Infrastructure Bill [Lords]
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher(9 years, 9 months ago)
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Andrew Percy
I will not, because other Members are still to speak.
There is clearly the potential for fracking. I do not pretend to be a scientist—I stopped studying science when I finished my double-award GCSE at the age of 16—so I will not get into the arguments, but clearly there is the potential for an industry that a large number of my constituents would support, subject to those safeguards. That is why I voted the way I did in previous stages of the Bill’s consideration. I do not think that the way the Lords amendment has been drafted, or indeed this evening’s debate, has done a great deal to increase the confidence of residents. I make a plea to the Government that we have to take people along with us on a journey, particularly when there is a new technology that is very controversial—[Interruption.] Hon. Members say that it is not a new technology, but it is new to this country, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh), so people’s concerns about it should be heard, just as concerns about wind farms should rightly be heard.
I urge the Government to think very carefully about this. I reiterate my view that the residents of Brigg and Goole and of the Isle of Asholme are not closed-minded about this technology; they simply want to know that the evidence is there to support it and that their homes, communities and local environment will be sufficiently well protected. That is what I thought we had agreed to with the amendment a couple of weeks ago.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
I am reassured by the words of my hon. Friend the Minister, particularly with regard to groundwater protection. I think that she and the ministerial team have gone out of their way to be as consensual as possibly in order to bring the Opposition with them in support of hydraulic fracturing. Having heard the shadow Minister, who is a decent and knowledgeable man, say that he believes in a bipartisan approach, I think it is a great pity that he has chosen not to adopt such an approach tonight. He and I served on the Energy and Climate Change Committee, and it is worthy of note that the Committee has produced in this Parliament not one but two reports on fracking and shale gas.
It is also worthy of note that except for the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), not one Opposition member of the Select Committee is here tonight. That seems to suggest that the others are not particularly concerned about the proposals put forward by the Government. Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat members of the Committee all supported the importance, with safeguards, of fracturing for shale gas.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr Lilley), a fellow member of the Committee, made an eloquent speech demolishing many of the myths that surround shale gas extraction. I will not attempt to reheat and rehearse most of what he said. He made a point about aquifers relative to shale layers underground. The hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) has worries, as have others, about the potential pollution of the water table. I think that that is almost impossible as a result of shale gas fracturing. Fracking, in and of itself, cannot cause pollution of the water table, because the shale layer is hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet below the earth’s surface, whereas the aquifers are just a few feet below the earth’s surface. In between the aquifers and the shale layer are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet of solid rock. Firing sand grains into fractures a hair’s breadth wide is not going to cause pollution of the aquifers. That will happen only if the wells themselves are compromised, and given that we have some of the best environmental protection in the world, that is very unlikely. If one drills down thousands of feet—
Gregory Barker
My hon. Friend draws attention to the fact that here in the UK we have the best environmentally regulated regime for oil and gas extraction in the world. That is a very important point. We have a terrific record, particularly for onshore drilling. It would be wrong to cast out—
Energy Price Freeze
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher
Gregory Barker
No, I cannot off the top of my head. Can the hon. Gentleman name a single independent generator that supports Labour’s big freeze? Perhaps he will write to me with that information. I will write to him with the information that he has requested.
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden, who made a heavy hitting and thoughtful speech. He pointed out that Labour’s plans are already undermining investment, forcing up costs and increasing the political risks. He has estimated that the cost of Labour’s price freeze to consumers’ bills will be £1 billion.
Christopher Pincher
We have just heard an exchange about tariffs. Is the Minister aware that under Labour there were more than 4,000 tariffs on offer? Is it any wonder that people did not switch when they had no idea which tariff to switch to?
Gregory Barker
There was no real consumer choice under Labour, but we are getting it right and delivering for British consumers.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher(11 years, 8 months ago)
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Gregory Barker
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes) met representatives of Eggborough this week and I can confirm that we are committed. As I have said, biomass conversion needs to be sustainable and affordable, and it is an important part of a balanced mix of clean technologies.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
7. What assessment he has made of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s process and timetable for determining credible options for plutonium reuse at Sellafield; and if he will make a statement.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher
Gregory Barker
As the right hon. Gentleman may know, more than 2 million of the most vulnerable households—primarily pensioners—will receive the warm home discount in addition to winter fuel payments. The Government are taking record action to ensure that our support is directed at those who need it most, and we are proud of our record.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
Are Ministers on the Treasury Bench aware of the assertion by GE Hitachi, which is engaged in buying the Horizon consortium, that it can build fast nuclear reactors in four years, thus reducing the time to market and, potentially, the subsidy required?
Feed-in Tariffs Scheme
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher
Gregory Barker
I am very sorry that the Labour party is stuck in this rut of doom-mongering, carping and sapping the confidence of the industry. Everyone I have spoken to, right across the board, wants to re-inject a sense of confidence and energy into this vital sector, but rather than rally around the sector Labour Members are determined to sap confidence even more and send chaotic messages to people who are trying to make a living—all for short-term, petty political gain. Rather than look at the long term, they are just playing politics.
As for sneaking out an announcement on the last day before recess, it may be that this is a half-day, slacker’s shift for Opposition Members, but for coalition Members it is a full working day. Obviously, the hon. Lady sees today as part of the holidays, but I assure her that we are at work.
Let me be absolutely clear: we have not moved the date by one or two days, or one or two weeks. If that was what we wanted to do, we could have done it, but we wanted to send a very clear message to the industry that we are listening. We have moved the date from 1 July to 1 August in a very planned, deliberate and thoughtful way, and I think the industry will be glad of that change. The bottom line is that had we wanted to meet the 1 July deadline, we would have had to lay the measures sooner, but we did not want to meet the deadline of 1 July. The deadline is now to have the measures in place to allow the cuts to take place on 1 August. I thought that even the Opposition would have been capable of working that out.
The hon. Lady asked about ambitions for installation. Continuing to build deployment is key for a sustainable UK industry. I can tell her what our impact assessment will say and what the coalition’s clear ambition and expectation is. Under the totally unfit-for-purpose scheme produced by the current Leader of the Opposition as one of his last acts in government, about 250,000 solar panels would have been put on to roofs. I can say to the hon. Lady that, thanks to our reforms, there will be more than 1 million solar panels on British homes by the next general election. I am really proud of that. Delivery will be far more cost-effective than it would have been under Labour’s scheme, and unlike that scheme ours will be delivered on a long-term basis, free from political interference, and it will be much more transparent, sustainable and predictable.
On the 2020 ambition, the hon. Lady is absolutely right that solar is a transformational technology. Developments around the world now lead us to be confident that we can deliver on a very high ambition, and mine is 22 GW by the end of the decade—but that depends absolutely on our driving down costs. How and where we do that and the point at which we do it will be critical. That is why I am determined to work more closely with the industry.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
My hon. Friend will know that one of consumers’ biggest concerns is the size of their household energy bills. Can he say what impact his scheme will have on the average household bill, compared with the previous scheme?
Gregory Barker
Absolutely. Had we proceeded with Labour’s scheme, at least £61 would have been added to hard-pressed consumers’ bills. Under our proposals, because we are taking advantage of the rapidly falling costs and passing those on to consumers up and down the country, we anticipate that just £9 will be added to consumers’ bills.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher(12 years, 9 months ago)
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Gregory Barker
We are very active on this agenda. The Secretary of State and I firmly believe that the EU should submit a 30% target in the Kyoto protocol. We are working closely with ministerial colleagues from key member states to build support for a 30% target, directly engaging the more sceptical. At the Environment Council in March, the Secretary of State will argue strongly for approval of the EU low-carbon road map, which sets out milestones for reducing emissions through to 2050.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
4. What assessment he has made of the potential effects on UK oil and gas supplies of any disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher
Gregory Barker
I cannot give details of commercially confidential discussions, but we are encouraging developers to come forward with a range of proposals and looking to be as helpful as we can. The primary barrier to the previous proposal was the £34 billion cost, which in the current circumstances just did not seem feasible. However, we are trying to create a constructive framework for other, private proposals, and I would be happy to discuss the matter in more detail with the hon. Lady.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
20. By what date he expects proposed legislation to enact the green deal to enter into force.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Gregory Barker
The Settle micro-hydro scheme is exactly the sort of scheme that we want to see more of and encourage, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right: we need to make it easier for communities to take the initiative. That is why we are making it easier to get through the planning system and providing more financial incentives; and we have also launched a website to give people the information they need.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
20. What recent progress he has made on facilitating new nuclear power stations without public subsidies.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher
Gregory Barker
There are obviously other ways of investing in new technologies, including through the energy strategy board, and the coalition has made an absolute commitment to push forward a range of technologies. The GIB is about crowding in private sector investment into a viable green economy.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
Does the Minister agree with me, with the chief executive of Greenpeace, John Sauven, and, for that matter, with Andy Atkins of Friends of the Earth, that if the GIB is to be truly successful it must be independent and operate as a proper bank? It must not be seen as a fund or a quango.
Gregory Barker
My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is vital that the new institution, which will be the first of its kind in a modern economy, has the maximum capacity to crowd in private sector capital. As a result, it will need to have many of the functions that he lists.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Christopher Pincher(14 years, 2 months ago)
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Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
T7. We all know that these are difficult times and Departments need to make spending reductions, but what action is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that Departments, agencies and our many, many quangos continue to reduce their carbon emissions and use energy more efficiently?
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)
I am happy to tell my hon. Friend that we are gripping that agenda, and that we have replaced the singular lack of ambition that radiated across Whitehall under the last Government with a commitment to 10% reductions in our energy consumption within our first year in Government. We were told when we came into office that it could not be done, but good progress is already being made. The matter is gripping the Prime Minister, and we will report to the Cabinet on it within weeks.