Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
If the hon. Gentleman looks at our work over this Parliament, he will see that we have been reducing carbon emissions. It is true that last year there was a small increase, because we have been burning more coal than anyone expected. As a result of shale gas, the United States has been exporting its coal. That is why this Government are working so hard to reform the EU emissions trading scheme, to make sure that we send signals so that the same amount of coal is not burned in future.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
In order to be able to both maintain the hundreds of thousands of green jobs in this country and to secure hundreds of thousands more, the Government need to reassure the renewables sector and major investors through consistent messaging and certainty. Is my right hon. Friend able to reassure me that such messaging is certain and secure not only in his Department, but across all levels of other Government Departments, including the Prime Minister?
Mr Davey
It is interesting that when the Energy Bill received its Third Reading in this House, only eight Members voted against it. All the Front Benchers of all parties bar one—and that party has only one Member—voted for the Bill. I think that sent a sign, not just from the Government, but from this whole House and across the British political system that this country supports investment in renewables.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, which claimed the lives of 167 people, so I am sure the whole House will want to join me in remembering them, mindful of the pain their loved ones must still feel and the scars, both physical and mental, borne by the survivors. The best remembrance is to learn and prevent a repeat of that disaster; and their legacy, and that of Lord Cullen’s inquiry into the disaster, is an oil and gas industry that now has an enviable health and safety record. But of course there remain real risks in operating offshore, so we should be thankful to those who continue to brave the hazards of the North sea and elsewhere to keep our homes warm and our transport moving, and as we meet our energy challenges, let us pay the best tribute to the Piper Alpha victims and their families by doing it safely.
Andrew George
I am sure the whole House will wish to associate itself with my right hon. Friend’s remarks.
While the Government’s announcement on the strike price is very welcome, there are, as my right hon. Friend knows, many parts of the country that want to take full advantage of the future green energy revolution. Certainly in Cornwall we are very keen to become the green peninsula within the UK. Would he be prepared to come to Cornwall and speak to all aspects of the green energy revolution happening there, because we want to take this energy forward?
Mr Davey
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and his colleagues from Cornwall, who have been true champions for green energy and the impact that will have on jobs and the economy in Cornwall. He will know that I have already visited Cornwall, but I am very keen to visit again because it is such a powerhouse behind our low-carbon economy.
Hinkley Point
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
The strategy to locate a site for a geological disposal facility was set out under the last Government, and we are following their policy. Some of the issues identified by the hon. Lady would need to be considered as it is developed. We have made it clear that we are sticking to the voluntarist approach set out by the last Government. We think that it is important that a geological disposal facility is not imposed on an area but is willingly accepted.
The recent Cumbria vote was interesting. The district councils of Copeland and Allerdale voted heavily in favour, and only Cumbria county council, with councillors representing areas a significant distance from the proposed sites, vetoed it. I believe that we will be able to find a site for a geological disposal facility using the voluntarist approach.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Half my right hon. Friend’s Department’s budget is already spoken for to pay for the nuclear clean-up, and the coalition has adopted a policy of no public subsidy. I have listened to what he says about not discussing individual figures, but anything other than a free market commercial strike price for that product would surely represent public subsidy. What can he say to reassure me and the House that the settlement will not be tantamount to a public subsidy for new nuclear power?
Mr Davey
May I correct my hon. Friend? This year, 69% of my Department’s budget is being spent on decommissioning past nuclear power stations. That is why I, probably more than anyone else in the House, am determined that we do not make the mistakes of the past. Any strike price negotiated will take into account the costs of decommissioning and of waste disposal. It is absolutely critical that when we agree a deal with EDF or any future nuclear operator, it must do the clean-up and the decommissioning. That must be part of the agreement. The costs must be integrated, not left alone as they have been in the past.
Energy Market Reform
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey(12 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Davey
We put quite a lot of social obligations on them now. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the carbon emissions reduction target scheme is being replaced by the energy company obligation, which will include the affordable warmth target to help people in fuel poverty, and the carbon saving community obligation to help areas in fuel poverty. There will also be measures promoting solid wall insulation and other things needed to take energy efficiency policies forward.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
I strongly support all the initiatives that my right hon. Friend is describing, but the energy companies are not addressing all the issues of fuel poverty. Those on the margins of credit still cannot take advantage of direct debit deals, while the falling block tariff also works against their interests, and there are a number of other measures where those companies are not addressing fuel poverty. Does he agree that they could do much more to help those in fuel poverty?
Mr Davey
That is one reason why I welcome the retail market review, and we will be consulting on measures and introducing them in the Energy Bill to address those and other matters.
I want to talk briefly about energy efficiency, although I am conscious of the time. On the social tariffs that the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) talked about, and on energy policy across the board, it is important to see both sides of the equation and understand what we are trying to do with clean energy. By 2020, all the energy and renewable subsidies combined will add £95 to bills, yet those same bills will fall by about £220, thanks to the energy efficiency improvements that our policies are bringing forward. Our green policies are about lower bills, not higher, and we are delivering on that.
As part of our policy, energy efficiency is a top priority for me, because reducing demand saves consumers money now and reduces future pressure on supply. I will give just two examples, although I am sure that Members across the House could give many more. Installing solid wall insulation saves about £270 a year on the average energy bill, while upgrading an old, G-rated boiler to a modern, A-rated one can save £200 a year. Our flagship green deal scheme will make it easier for home owners and tenants to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, paying for those improvements through savings on their fuel bills. I hope that we will continue to have the Opposition’s support, but I am not always clear where they stand on the green deal.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
4. When he plans to announce the outcome of the renewables obligation banding review.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
I plan to announce the outcome of the renewables obligation banding review very shortly.
Andrew George
To secure essential jobs and investment, the industry needs certainty, clarity and rational decisions based on evidence and not on emotion. That is especially true of wave energy in my constituency. Will the Secretary of State reassure the House that decisions will be clearly evidence-based?
Mr Davey
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work on promoting renewable energy in his constituency and his county of Cornwall, particularly in respect of marine energy. I can reassure him that the Government will make decisions based on the evidence. We will crunch through the more than 4,000 responses we have had—an awful lot of evidence, including some substantial new evidence—and our decisions will reflect the evidence.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
I do not think so. We had a seminar at No. 10 recently, which the Prime Minister participated in, along with myself and the Business Secretary. We heard from experts in the shale gas industry who had been working in America and looking at the major opportunities in places such as Ukraine and China. They were clear that it would take some time for shale gas to be exploited in the UK. They were also clear that we needed strong regulation to proceed and that the shale gas reserves in this country are not quite as large as some people have been speculating.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Given that so few large companies took part in last week’s big switch, does my right hon. Friend agree that we should be concerned about the responsiveness of large companies to customers’ concerns? What can the Government do to ensure that all companies engage with any such initiative in future?
Mr Davey
At least three of the big six were involved. I thought that the way in which the reverse auction was conducted by the consumer association Which? was a real success, and I am delighted that my hon. Friend noticed it. It brought a saving of £25 million to consumers who were part of that collective switch, with an average saving of £120. It was therefore a success, and I want to see more energy companies getting involved in such schemes.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
May I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing his new position? He said that wind is the most efficient form of renewable energy, but what will the Government do to ensure that communities benefit from new wind energy projects?
Mr Davey
First, we need to make sure that communities are listened to during the planning process, and the planning reforms will do that. We are committed to ensuring that local communities capture the full economic benefit from hosting renewable energy projects, particularly the retention of all the business rates that these installations pay.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey(13 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Many of those who strongly support the Government’s policy to establish a grocery adjudicator to curb the bully-boy tactics of supermarkets will be concerned to ensure that it has the teeth to do the job. Will my hon. Friend the Minister take this opportunity to reassure those supporters of the Government’s policy that a supplier will not be required to take the risk of making a complaint in order to prompt an inquiry by the adjudicator?
Mr Davey
I again pay tribute to my hon. Friend, because he has been a stalwart campaigner for that change. I am delighted that we were able to publish the draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill on 24 May, and that the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s report on it has welcomed our proposals. He will know that the proposal is unique, because it allows anonymous claims to be made to the adjudicator and for reports, of which the adjudicator will be able to take note, to be put into the public domain.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey(13 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Every day by which the creation of a groceries code adjudicator is delayed is a further day on which farmers, growers and food producers in this country and in the developing world go to the wall. What reassurance can Ministers give me and, indeed, the House that they will make every effort to ensure that a proposal which has cross-party support is implemented as quickly as possible?
Mr Davey
My hon. Friend, who has campaigned so vigorously and successfully on this issue, will be delighted to know that we published the draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill just before the recent recess. We hope that it will be scrutinised by the Select Committee and will attract interest across the House, and we hope to introduce the formal Bill on the basis of that scrutiny.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey(14 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
10. When he intends to introduce an ombudsman to enforce the grocery supply code of practice.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
May I begin by recognising how long and hard my hon. Friend has campaigned on this issue, and indeed how successful he has been? He will know that the coalition statement commits the Government to introducing what we are now calling a groceries code adjudicator, and in our response to the consultation on 3 August, we set out how we would take that forward. I am pleased to be able to tell him that we now have approval to introduce a draft Bill this Session, and that the aim is to publish it for pre-legislative scrutiny before the end of the year.
Andrew George
I am very grateful to the Minister. The long-awaited code is now in place, but without an adjudicator it is like having rules for rugby without a referee. As the initiative has cross-party support and we have an extended Session, is it not possible to implement it this Session?
Mr Davey
I very much hope that my hon. Friend will engage in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill as actively as he did in campaigning for the code. As we have not even published the draft Bill yet, it is a little early to say when the actual Bill will be introduced or whether that will be this Session or next, but I will keep him and the House informed.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew George and Ed Davey(14 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Yesterday, the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), confirmed in response to a question of mine that the Government are committed to introducing
“an ombudsman, in the Office of Fair Trading, to enforce the Grocery Supply Code of Practice…and curb abuses of power which undermine…farmers”.—[Official Report, 2 June 2010; Vol. 510, c. 44W.]
Can he confirm that that is a reference to the physical location of the ombudsman, and that it does not mean that the ombudsman will be operating under the executive power of the OFT?
Mr Davey
I am grateful for that question. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has led the debate on the new proposal. He and other colleagues on the coalition Benches helped to persuade the previous Government to adopt the idea, for which he did so much work. He will be aware that the previous Government undertook a consultation, which ended at the end of April. We are looking at all the submissions to that consultation and we will report back to the House when we have had a chance to analyse them, dealing with the sorts of issues that he has raised.