment, it has no reason to think that Drax is not compliant, but it will not hesitate to act if required. On the question of subsidy to Drax, the noble Baroness is referring to the ROC system of subsidies, which the last Government oversaw for many years. The ROC comes to an end in 2027. The last Government issued a consultation on whether there should be transitional subsidy arrangements. We are considering the results of that work at the moment.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

Noble Lords will remember the “Panorama” exposé of the illegal sourcing of wood pellets from Canadian forests, a charge vigorously denied at the time by Drax. Our Conservative Government introduced the strict criteria that allowed Ofgem to conclude that there was not “sufficient evidence”. What plans do this Government have to ensure that Ofgem can continue to investigate any company receiving a subsidy?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, it is clearly very important that companies in receipt of the ROC payments—and, indeed, where their biomass electricity generation is classified as low-carbon—are acting according to sustainability criteria. The last Government issued a call for evidence in 2021 and then took two years to publish a strategy, in 2023. On the revision of sustainability criteria, they rather ducked it, saying that they would produce a cross-sector consultation this year, which never happened. We are now working on that. It is clear that sustainability criteria need to be kept up to date. We will ensure that that happens.

King’s Speech

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I turn back to energy and of course nuclear power in particular. I draw attention to my entry in the register of interests as an adviser to Terrestrial Energy, a generation IV Canadian technology company.

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, on an excellent and meaty maiden speech—the first of many valuable contributions to your Lordships’ House, I am sure. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, on their appointments; they have both given wise counsel to the House. I was also reassured by his opening speech. I am glad that the new Government recognise the challenges of the energy trilemma and that they will continue the good work of the previous Government and speed up the delivery of a domestic clean economy. As was said in the King’s Speech, the Government are determined to lead

“the development of the technologies of the future”.

Net zero cannot be achieved without nuclear power, which absolutely encompasses the technologies of the future. The last Government went some way towards this—albeit too slowly—by putting in place the legislative environment, a dedicated Minister and a public body in the shape of Great British Nuclear, which together aimed to deliver the renaissance that the nuclear industry desperately needs. We once led the world in nuclear technologies. In some we still do, but we could become a world leader in all of fusion, fission and fuels if we could just get a move on. By all means build at gigawatt scale but not at the expense of the small, advanced and micro technologies. This Government just need to quicken the pace.

Why? It is because nuclear energy is a vital low-carbon source of energy for the UK. While renewables such as wind and solar are important in achieving net-zero ambitions, nuclear provides the essential baseload required to meet the increasing demand for reliable energy while keeping emissions low. As the noble Baroness, Lady Moyo, so eloquently warned in her exceptional speech, AI and data centres will result in an explosion of demand for power. Nuclear is the most sustainable energy source; it has the lowest life-cycle carbon footprint and is the only low-carbon energy available 24/7, making it essential to meeting these needs. The nuclear industry is also crucial to economic growth and job creation. Over 77,000 people currently work in that industry, with the majority of these jobs outside London and the south-east. However, the UK must train tens of thousands of additional workers if the Government are to meet the target to deliver 24 gigawatts of nuclear by 2050.

I hope that this Government will continue to support the work of the nuclear skills taskforce, as well as the many outstanding apprenticeship schemes throughout the industry, notably those with the UKAEA, Rolls-Royce, and EDF at Hinkley Point. Some of those at Hinkley Point relocated from Anglesey when the Horizon project failed. I sincerely hope that this Government will continue their plans to redevelop Wylfa. If not at gigawatt scale then please release it quickly as a site for SMRs, as either would enable this young skilled workforce to return home. Incidentally, while it is not one of the industrial heartlands of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, it is one that is very close to my heart and desperately needs good-quality, well-paid employment—as does Cumbria, another area which cannot be described as an industrial heartland, an observation that will not be missed by his noble friend Lady Hayman of Ullock.

It was also welcome to see the announcement of a sustainable aviation fuel revenue support mechanism Bill, to support the transition to sustainable flying. Of the multiple SAF production routes, those using nuclear energy inputs offer the greatest emissions reduction, and production on a scale sufficient to meet future commercial demand. The Bill can enable designers such as Rolls-Royce SMR, Westinghouse SMR, newcleo and SAF developers, such as the British company Equilibrion, to position the UK as a world leader in commercial nuclear SAF production. Supported by this Bill, these companies offer the UK access to a huge international market in a rare economic and social opportunity to deliver UK growth and thousands of well-paid jobs, while slashing emissions from aviation.

As a stark reminder of the challenge, I point out that the UK will generate the same amount of nuclear power in 2024 as it did in 1976, and less than half that which it did in 2000, with most of our existing capacity to be retired by the end of this decade. While we welcome the progress made at Hinkley and Sizewell, the new Government must build on the Conservative Government’s strong support for nuclear and capitalise on the significant and historic opportunities brought about by new technologies. Just one SMR has the ability to generate up to the equivalent of 150 onshore wind turbines, and benefits from being manufactured at a plant and transported to a site for installation.

While a focus on SMRs would be welcome, it should not be the full focus of the Government. Advanced modular reactors have the potential significantly to support the UK’s net-zero transition. Not only do AMRs offer the ability to recycle reprocessed spent fuel and thereby close the fuel cycle; they could be sited alongside data centres in positions not previously designated as nuclear sites. Many developers of such reactors are keen to progress their projects here in the UK as soon as possible, in some cases using only private finance. For example, Europe’s fastest-growing energy company, newcleo, is willing to advance a project to final investment decision at pace—indeed, multiple projects on multiple sites—without drawing on taxpayer money.

What they need is a level playing field. This means that potential sites for development need to be released by the Government/GBN to developers in a timely manner, and not just land-banked for the winners of the SMR or subsequent competitions. The top-down, winner-takes-all and government-subsidised approach needs to be replaced by an enabling and empowering platform on which developers can raise finance and progress their projects as soon as possible.

Key to this will be quickly progressing agreements regarding the revenue support mechanism of choice—namely, if certain conditions are met and it falls below a certain price, the power generated by developers will be purchased. A simple contract for difference would achieve this and open the floodgates to foreign investment into UK nuclear. The contrast with the situation in, for example, France, is stark. There, the Government are actively helping projects find the right sites and providing much earlier assurance on revenue support, thereby removing the five to six years of project risk borne solely by the developers before a financial investment decision is made.

I urge the Minister to meet the advanced nuclear developers as soon as possible and to work together to find a way to progress multiple projects simultaneously and at pace. There is no net zero without nuclear, and there will be no 24 gigawatts of nuclear by 2050 without new advanced nuclear. This is an urgent matter of necessity and not just ambition. I wish the new Government well in their endeavours.

Advanced Modular Reactors: Criticality Tests

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

It is great to see that Labour now supports new nuclear projects, because that was not always the case for previous Governments. As I said to my noble friend Lord Howell, we want to see them in production by the early 2030s.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Government on the acquisition of Wylfa, which is hugely significant for both the generation of nuclear power and the people of north-west Wales. But why are they supporting only high-temperature gas reactor technologies in the AMR RD&D programme?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for her question and her positive advocacy of Wales and the Welsh nuclear programmes. I suspect that the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, was going to ask me something similar —he may well still do so. The Government selected HTGRs for research and development purposes in the AMR R&D programme following analysis by the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office of the responses to a call for evidence. This analysis suggested that HTGRs are the most promising AMR technology for decarbonisation due to their ability to generate high-temperature heat and their high technology readiness levels.

Civil Nuclear Road Map

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I welcome the noble Lord’s comments. We recognise the substantial contributions that many communities in Wales have made over the years towards our nuclear policy in the UK and all the energy that we have received. Part of the consultation is a check on the siting of new nuclear plants, and community support, the existence of existing grid connections and so on will play important roles in future siting policies. The plants that he mentions score very well in that regard.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I draw attention to my nuclear interests as outlined in the register. I wholeheartedly welcome this report—and its earlier cousin, Towards Fusion Energy—particularly its emphasis on the cross-Whitehall endeavour to build the skilled workforce that the industry needs, which we all know will be a challenge. But back to Wales. Following on from what the noble Lord, Lord Jones said, can my noble friend the Minister reassure me that, in deciding sites for a further large-scale and small modular reactor, sufficient weight will be given to the levelling-up needs of north-west Wales, where the creation of a nuclear cluster, including gigawatt generation at Wylfa and both SMR and medical radioisotope production at Trawsfynydd, would indeed be transformative?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, I know from many conversations that I have had with my noble friend her absolute commitment to pursuing the cause of Wales and the contribution that it can make to our nuclear renaissance. I give her the absolute reassurance, building on the reply that I gave to the noble Lord, Lord Jones, that the communities she has mentioned are very well placed to benefit from the new nuclear policies that we have announced. On her other point, my noble friend is correct to say that we need to build a skilled nuclear workforce to ensure that we have the people we need to power this future nuclear renaissance.