Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

It is anticipated that more than £500 million of the ECO funding will go directly to the most vulnerable and those who need it most, but the balance of the energy company obligation is intended to support roll-outs street by street. It was the specific nature of previous Government schemes under Labour that made them so bureaucratic and ineffective. Our view is that we ultimately need to focus on properties, not just the individuals who live in them.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

The co-firing of biomass at power stations such as Drax brings enormous opportunities to growers and farmers in Thirsk and Malton, but will the Minister or Secretary of State assure the House that unfair subsidies to imported wood chip are not undermining our home-grown produce?

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Lady will know that our schemes apply to all companies, wherever they are from. We need to ensure that we invest in renewables such as biomass, but in a way that meets our sustainability criteria and creates a proper, fair market.