Electric Vehicle Battery Production
Debate between Bim Afolami and Graham Stuart(1 year, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Graham Stuart
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that it is a fantastic site, and we will continue to work with investors and encourage them to go in that direction. As a champion of workers, he must be delighted that we have seen this transformation over the last 12 or 13 years, from the high unemployment left behind, sadly, by the Labour Government to the nearly full employment that Britain enjoys today.
Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con)
The Minister has been clear today, and indeed the Prime Minister was clear at Prime Minister’s questions earlier, about the need for private sector investment in Britishvolt being supported by public sector and Government investment. From the Minister and his Department’s discussions with potential private sector investors, could he set out what appear to be the missing ingredients that stop them investing more in this company and in the broader supply chain, and what is being done by him and his Department to help fill in and provide those missing ingredients so that we can improve the resilience of the EV supply chain as a whole?
Graham Stuart
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Britishvolt is in the best position to judge what happened with its investors. We set milestones, as I have said, for our funding, and we were prepared to put in significant British Government support, but it was dependent on Britishvolt fulfilling its business plan, with its offer to investors that it would bring forward, and then we were going to co-invest with them. That was the plan, and it is not for me as a Government Minister to second-guess the work of that company, or indeed others.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Bim Afolami and Graham Stuart(1 year, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Graham Stuart
I thank the hon. Lady for her typically partisan contribution. [Interruption.] She is always consistent, and her Front-Bench colleagues rightly point out that I have some things in common with her. The rural community energy fund has provided £8.8 million in development grants for 208 projects focusing on a variety of technologies, which I am pleased to say include solar, wind, low-carbon heating and electric vehicle charging. The Government will be delighted to work with the devolved Administrations and others to drive forward our pathway to net zero.
Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con)
Referring to the Minister’s response to my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby), energy market reform is critical to ensure the growth of the community energy sector and to splitting out the wholesale gas price from the electricity price and other things. Will the Minister update the House on the Government’s current thinking on wholesale market reform?
Graham Stuart
We will update the House as soon as we have announcements to make.