Great British Energy Bill

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 13th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, and my noble friends Lord Roborough, Lord Howell, Lord Trenchard, Lady McIntosh and Lady Noakes for their contributions on this group. The debate raised critical issues regarding the sweeping powers, as we highlighted, given to the Secretary of State. Why is it that any and all directions that the Secretary of State gives to GBE are hidden from the eyes of the public and lack parliamentary scrutiny? Considering once again that GBE is funded by £8.3 billion of taxpayers’ money, is subject to an unlimited cap on financial assistance and will not cut the British consumer’s energy bills, this is deeply concerning.

Let me turn to the amendment of the noble Earl, Lord Russell. Amendment 66 would ensure that the Secretary of State does not give any direction to GBE without first delivering an oral Statement before Parliament setting out those directions. I am acutely aware of the lack of detail in this legislation, and it is crucial that we have proper oversight of the wider activities of GBE as ordered by the Secretary of State. It is not only I who thinks this: the Government have agreed. In fact, in Committee in the other place, the honourable Member for Rutherglen, Michael Shanks, said that the Government want Great British Energy to be

“accountable, transparent and clear about how it is delivering on its objectives”.—[Official Report, Commons, Great British Energy Bill Committee, 15/10/24; col. 168.]

I therefore see no reason why the Minister should not support amendments that seek to improve accountability and reporting measures in the Bill and ensure sufficient oversight of the objectives, directions and activities of GBE. If the Prime Minister stands by his statement that he would not make a single promise that he was not confident he could deliver, the Minister ought to support these amendments, which would ensure that GBE was indeed “accountable, transparent and clear about how it is delivering on its objectives”.

The UK Infrastructure Bank, referenced by my noble friend Lord Trenchard, was set up with the explicit purpose of financing projects to drive our energy transition, and it already includes rigorous safeguards to ensure that taxpayer money is spent effectively. Governed by strict rules and subject to detailed annual reporting, it provides the public with comprehensive information on its performance and investments. Given that these robust mechanisms are already in place for the Infrastructure Bank, is it not fair—indeed, essential—that GBE undergoes the same level of scrutiny and oversight? If we are truly committed to safeguarding public funds, surely the same level of accountability should applie to all publicly funded energy initiatives.

Amendment 87 in the name of my noble friend Lady McIntosh would require a Minister to table a motion for resolution in each House of Parliament on any directions that are given by the Secretary of State to GBE before the directions are adopted. In a similar fashion, Amendment 66 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, would prevent the Secretary of State from directing GBE unless they have delivered an oral Statement to Parliament. I am grateful to both noble Lords for bringing these amendments, which will undoubtedly improve the levels of scrutiny and oversight to which the directions which are given to Great British Energy will be subject.

The only details included under Clause 6 are that

“Great British Energy must comply with the directions”

and that:

“The Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament any directions given to Great British Energy”.


This is simply not good enough. It is the bare minimum to allow Parliament to have sight of the directions issued to Great British Energy before they are acted on. In fact, it would be negligible to allow Great British Energy to be directed without sufficient parliamentary scrutiny. I therefore trust that the Minister has listened carefully to the concerns raised by Amendments 66 and 87.

Amendment 86, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, seeks to ensure that, before giving any direction to Great British Energy, the Secretary of State must consult

“the National Energy System Operator”—

known as NESO—

“the Climate Change Committee and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority”.

I discussed in detail the importance of consultation in our debate on Amendments 56 and 116. As I said, engagement and consultation with the relevant parties is crucial if GBE is to be a success. The Secretary of State must not act in isolation. It is crucial that he or she consults with the relevant stakeholders. I therefore welcome the amendments in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh. I look forward to the Minister’s response on the concerns raised by noble Lords in the debate on this group.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Cryer) (Lab)]

My Lords, I now turn, as you would expect, to Amendments 66, 86, 86A and 87, tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Russell, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, and the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard. As I have said, and as my noble friend has said previously, Clause 6 sets out that the Secretary of State will be able to give directions to Great British Energy, and that Great British Energy must comply with those directions.

As Great British Energy will be operationally independent, the intention is that the power will be used only when it is really needed. This will ensure that GBE has the space it requires to fulfil its role and deliver its strategic priorities. I draw the House’s attention to the comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, in this context.

The purpose of the clause is to ensure that there is a mechanism in place should any urgent or unforeseen circumstances arise. For example, it could be used if the Secretary of State considers that they need to give GBE a direction that is in the interest of national security or otherwise in the public interest. The amendments before us would risk delaying the Secretary of State’s ability to give Great British Energy that direction, potentially compromising national security under certain circumstances.

The noble Earl, Lord Russell, raised the perfectly reasonable points of accountability and scrutiny. I am not impugning his motives—or the motives of anybody else who has tabled amendments—but if there was an issue of national security that perhaps took place at the start of a recess, it would seriously hamper the Secretary of State’s ability to act.

The noble Earl also raised, interestingly, the possibility of Labour losing the next election. It may come as a shock, but we are not actually planning to lose the next election. However, the mechanism of accountability and the decisions of this Government and future Governments are subject to the views of voters. That is part of the democratic process. We might not like a future Government exercising the directions we have put on the statute book, but that probably applies to past Governments as well. It is part of the democratic process and the process of accountability and scrutiny.

The amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, would take this point further by requiring the resolution of each House, which I genuinely do not think is practicable. However, to ensure transparency and accountability, any directions given to Great British Energy will be published and laid before Parliament before they are given.

Further, Clause 6 requires that the Secretary of State must consult GBE and other persons considered appropriate, before giving directions to GBE. This means that GBE’s management and its board—yet to be appointed—will have the opportunity to express any reservations they have about the direction to Ministers before any such direction is made. If appropriate, this could include the National Energy System Operator, the Climate Change Committee—which has been consulted by successive Governments—the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, Great British Nuclear and the National Wealth Fund, as well as groups not referenced in Amendment 86.

The noble Lord, Lord Cameron, mentioned at least two of the organisations on that list; he mentioned others too, as I think did the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard. We could end up with a list as long as your arm of bodies that have to be consulted, which would seriously hamper the Secretary of State’s room for manoeuvre.

Finally, it is not unusual for a Secretary of State to be able to direct an arm’s-length body and such powers are found in several pieces of legislation—again referenced by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. In the specific context of government-owned companies, such powers are, for example, included in the Energy Act 2023, which created Great British Nuclear, where named stakeholders are also not included in the directions clause.

For these reasons, I hope the noble Earl recognises that adding this detail would not be beneficial and will withdraw his amendment.

[Earl Russell (LD)]

In my speech, I recognised the needs of national emergencies or an energy emergency. One of the options I offered the Government was to allow them to amend my amendment to exempt those situations from the need to give an Oral Statement. Will the Minister respond to that specific point, please?

[Lord Cryer (Lab)]

The noble Earl makes a fair comment. However, what he is putting forward is far too prescriptive. There are plenty of precedents for Secretaries of State being able to operate in this way.

I am starting to sound like the secretary of the Baroness Noakes fan club, but the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, pointed out that there is the ability to summon the Secretary of State before a Select Committee. There are various Select Committees which have the ability to summon Secretaries of State after the fact. Ministers of all Governments might not be that keen on appearing before Select Committees, but they do not have a lot of choice in the matter. In the vast majority of cases when they are summoned, they appear before the Select Committee and give an account of their actions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Cryer (Lab)]

My Lords, Amendment 85F in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Murray, and Amendments 85G and 85H in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, would require the Secretary of State to give GBE directions to regularly report on the impact of its investments on electricity generation from solar, renewable and wind sources in the UK. We have already set out in this debate the need to avoid placing excessive reporting burdens on GBE. Nevertheless, the concerns raised remain pertinent.

It is important for GBE to maintain its operational independence and to ensure its long-term success, which these amendments would hinder. Further, the intended use of Clause 6, as has been repeated again and again, is to give directions for urgent situations only. These amendments would broaden it unnecessarily.

On renewables specifically, I assure your Lordships that GBE will focus on driving clean energy deployment. This will inevitably include a range of renewable resources, including solar and wind. GBE will be an operationally independent company and the exact mix of technologies it chooses to invest in will be determined in due course.

On accountability, which the noble Lord, Lord Murray, and others raised, let us bear in mind that the Secretary of State can be—and is—called before the energy Select Committee at any time. As far as the chief accounting officer is concerned, he or she can be called before the Public Accounts Committee, which, looking at the PAC’s track record, I would have thought is highly likely to take place. As we are all aware, the Secretary of State is also accountable to the House of Commons every few weeks. That includes—and this is pertinent—Topical Questions, which, in a fairly recent change to Question Time in the other place, are included in every Question Time, which means that things that have only just happened that do not have a relevant Question on the Order Paper can be raised by MPs of any party. Of course, annual reports will have to be submitted to Companies House in the usual way. That is set out in statute.

On that basis, I urge noble Lords not to press their amendments.