Alistair Carmichael
Main Page: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)Department Debates - View all Alistair Carmichael's debates with the Scotland Office
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Melanie Ward
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we have worked with the Scottish Government to make approving energy infrastructure in Scotland simpler. Those reforms are intended to help Scotland to realise our clean power ambitions while providing investors with greater confidence, yet we continue to hear from industry that the Scottish planning system is holding back growth. Planning is also the mechanism that the SNP uses to block new nuclear energy projects in Scotland, costing us up to 5,000 skilled jobs in the last decade alone.
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
The Minister saw for herself this summer the opportunities being developed around marine renewables in my constituency at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. Next month we will hopefully get the report from the taskforce commissioned by other Government Departments. Will the Minister engage with that and ensure that we get marine energy across the line and, as a consequence, win a home-grown supply chain in Scotland for her reindustrialisation policies?
Melanie Ward
I greatly enjoyed my visit to the right hon. Gentleman’s beautiful constituency. He is right about the opportunities that we have for clean power in Scotland, which our Government are already taking advantage of. I saw for myself what is happening in Orkney with tidal, wave and wind power, and I will pay significant attention to the report that he mentions.