Draft Contracts for Difference (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2022

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 23rd May 2022 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I will be very brief. I just want to give the Minister some warning that I will ask a technical question, so that he has time to reflect before he makes his closing comments.

First, I welcome these regulations. Bizarrely, I actually quite enjoyed the Committee on last year’s regulations. For me, it enshrined what needed to be done to ensure that the market worked well for carbon capture and storage. Contracts for difference and the flexibility in the way that they are allocated make perfectly good sense. I was also reminded that, back in the 17th and 18th centuries, we in this place sometimes legislated for a specific piece of agriculture equipment. It has always struck me that, if we are too inflexible with the technologies that we define in legislation, we will get ourselves into difficulty.

These changes are very welcome. As pointed out by the Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Southampton, Test, power generation is evolving pretty quickly. People are developing membranes with algae that can absorb and store carbon. All sorts of technologies are under way, which is why I very much welcome these particular regulatory changes. In particular, I welcome the definitions of what constitutes a generator and carbon capture and storage—is it a complete system or a retrofitted system? That is all fantastic.

My technical question is: why are the reference price and strike price for these contracts for difference being marginally redefined or specified in a slightly different way? I was not clear on that. Could the Minister, on reflection, explain in his closing remarks why those two aspects of the regulations are being updated? I am sure it is for a perfectly good reason, but I would be interested to hear why.

North Sea Oil and Gas

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

I very much welcome the hon. Lady’s question and the chance to put on the record the brilliant job done by the COP President. At the start of the year running up to the conference, only 30% of global GDP was covered by a net zero commitment. That rose to 90% after the conference, which sets an example. I am the co-chair of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, an international group calling for the phasing out of coal—something I am proud of.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

There is one thing that none of us in this House must ever apologise for: defending the interests of our constituents. I look across my constituency and across the country, and it is quite clear that energy bills are going to soar. That is partially due to a lack of energy security. But let us be clear: coal is a very dirty fossil fuel; gas is less so; nuclear is fairly clean; and renewable is right at the top of the tree. I commend the Government for recognising that we must never let the perfect be the enemy of the good, by ensuring that we get cheaper fuel supply to our people.

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend puts it very well and succinctly. The key word to use is “transition”: the transition from our existing energy mix to the energy of the future.

Draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (Amendment to Schedule 3) (England) Order 2021

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2021 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Paul Scully)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (Amendment to Schedule 3) (England) Order 2021.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Angela. We know the importance of helping businesses to prepare for and efficiently respond to a public health emergency, and the point of the order is to help businesses in that way in the event of a future public health emergency. Key to that will be reducing regulatory burdens imposed on businesses due to regulations introduced to control the public health emergency. The order adds

“Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 (c.22), Part 2A as it applies in England”

to schedule 3 to the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. It brings part 2A, and regulations made under part 2A as they apply in England, within the scope of the primary authority scheme. As a result, businesses in England that participate in the primary authority scheme will now be able to receive consistent advice on meeting the regulatory requirements imposed by regulations made under part 2A through a single point of contact.

Part 2A provides, among other things, that regulations can be made to prevent, protect against, control or respond to the spread of infection or contamination, including radiation, which presents or could present significant harm to human health, including by conferring functions on local authorities. It provides for a local authority to apply to a justice of the peace for the making of a time-limited order to reduce or remove the risk that a contaminated or infected person, thing or premises who or that poses, or could pose, significant harm to human health infects or contaminates others. It also provides for regulations to be introduced promptly under an emergency procedure.

To be within the scope of the primary authority scheme, legislation has to be in an enactment specified in schedule 3 or be made under an enactment specified in schedule 3, or be made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and related to a particular specified matter. Accordingly, to bring part 2A, and any enactments made under part 2A as they apply in England, within the scope of the scheme, it has to be added to the list of enactments in schedule 3. Under section 4(4) of RESA, that needs to be done by an order of the Secretary of State.

RESA establishes a statutory framework for a business to form a partnership with a local authority—I will call it a primary authority from now on—to receive support and tailored advice from that primary authority in respect of complying with legislation that comes within the scope of the scheme. A business is entitled to rely on primary authority advice received in its dealings with other local authorities, so the business avoids the cost and regulatory burdens associated with the inconsistent interpretation and application of the law by different local authorities. That gives businesses confidence in the regulations being applied consistently, allowing and encouraging them to invest resources in complying with them, such as through staff training and putting policies in place.

Consequently, the public are better protected, as businesses find it easier to comply with regulations. In addition, local authorities can access, through a central primary authority register, primary authority advice that is given to a business in respect of a regulation. That enables the local authorities to avoid duplication of enforcement and to target high-risk areas. Where a local authority proposes to take enforcement action against a business that participates in the scheme, the primary authority will review the proposed enforcement action and consider whether it is consistent with the primary authority advice that it has previously given to the business.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for giving way. I have been here a long time—16 years—and I do not think I have ever seen a regulation that is so impenetrable in its actual actions. I want to give the Minister a bit of time to inject some inspiration. I wonder if he can give an example of how the regulation might work for a real business in a real scenario so that we can get to grips with what is actually being laid out. It feels a bit like something from Sir Humphrey—it is utterly obscure and impenetrable at the moment.

[Paul Scully]

It is indeed a technical scheme. On primary authorities, instead of having businesses go to the local authority for any area it might operate in, the regulation allows businesses to go to one local authority that has been appointed to tackle such a scheme. It already happens in various areas, such as trading standards. The regulation brings the particular public health order within the scope of the overarching scheme of primary authority. One local authority can effectively take the lead in interpreting and setting out the enforcement approach for public health emergencies. Unfortunately, the complexities of the technicalities that underlie the scheme mean that it gets technical very quickly.

Draft Contracts for Difference (Electricity Supplier Obligations) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2020 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I very much welcome this measure, which is a reasonable step given the current circumstances. I want to ask the Minister this question now, to give him time to reflect. If, during this period in which electricity suppliers have extended terms, one of them was to go out of business, what clawback mechanisms might there?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

That is slightly outside the scope, but I understand where my hon. Friend is coming from. There are a number of measures that we would go into: there is the SLR—the supplier of last resort—and there are measures for mutualisation of cost. I also remind him that this happens every summer, regardless of covid. It is a highly competitive space, and a number of energy suppliers come in and out of the market at will, so this is very much in the run of ordinary business. This measure is related to the specific challenge of covid and to deferring payments in the way that he described.

Finally, the regulations enable the LCCC to repay any financial assistance provided by the Government, using moneys collected from electricity suppliers after the reconciliation process following the relevant quarterly obligation period. In effect, all we are doing is delaying the payable period so that it does not force energy suppliers to go out of business in the way my hon. Friend suggested.

I must stress that this deferral will give suppliers more time to prepare for the increase in payments and provide greater confidence about the level of additional costs they will face in the second quarter of 2021. I must also stress that the Government are committed to upholding the self-financing nature of levies in the energy system. There was no question of our providing some sort of grant or subsidy to the LCCC. We fully expect that whatever moneys are deferred will be paid eventually to the LCCC and that it will be able to sustain its function regardless of Government intervention.

These legislative changes are technical in nature. They needed to be made ahead of the LCCC’s quarterly reconciliation process, which determines suppliers’ obligations for the current quarter. That is expected on 9 July, at the end of next week. Subject to the will of Parliament, this instrument will enter into force the day after it is made. I commend the regulations to the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 4th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Chloe Smith]

I hope I can give my hon. Friend such reassurance. I am particularly grateful to the devolved Administrations, and in this case the Welsh Government, for their co-operation, and we will continue to work with them in responding to the pandemic. That is in the interests of all our citizens. We respect the competence of the devolved Administrations in issues such as health and, where appropriate, we will seek a four-nations approach.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to prevent false information on covid-19 spreading online.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith) [V]]

Misleading information about coronavirus, whether it is maliciously intended or not, could cost lives. The work to tackle false information is led by our colleagues in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport across all of Government. We are also working closely with social media platforms to help them to remove dangerous incorrect claims about the virus and promoting steps that everyone can take to reduce the spread of false information.

[Adam Afriyie [V]]

[Inaudible.]

[Mr Speaker]

We will move on. I call Minister Mercer who is going to take a question tabled by James Sunderland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Tuesday 30th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

Most major supermarkets are signatories to that pact, and we have certainly seen some go further than others. A lot of lessons can be learned. It is a mixed picture at the moment, so I am certainly keen to keep this area under review. I particularly praise Morrisons, which has come out with a range of things on this, but there are many other supermarkets available that are working hard on this topic. We all have to work together on this—consumers, business and the Government.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

6. What recent progress he has made on meeting the Government’s ambition to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business.

[Andrew Stephenson]

To encourage the next generation of innovative entrepreneurs, our modern industrial strategy announced the biggest increase in public research and development funding on record—an extra £7 billion by 2021-22. We have also launched an independent review of the barriers facing young entrepreneurs, and we have published a review of the barriers facing female entrepreneurs.

[Adam Afriyie]

I very much welcome that answer, and I very much welcome the Minister on his debut appearance at the Dispatch Box. I would also very much like to welcome him to Windsor, where residents of the royal borough have the lowest council tax in the country and residents of Bracknell Forest have low council tax but also high-quality services. That is why so many talented people come to Windsor to live and work. Will the Minister join me in recognising the good work of the Thames Valley Berkshire local enterprise partnership and the two key local authorities in making the Windsor constituency a great place to live, work and, above all, to start and run a business?

[Andrew Stephenson]

I agree with my hon. Friend and welcome his support for the good work of the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP and his local councils. My officials will work with his LEP and its local authority partners to produce a local industrial strategy for Berkshire that will boost productivity and support business start-ups. That is in addition to the £142 million local growth fund investment that we have already made in the county.

Draft Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste and spent fuel (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd January 2019 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I rise very briefly to observe that Lakeside Energy from Waste in my constituency disposes of quite a lot of radioactive material. It seems to me important that, as a commercial business, it is able to accept goods from overseas rather than just from the NHS. I wonder whether the transportation of radioactive materials that result from hospital and laboratory activities is covered by the draft regulations, or whether that is outwith their scope.

Draft Takeovers (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2018 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I do not intend to detain the Committee for long. I welcome the statutory instrument, and commend the Government and the Minister for presenting it very well. It is one of the instruments that is beginning to deal with a no-deal scenario, as well as a deal-based scenario. Although many of us wish the Prime Minister well in negotiating the withdrawal agreement and subsequent free trade agreement, it would be the responsibility of any Government to prepare for the eventuality of no deal. The statutory instrument performs both functions, ensuring that our company takeover regime works in both scenarios.

I have a couple of questions. One is that there is a possibility—and I hope it does not arise because of the Brexit vote—that we may remain in the European Union. Would this statutory instrument then need to be reversed if that were the situation? The second question is slightly more technical, and I do not want to push the Minister too hard on this. I am interested in companies with dual listings, both in the EEA or the European Union and in the UK. How does this statutory instrument deal with that situation? I appreciate that she may need some inspiration to answer that question.

The explanatory memorandum says that the regulations transpose the 2004 directive, through the 2006 Act, into our legislation. However, it also says that these regulations will

“fix deficiencies in the Act arising from EU exit and thus preserve, so far as possible, the current takeover regime.”

I was wondering why it says “so far as possible”. Is it because, despite the great drafting of this statutory instrument, there may well be areas that are not fully covered and that may need to be addressed again in future?

Overall, I will be supporting this statutory instrument. It is absolutely vital that not only this one but probably another 20,000 more come through these Committees and that our job, as Members of Parliament, is very much enhanced when we leave the EU, because we will be doing what we were elected to do in the first place, which is effecting UK law.

Oral Answers to Questions

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington]

The UK Government really do not need to take very many lessons from Scotland on how to help businesses with business rates and every other form of business support. Actually, the working relationship between the two Governments is pretty good and we aim to provide a good business environment for all businesses on both sides of the border.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

10. How much funding his Department has provided to the UK science base in the last 12 months.

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

The principal research funding route is through UK Research and Innovation, which in 2018 alone accounts for over £6 billion of investment in research and innovation. I am proud that the Conservative Government have overseen the largest increase in scientific research and development funding that we have ever seen in the UK. We are investing an additional £7 billion in R&D by 2022, as a first step in delivering our ambition of increasing the UK’s R&D spend to 2.4% of GDP.

[Adam Afriyie]

As a former shadow Science Minister, I am very conscious of the increases in funding, particularly in cash terms, but I am also acutely conscious that it is not just cash but the availability of talent that matters when it comes to science, innovation and the industrial base. Given the recent concerns around Brexit and everything else, will the Minister reassure me that the availability of highly talented scientists will still be a priority for this Government?

[Mr Gyimah]

The increase in funding is actually in real terms, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right: to succeed here, we have to be open to ideas and open to talent. He will have seen the recent relaxation in the tier 5 visa restrictions for scientists. We are also investing £900 million in UKRI’s flagship future leadership fellowships and a further £350 million for the national academies to expand their prestigious fellowships. When it comes to science, innovation and research, we are open for business.

Draft Enterprise Act 2002 (Share Of Supply Test) (Amendment) Order 2018

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for his very articulate presentation of the statutory instruments. They are to be welcomed because they plug a loophole in the short term, until primary legislation can deal with the wider issues. On those wider issues, intellectual property is the danger, as much as the research and commercially viable businesses that may be bought or sold. When we look at the primary legislation, perhaps those are two areas that we can focus on, as well as merely the mergers and acquisitions.