COP 29

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, it is clearly an interesting question. The noble Lord will have seen that some of the country participants in Baku were very unhappy with parts of the process. Some felt excluded from some of the key corridor discussions, if I can put it that way. The problem is that it is the only forum that we have for discussing and negotiating these important matters. Whatever fora you have, if you have over 190 countries involved, it is going to be very complex. Notwithstanding that I understand the frustrations of many countries and the difficulties, the fact that agreement was reached and we can now see clear a line to Brazil next year means that we need to continue to work with the process and encourage it to be run as effectively as possible. I do not see any option but to go with the COP process.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

The noble Earl, Lord Russell, raised the warm homes discount. I am the honorary president of National Energy Action. I see that the discount rate is still £150. Given the current level of electricity bills, this seems quite low and not to have been reviewed for some time. Will the Minister review this and look at the level of the warm homes discount?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I have to say to the noble Baroness that at the moment we do not have any plans to review it.

Great British Energy Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 18th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests, especially as honorary president of National Energy Action. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Beckett, and the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, on their excellent maiden speeches. They are both remarkable role models in their own right. I also congratulate the Minister, who has sat through all the speeches today and displayed his staying power and great interest in this subject. I wish him well through the passage of the Bill.

The country is facing twin challenges of energy and food security. They are both extremely serious and should be tackled together. Specifically, I agree with all those who have said that the remit of the Bill is extremely broad—too broad. I hope we can clarify that through its passage, as one of my concerns is that this is a potentially massive land grab.

I would like to explore how relationships with those affected by the decisions will be handled. There is talk of consultations, but there must be more joined-up decisions between the Government, investors, local authorities, local communities and consumers. Take the position of offshore wind farms: consent for the wind farm is currently given separately from consent for the substation needed to land the energy onshore, then separate planning permission is sought for the overhead power lines. These pylons to transfer electricity long distances, losing up to 10% of the energy in transmission, are deeply unpopular among those in rural communities, who have to live with them but recognise that they have absolutely no benefit to those living there. Can the Minister explain and define the engagement process with interested parties—for example, farmers, fishermen, residents, consumers and industry? What form will that consultation take?

The Bill seems to give a blanket power to the Secretary of State to decide. There is very little parliamentary oversight, merely reports to Parliament. In Clause 5:

“The Secretary of State must prepare a statement of strategic priorities for Great British Energy”.


He

“may revise or replace the statement”,

but need only

“lay a copy of the statement, and of any revised … statement, before Parliament”.

We need to amend that to have greater parliamentary oversight over the Secretary of State’s powers, so that they are not completely untrammelled.

There needs to be formal consultation with the interested parties before decisions are made. Take the example of the spatial squeeze; it has raised very real concerns among fishermen about how their fishing grounds risk being squeezed out by offshore wind. I wonder whether the Minister has already had the opportunity to meet with farmers, and particularly with fishermen, to address their concern about this spatial squeeze. What form does the Minister expect the relationship with these interested parties to take—not just with farmers and fishermen but with intensive energy users, such as brickmakers, those in ceramics and others in the manufacturing sector? What form of consultation will there be?

The Minister referred briefly to finance and talked about some finance coming from the national wealth fund. He will be aware that the Association of British Insurers has been closely engaging with the Treasury on the development of this fund, and I was very pleased to receive a briefing from it. The ABI hopes that the national wealth fund’s success will be in

“unlocking investment, delivering economic growth and creating new green high skilled jobs”,

but it has identified current barriers that could prevent this happening. They include the need for

“a national transition plan … sector specific investment roadmaps, especially for the five priority sectors identified by government”.

I will name them:

“green steel, green hydrogen, industrial decarbonisation, gigafactories, and ports”.

It also identifies the need for

“greater engagement between investors and local authorities to develop investable propositions”.

To ensure the success of Great British Energy and the funding from the national wealth fund, how does the Minister expect the current barriers identified by the ABI to be addressed?

I turn to sustainable sources of energy. We had a little debate on Drax at Oral Questions last week. It raised the question of why we are importing woodchip from abroad when we could use more sustainable, locally produced willow coppice and miscanthus, easily meeting the Government’s own sustainability criteria. Equally, we should use offshore and onshore wind energy locally, close to where it was produced. That would reduce the need for pylons; as I fear the Minister will find out, rural dwellers do not accept them criss-crossing the countryside, bringing no benefit to them locally.

The Minister did not mention energy from waste. Together with renewable energy, this is a very powerful strand of energy source in Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany and other European countries. It disposes of household waste and creates energy. What is the Government’s position on this?

Environmental levies of £2 billion are added to energy bills, primarily in the standing charge to every household and business, which goes towards future infrastructure. I ask the Minister to name any other utility or public service whose future infrastructure is paid for up front by the consumer.

Offshore-generated wind coming on shore at massive power stations poses problems, particularly when transported long distances to the national grid. We are soon to see offshore floating turbines to replace fixed turbines at sea. I urge the Minister to address these problems and to meet with the fishing fleet to avoid dangers not just of their grounds being squeezed but to marine life, porpoises and dolphins from the constant buzz of turbines. What happens to wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries at the end of their working lives? How will they be disposed of? These two issues alone, among others, create real environmental challenges.

At COP 24 the Prime Minister agreed and signed up to an 80% reduction in emissions. This will impose a heavy burden on households and businesses alike going forward, while countries that deny climate change, such as the US, China, India and Brazil, continue to pollute regardless to ensure that their industries remain competitive.

In conclusion, I simply ask how this Bill to create Great British Energy will benefit Great Britain, given the massive impact the work of the company will have on the countryside, local communities, industry and consumers.

King’s Speech

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

It is a pleasure to contribute to the humble Address, and I take the opportunity to congratulate the incoming Government and to welcome the Ministers to their new positions. I also add my congratulations to my noble friend on his maiden speech.

I declare my interests as honorary president of National Energy Action, honorary vice-president of Association of Drainage Authorities, and honorary associate of the British Veterinary Association. I co-authored a number of reports on bricks and water with the Westminster Sustainable Business Forum, and on rural housing from the Rural Economy Research Group. I would like to share these with the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, for her greater enjoyment and education in her new role.

In exploring the impact of housebuilding and energy proposals for more onshore wind farms, I urge a degree of caution. I pay tribute to the late Professor Mike O’Carroll, who set up REVOLT—Rural England Versus Overhead Line Transmission—opposing the erection of pylons in the north of England.

As a newly elected MP for the Vale of York in 1997 —I was elected on the same day as the newly installed noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Malvern—I was faced with Labour’s plan to build a second line of pylons down the spine of the constituency, transporting electricity all the way from Middlesbrough, across North Yorkshire to the south, through the national grid to serve the south of England. This attracted public outrage.

At the very least, these power lines should be placed underground. Alternatively, electricity generated from renewables should serve those closest to the source of the power generated. That includes energy from waste, on which this Government have so far remained silent. Will the Government commit to new energy from waste plants, again to serve the local community with a sustainable source of energy, but also disposing of household waste that might otherwise go to landfill? We should aim to use energy where it is created to the benefit of the local community.

In addition, between 3% and 7% of energy is lost in overhead line transmission. It is vulnerable to extreme weather. During Storm Arwen, for example, power was lost in the north-east of England and North Yorkshire for up to nine days. Will the Government be minded to revise the National Planning Policy Framework and planning practice guidance to ensure joined-up planning applications so that planning for offshore and onshore wind farms include the siting of substations as part of the original planning application?

Labour has rightly prioritised cleaning up the rivers and waterways of sewage, but the problem of sewage in rivers and sea starts with the mass building of four and five-bedroom houses in inappropriate places, pushing four or five times the amount of sewage into inadequate water pipes. Will the Government make an early pledge to end the automatic right to connect, promised since Sir Michael Pitt’s review after the 2007 floods? Will the Government commit today to implementing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010? Equally, will they introduce mandatory sustainable drainage systems for all new housing developments? That is a single measure that would help to prevent sewage overflow into the combined sewers and, from there, into our rives and seas.

Defra must make water companies statutory consultees in the planning application process, particularly where it is impossible to connect safely to existing pipes, which are often antiquated and from the Victorian era. Planning applications must take into account that they cannot simply fit and must ensure that the developers pay for the connections.

What is the position of the Government on building on functional flood plains? Labour, in opposition, supported the amendment in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, to the then Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill to prevent building on functional flood plains. Will the Government now honour that commitment? In particular, will they provide resources to local authorities to undertake the essential mapping exercise to establish which zones fall under zone 3b so as to exclude them from major developments, which is so essential to prevent future flooding?

There are specific needs for housing in rural areas, as specified by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans. In particular, there is a crying need for one or two-bedroom homes that are affordable. We have identified initiatives such as rural exception and making a planning passport for all exception sites, which would help to remedy this.

The Government have pledged to grow the economy through reforming the planning system, but they must never lose sight of the fact that an Englishman’s home is his castle, nor that it is local planning authorities that are best placed to take planning decisions. The British public will not take kindly to housing developments built on areas prone to flooding, nor to having unsightly overhead power lines and pylons built alongside their houses. If the energy generated was used close to the source of supply, the need for overhead line transmission would be removed.

Now, we have to eat. I applaud all our farmers do to put food on our table. I pay tribute to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services, of which I am a patron, RABI and FCN. These charities support farmers in the difficult times we face currently. I make a plea to the new Government to give farmers certainty to ensure that food security and self-sufficiency in production at home ensure a safe and affordable supply of food. Large rafts of land should not be lost to rewilding, solar energy production and tree planting. The role of farming in bringing environmental benefits, such as the sequestration and storage of carbon, should be recognised, celebrated and encouraged. Giving those farms currently in higher-level stewardship agreements the right to exit the old schemes early, to move to a Countryside Stewardship agreement in the next few months, would greatly assist them in this period of transition, with the rapid reduction in basic farm payments.

I urge the new Government to support our farmers in exporting their goods by creating export opportunities in Europe and further afield. I applaud the introduction by the last Government of agricultural attachés, who worked effectively to promote our food and farming exports. I would welcome the negotiation by the Government of a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with our European neighbours, which I believe is more appropriate than the negotiation of a veterinary agreement. The incoming Government must strive to ensure that any food imported into the UK meets the same high standard of animal health, animal welfare and environment as food produced here.

Farm tenancy agreements are in urgent need of reform, and I urge the Government to tackle this as a priority. Fifty per cent of farms in the North Yorkshire and County Durham are tenanted, and these tenant farmers deserve certainty and access to funds through LMS.

Finally, will the Government take the opportunity of the debate today to ensure a vibrant future for our rural communities across Britain, with a strong and sustainable farming sector and housing which is fit and affordable for those starting out on their career, as well as for those nearer their retirement?