Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Flint Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

My hon. Friend is right that the Ofgem package contains many attractive proposals. I am not going to say today that we agree with every one of them, but we are studying them. It is right for my Department and my Ministers to study the proposals carefully, because this is a crucial area. I reassure him that we are attracted to many of those ideas, and we will be putting forward our options for consultation and for the Bill.

[Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)]

Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister announced that the Government would be legislating so that energy companies have to give the lowest tariff to their customers. In our debate last week, the Secretary of State tried to clarify what the Prime Minister meant, saying that we are going to use the

“Energy Bill to ensure that the energy companies have to inform people of the best deal.”—[Official Report, 24 October 2012; Vol. 551, c. 939.]

But is he not aware that, as I pointed out last week, sections 76 and 77 of the Energy Act 2011 already give him the power to force energy companies to tell their customers about the lowest tariff? So can he explain why he is planning to introduce new legislation to bring in powers he already has?

[Mr Davey]

The right hon. Lady will know that I have already acted on this issue. Two months into office, I negotiated a voluntary agreement with the big six so that they would provide details of the best available tariff on people’s bills already—so I am afraid that she is behind the times again. I note that she has not commented on Ofgem’s proposals, not least because she wants to abolish Ofgem. That would be very damaging to the interests of energy consumers, both households and businesses. So I have to say to her that she needs to engage with the real debate, which is Ofgem’s proposals and our thinking.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I understand the temptations, but may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to face the House in answering questions, not to look backwards at the hon. Member who happens to be asking the question?

[Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)]

The last time we met at Energy and Climate Change orals, I asked the Secretary of State why he was failing to stand up to his Conservative colleagues who want to kill off the British wind industry. He said:

“I have to disappoint the right hon. Lady, because my Conservative colleagues and I are working very closely on this matter.”—[Official Report, 12 July 2012; Vol. 548, c. 433.]

By that, of course, he meant the former energy Minister. After yesterday’s outburst by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), how closely would he say they are working together now?

[Mr Davey]

My hon. Friend the energy Minister suggests that I use the word “intimately”, but I can say that we are working very closely. My hon. Friend and I—as you, Mr Speaker, requested I will face the House—may occasionally disagree on issues of substance, and I certainly did not agree with his remarks the other day, but I have to say that I really admire his style.

[Caroline Flint]

The Secretary of State said to the media yesterday that there has been no change to Government policy, but as we have already heard during questions, investors themselves are saying that this latest shambles is very damaging and is putting investment in new jobs and new industries at risk. The energy Minister says that wind farms are imposed on local communities, but nearly half of all planning applications get turned down. He says that wind farms affect house prices, but there is no evidence in the UK showing that that is so. He says that wind farms are too noisy, but the existing planning guidance already sets noise limits. How does the Secretary of State feel about being tricked into agreeing a review that is nothing more than a hatchet job on the British wind industry?

[Mr Davey]

What the right hon. Lady did not say is that in the renewables banding review that we announced in July, which was warmly welcomed across the industry, we set the support levels until 2017 and sent a very strong signal to investors in the sector. She also did not tell the House what the Prime Minister said yesterday in supporting my position that the renewables policy has not changed. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State are at one on this. We will continue with our renewables policy; it has not been changed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Davey]

I could not agree more with my right hon. Friend, who has championed community energy for many years. As Secretary of State, I am determined that we promote even more ambitious polices. We will introduce a community energy strategy in the spring. We have already made a number of announcements to encourage community groups and democratic local authorities to support these types of schemes.

[Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)]

A year ago today, the Government announced their first round of cuts to the feed-in tariff for solar power. As instillations flatline, Ministers have clung to the line that their plans will allow 4 million homes to be solar powered, with 22 GW of solar to be installed by 2020. Will the plan for 22 GW, which was announced in April, still be the Government’s policy when they publish their renewable road map, or does he now accept that, because of his cuts, Britain will not reach that target for at least another 30 years?

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

I do not know whether the right hon. Lady is deliberately misunderstanding what was said or whether she just did not grasp it in the first place. What we said about deployment rates is that we have the potential to deploy 22 GW if we can continue to drive down the cost of solar.

[Caroline Flint]

The right hon. Gentleman said 22 GW.

[Gregory Barker]

Yes, I did, but there was a little more context to it. If the right hon. Lady stopped muttering and rabbiting on, she would hear what I am saying. If she would like the answer, 22 GW is certainly our ambition, but in order to meet that ambition we need not just deployment, but deployment at a level that the country can afford. That is what we are about on the Government Benches—delivering renewables at a rate that the country can afford and that delivers good value to consumers, as opposed to the open handed, open cheque book, high-cost model deployed under the Labour party.