Smart Meters

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Henley

Monday 8th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the figure I quoted was bill savings of some £1.2 billion, but I accept that the noble Baroness misheard me. We expect a net benefit of some £5.7 billion from the rollout as a whole. Again, I would prefer to write to the noble Baroness with estimates as to what individuals could save, but obviously, it will depend on how the individual makes use of the smart meter. The point of the smart meter is that it makes it easier for the individual to keep an eye on their electricity or gas use and therefore to make the appropriate savings we would all like, both in the use of energy, which is important, and in money for the individual.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend has commented on the value of markets. Will he tell us about the success of capping energy prices? I gather that most customers are now paying the higher tariff and prices have gone up, rather than down.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I think my noble friend is wrong—capping has been a success. We announced that it was only a temporary measure because the markets were not working, but I, like my noble friend, want to make sure that the markets work because that is the best way forward.

Businesses: Technology

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Henley

Wednesday 10th April 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I cannot give any precise figures about how much is specifically targeted on the AI industry. The important point is to recognise, as did the PwC and other reports, what will happen in that industry: the advantages for it, how much it will grow and how well this country is doing. That is why I cited in my Answer the massive increase in inward investment—which is obviously an indication of what is happening to not only start-ups but scale-ups—of 17%, which is more than the rest of Europe combined.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, has my noble friend noticed that although the Opposition are complaining about the redundancies that will be caused by new technology, they are on the other hand complaining about the lack of productivity growth in this country, which will of course be achieved by the introduction of new technology?

[Lord Henley]

As always, my noble friend makes a valid point. We will see new jobs, better jobs, greater productivity and a general growth in the sector.

Employment: Automation

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Henley

Monday 1st April 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord recognises that there are very positive sides to developments in this field. As he will know, the World Economic Forum estimates that, although there might be some 75 million jobs lost globally as a result of change of this sort, another 133 million could be created. However, the noble Lord is right to point out that there will be disadvantages for people, particularly for those who are low-skilled and particularly—he mentioned the gender point—for women. Therefore, as the industrial strategy makes clear, it is very important that we look to retraining. I refer the noble Lord to large parts of the industrial strategy that point in the direction of retraining and upskilling our workforce as much as possible.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, can my noble friend tell us what happened to all the women who were employed as secretaries and personal assistants when the introduction of the word processor made them all redundant?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, my noble friend is quite right: they found new jobs, better jobs, more highly skilled jobs and, probably, more interesting jobs.

Nissan in Sunderland

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Henley

Tuesday 5th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I will not discuss specific grants for any specific type of vehicle. I have made it quite clear that we are committed to supporting research and suchlike in new technologies for new vehicles because things of this sort are changing. Getting any grant structure right is obviously very difficult. One wants to avoid perverse incentives that push people down the wrong route—one thinks possibly of incentives made in terms of the pricing of diesel. The fact is that we no longer support diesel in the way that previous Governments did, and that has had a big effect on the market. But we are committed to seeing new technologies emerge in this area.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom]

No, it is not the turn of the Cross-Benches. We have just heard the noble Lord, Lord Hannay.

Does my noble friend accept that Nissan would have been absolutely mad to have gone ahead with the programme for the X-Trail when the whole of the market for diesel vehicles has collapsed? Does he accept that this is largely to do with the overreaction of European Governments, including our own, to the diesel emissions scandal, which was started by Volkswagen in Germany?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am not going to allocate blame, particularly because, as I mentioned earlier, my wife was one of those who made the mistake of buying a VW just before the diesel scandal erupted. The fact is that there has been a concerted attempt to reduce the number of diesel cars, for whatever reason. For that reason, Nissan has to make hard-headed decisions about what cars it invests in and in which plants it should be investing.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Henley

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, it would be wrong for me to make any promises regarding legislation as I have the beady eye of the Chief Whip on me. This House and another place will be fairly busy with what we will be doing over the coming year, but I certainly take on board all the noble Baroness’s other suggestions. We welcome what she has to say.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend accept that inequalities have very much been caused by central banks printing money, which the European Central Bank continues to do? This finds its way into assets, so those who own assets get richer while those who do not stay where they are. Does he not agree that if the Labour Party’s principle is that it should print more money, that situation will get worse, not better?

[Lord Henley]

My noble friend makes a very good point.