Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Laura Sandys

Thursday 12th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

My hon. Friend is right: it is a very popular technology, and as our reformed FIT scheme is now driving down the costs and helping to promote competition, it is also scalable to a very large scale. Solar will be included properly for the first time in our renewables road map that we will publish later in the year. Solar will have a meaningful part to play in the energy future of Great Britain.

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

What assessment he has made of the likely level of future global oil and gas prices.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Laura Sandys

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

T3. The green deal is very dependent on consumer uptake and consumer trust in the energy companies. What sort of expertise has the Department in understanding consumer behaviour and how will we be able to deliver this programme through consumer behaviour change?

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

My hon. Friend has considerable experience and understanding of consumer behaviour, and she will be pleased to know that we have a specific consumer behavioural insight team in DECC, but the greatest value comes from liaising with retail companies with real track records, such as Kingfisher, B&Q, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Ultimately, it is the private sector that will guide our thinking and be responsible for the success of the green deal.

Feed-in Tariffs

Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Laura Sandys

Monday 31st October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

This is a difficult issue. The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that we are trying to save the budget. If we were to leave this scheme open until next April, as we had originally intended—although we said that we would act if there was an urgent need, and there is—there would be a run on the fund. The cut-off date will be 12 December, but people will not get a reduction in tariffs until April. It is complex. It is driven by the fact that there is a run on the budget, and we are acting responsibly to preserve the budget for lots of other consumers and to ensure that it does not just disappear in the next few months.

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

Will the Government explain how our policies compare to those in Europe where feed-in tariffs have also become unaffordable?

[Gregory Barker]

Of course, in socialist Spain we have seen boom and bust writ large, with the entire solar tariff scheme collapsing, causing a complete run in confidence. Elsewhere across Europe, we have also seen massive falls in solar prices. The more nimble, smarter tariff schemes have adjusted down their tariffs. We aim to get ours on a par with something similar to that in Germany.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Laura Sandys

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

Is the Department still considering the marine energy parks project, which was proposed before the election? What is its perspective on opportunities for the marine energy sector?

[Gregory Barker]

We think that there is huge potential for growth in the sector, which now needs to be gripped and driven forward. There has been about a decade of talking about the issue, but no real growth. I was delighted to go to the south-west to convene the new marine energy programme board and to announce that the south-west would host the first marine energy park, consisting of a cluster of marine energy firms. I hope that that will be replicated all round the coast of Great Britain.