Electricity Network Connection Action Plan

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 22nd November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with the noble Baroness that energy efficiency is really important. It is much cheaper than building new energy infrastructure. She will be aware that we are spending £6.5 billion on energy efficiency and clean power over this Parliament, and we have already managed to secure £6 billion from the Treasury for 2025-28. We need to take forward all these measures. There are a number of key consultations coming up that will make a big difference, not least that on the future homes standard.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

My Lords, today’s announcement is very welcome, but does the Minister agree with me —I am sure he does—that we are in a farcical situation where a charging point off the M1 in West Yorkshire has to rely on diesel-driven generators to supply the electricity to electric vehicles?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

If that were the case then, yes, I would agree with the noble Lord that it is a farcical situation.

Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Committee stage
Thursday 23rd March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I understand the noble Lord’s concerns but I do not believe he is justified in his worries. The Bill is clear that an employer must not have regard to whether a worker is or is not a member of a union when issuing a work notice. If an employee feels that they have been unfairly targeted then they can raise a grievance with their employer or ultimately take legal action to challenge whether the work notice complied with the law. That would then be a matter for the courts to decide.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

I have listened with great care to what I think has been an analytical destruction of the very heart of this Bill. If, as the noble Lord has already enunciated, the right to take action for unfair dismissal is automatically removed by this Bill, how on earth can an individual take a grievance?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I do not understand the point the noble Lord is making.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

I used to teach industrial relations a long time ago—I may be rusty. The purpose of unfair dismissal protection is that the employer cannot arbitrarily take away the right of a person to their employment unless they have good cause. If they have declined, and have taken a grievance following the notice they have been given, and unfair dismissal protection has been withdrawn, how can that grievance procedure be proposed and implemented?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

They lose their protection only if they do not comply with a work notice. The whole principle of this—as the noble Lord has studied industrial relations, he will understand—is that, for a strike to be lawful, effectively you are breaking the contract you have with your employer. If the strike is lawfully called, you are entitled for the purpose of industrial action to break that contract. This merely reinstates that contract between you and your employer. If a work notice is issued and you do not comply with it, it would be treated as an unauthorised absence. There is no intention to say that that will result in dismissal. I would have thought that that would be very much a last course. As I said at Second Reading, we do not believe it will result in people being dismissed. We believe people will comply with the regulations and the law, and that the Bill will have the effect that we intended.

Carbon Budgets: Methane Flaring

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Thursday 9th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble and gallant Lord deserves a longer answer than I have time for. CCUS is emerging technology. We have a huge programme of support and will be making announcements shortly about the track 1 cluster, to use the jargon, of some of the schemes that will be supported. There are a number of innovative schemes around the UK that deserve our backing.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that historically the capture of dangerous gases of this sort has been by our peat bogs? The protection of peat, particularly in the Pennine area, is crucial to this. What steps will the new department take to ensure that we can continue to protect those areas?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The short answer is it is not the responsibility of DESNZ but of Defra in terms of environmental protection, but I will pass on the noble Lord’s comments.

Covid-19: Business

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

As usual, my noble friend raises very good points. I point him towards the future fund, which will be launched this month and will provide convertible loans ranging from £125,000 to £5 million to UK-based companies, subject to at least equal match funding from private investors. These convertible loans may be a suitable option for many businesses that rely on equity investment and are unable to access the CBILS. These companies will be vital in ensuring that the UK retains its world-leading position in science, innovation and technology.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

I assure the Minister that I am very supportive of trying to overcome the challenge of persuading people to go back to work without ending up with gross pollution and congestion. However, in light of the interview that the Secretary of State for Transport undertook this morning on Radio 4, what advice are the Government giving to employers who find that their staff are refused access to public transport, whose consequent late or non-arrival at work puts their jobs in jeopardy?

[Lord Callanan]

Of course, we want employers to be as flexible as possible and to consider, for instance, staggering arrival and departure times from work to enable people to avoid peak times wherever possible. As I said, we are also encouraging people to walk and cycle wherever they can; we recently announced a £250 million emergency active travel fund to help with that. Ultimately, it will require both employees and employers to work together to take into account each other’s needs and to use common sense.

Brexit: Customs Controls at Holyhead

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Thursday 17th October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

Whether we proceed with the Saturday sitting is a matter for the House of Commons, but we have said that we want to do that. There will of course be a text for noble Lords to consider.

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister tell the House what arrangements might be put in place if there were a small group of Welsh MPs of different parties whose price for voting for the deal was the same as the DUP managed to achieve two years ago? Have the Government have given any thought to this?

[Lord Callanan]

We want all MPs, whether from Wales or from Northern Ireland, to back the deal because we think that it is a good deal for the United Kingdom. We should pay credit to the Prime Minister, who has done what all the opposition parties said was impossible. They said that it was impossible to reopen the agreement, but we have done that and concluded a new deal. Yet again, he has proved the gloomsters wrong.

Railways: Capacity

Debate between Lord Blunkett and Lord Callanan

Thursday 12th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

By their very nature, transport projects are long-term commitments. That is why we do five-year investment projects. Transport infrastructure investment projects deliver long-term benefits to all sectors of the economy. I will be happy to write to the noble Lord to set out our appraisal of these schemes.

[Lord Blunkett]

My Lords, many travellers in the north of England would welcome a pop-up café.

The Minister is committed to this area, so my question to him is: what guarantees can we have that the announcements, which have been reinforced today, will actually be carried through given the stop-start nature of all the announcements about investment in the northern powerhouse?

[Lord Callanan]

We are committed to the northern powerhouse rail project and the TransPennine project. We are proceeding with them. We have announced the funding available two years in advance of the start of the funding period. I cannot do any more than tell the noble Lord that we are totally committed to the projects. We need to continue to review amounts made available in the light of developments in the economy, but because we have delivered a successful economy we are able to spend record amounts investing in our rail infrastructure, our road infrastructure and all aspects of our transport system.