Alan Whitehead
Main Page: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Amber Rudd
As always, my right hon. Friend makes an important point. Renewable electricity is essential, and I hope his Christmas tree lights burn even brighter this year, because 15% of that will indeed be from renewable energy, which is twice as much as under the last Government.
Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)
At a recent conference, a Treasury official, when asked about the levy control framework, said:
“A priority for the next Government is to review what should happen after 2021.”
He also said that he would hope to get clarity early in the next Parliament about what should happen, rather than towards the end of it, and that:
“We shouldn’t sprint towards a cliff edge.”
Is that the Minister’s position on the levy control framework, or is she sitting there doing nothing about it?
Amber Rudd
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that those decisions are largely for the next Government. However, the levy control framework is an important part of controlling our expenditure. It is a classic example of the competence under this Government, as opposed to the chaos under the last, who had no levy control framework at all.
Mr Davey
In fact, if one follows the details, one finds that we secured more than we expected to on going into the Lima summit. The reason is that there were some good negotiations, particularly on the information that countries will have to supply in what are known as—I am sure that the House will have followed this closely—their intended nationally determined contributions, which will be announced in the first quarter of next year. Nailing that down was the key issue in Lima and we did so.
Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)
As the Secretary of State will recall, the Prime Minister said recently that now that 10% of power is supplied by onshore wind, onshore wind should seek its passage through the planning process. I am sure he is aware that in terms of operational schemes and schemes that have planning permission, it makes up far more than 10% of the system already. Does he propose to put the Prime Minister right on this, or does he intend to rescind planning permissions so that the Prime Minister does not look silly?
Mr Davey
I am slightly confused by the hon. Gentleman’s question because he misquotes what the Prime Minister said on Tuesday. The fact is that onshore wind supplies just over 5% of our electricity today. By 2020, with the onshore wind farms that are in the planning stage and with the assumption that some will not get through, we expect to get to about 10%.