Neighbourhood Planning Bill

Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts

Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Thursday 2nd February 2017 Grand Committee

Relevant document: 15th Report from the Delegated Powers Committee.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)]

My Lords, if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting, the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung and resume after 10 minutes.

Amendment 14

Moved by

Electricity Capacity (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015

Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2015 Grand Committee

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Electricity Capacity (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015.

Relevant document: 1st Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)]

My Lords, if there is a Division in the House, the Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change and Wales Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)]

My Lords, this draft instrument is an amending regulation to the main secondary legislation package for the capacity market scheme, part of the electricity market reform programme. The powers to make this implementing secondary legislation are found in the Energy Act 2013, which, following scrutiny in this House and the other place, received Royal Assent in December 2013 with cross-party support.

The two changes contained in the draft instrument are simplifications intended to make the process easier for applicants, and were overwhelmingly supported by respondents in the consultation, but before I explain them in more detail it may be helpful to the Committee if I say a few background words about the capacity market itself.

I remind noble Lords that the capacity market will address our medium-term electricity needs and ensure that there is sufficient electricity supply towards the end of the decade and beyond. In brief, the capacity market will achieve this by making a regular capacity payment to providers who are successful in capacity auctions. In return for this payment, providers must meet their obligations to provide capacity, or reduce demand, when the system is tight, ensuring that enough capacity is in place to maintain security of electricity supply.

Ensuring that families and businesses across the country have secure, affordable energy supplies that they can rely on is our top priority. That is why we already have firm mechanisms in place, working closely with National Grid and Ofgem, to maintain comfortable margins on the system over coming winters.

Beyond that, it is essential that generators have confidence that they will receive the revenues that they need to maintain, upgrade and refurbish their existing plant, and can finance and build new plant to come on stream as and when existing assets retire. Equally, we want to make sure that those who are able—without detriment to themselves and the wider economy—to shift demand for electricity away from periods of greatest scarcity are incentivised to do so.

That is why we have the capacity market. The first auction, held in December 2014, saw a good outcome for consumers, as fierce competition between providers meant that we obtained the capacity that we will need in 2018-19 at prices below the levels that many had expected. That translates into lower consumer bills.

This instrument makes two minor changes to improve the capacity market, based on feedback from stakeholders. First, this instrument substitutes a new definition of “relevant grant” in Regulation 17, and secondly it extends from five to 15 the number of days in Regulation 59(3) of the 2014 Electricity Capacity Regulations, to permit providers a longer period in which to submit credit cover after receiving a conditional pre-qualification notice.

The amendment to the definition of “relevant grant” will ensure that grants, the purpose of which is to support feasibility studies or research and development in relation to carbon capture and storage, will not preclude participation in the capacity market. The essential feature is that the CCS support should not have provided effective material support which has put a provider at an advantage compared to others which have not so benefited. This will not be the case for such early stage grants for CCS purposes: hence the amendment. The second amendment amends the number of days from five to 15 to allow applicants, after receiving a conditional pre-qualification notice, longer to submit credit cover.

My department consulted on the two changes in March 2015 and received 22 responses. The vast majority of stakeholders who responded were content with the changes proposed. I look forward to hearing what noble Lords have to say on these proposed changes. I beg to move.

Stormont House Agreement

Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)]

There is time. I suggest we hear from the Liberal Democrat Benches and then the Cross Benches before we come back to the Labour Benches.

[Lord Shutt of Greetland]

I welcome the Statement. I trust we are moving forward and that deadline diplomacy has worked. As ever, it is sad that we have to consider so much about the past. In the 75 paragraphs in the Stormont House agreement, 40 refer to flags, parades and the past. I note that the agreement establishes six new bodies; namely, a commission on flags et cetera, an oral history archive, a mental trauma service, a historical investigations unit, an independent commission on information retrieval, and an implementation and reconciliation group. It would be splendid if these bodies took matters forward, but of course they do not come for free. The document suggests that £150 million will be available over five years to help with these new bodies. What will the total cost of the new bodies be?

In particular, I welcome paragraph 69 under the heading “Outstanding Commitments”, which makes it seem just an afterthought. It talks about,

“initiatives to facilitate and encourage shared and integrated education and housing”,

and matters such as social inclusion. If we are really to see integrated services in Northern Ireland, what cost savings does the Minister believe there will be? It will be interesting to note, on looking further into the past, the contrast between the costs that we may well have to expend and what can be achieved in the future if we are to see some real integration.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness O'Loan]

My Lords, the Minister gestured to me.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

Could your Lordships keep their remarks short? There will be time for everybody. I indeed gestured in that direction and apologise if that was the wrong thing to do.

[Baroness O'Loan]

My Lords, thank you. I have four simple questions.

First, a number of cases are currently excluded under the Stormont House agreement from the work of the historical investigations unit. Those cases were previously investigated by the historic inquiries team. However, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has said that many of these investigations were most unsatisfactory. Can the British Government ensure that they will not be embarrassed in future because our Article 2 obligations are not being complied with?

Secondly, can the British Government and the Minister assure us that the Government will ensure that the historical investigations unit has access to all intelligence and information, particularly that held in this part of the United Kingdom by the security services, the Armed Forces and GCHQ?

Thirdly, what actions will the Government take to ensure that the historical investigations unit has the full legal powers that it needs?

Fourthly, does the £150 million have to provide for victims, or will they be provided for separately? On the matter of trauma services there is a massive unmet need in Northern Ireland: that is a costly and lengthy process.

Privacy Injunctions

Baroness Garden of Frognal Excerpts

Monday 23rd May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Tankerness]

My Lords, my noble and learned friend raises some important—indeed, fundamental—points. I do not think that anyone is suggesting that the importance of Article 9 is in any way being challenged, but he makes some important observations. As for the terms of reference of the Joint Committee which is to be established, it has been indicated that the Justice Secretary and the Culture Secretary are to liaise with the chairs of the two committees in the other place. Obviously they will bear in mind the importance of this issue in Parliament, but it is also important to point out that the Government are already committed to bringing forward a draft Bill on parliamentary privilege. Given that, as I think my noble and learned friend indicated, there are issues that go much wider than these particular cases, this may well provide an opportunity for those important issues to be gone into in much greater detail—indeed, in the detail which they undoubtedly deserve.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

May I remind noble Lords that interventions should be brief in this session?

[Lord Lloyd of Berwick]

My Lords, I, too, greatly welcome the Statement and the report on which it is based. In recent years, one problem has been that a belief has got about that judges have a wide discretion on whether to grant a super-injunction. The report makes it absolutely clear, in paragraph 1.33, as recent cases had already made it clear, that there is no such discretion. The principle of open justice prevails unless it is absolutely and strictly necessary to depart from that principle in order to do justice in a particular case. That has long been the position and it is very good that it should have been reasserted in this Statement and report. They are obliged to act in accordance with the law as stated; they have no discretion.