Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Charles Hendry and Eric Ollerenshaw
Charles Hendry
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the funding mechanism of renewables obligation certificates that we inherited has a cliff edge in 2013, and we have tried to give investors certainty beyond that point. It is clear that in the case of many renewable technologies, people have been unable to build structures because the system was to change in 2013. They did not know what the regime was going to be afterwards. That is why we have brought forward the banding review—to give investors long-term certainty and introduce market reform at the same time.
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
12. What recent assessment he has made of the security of the UK’s gas supply; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)
The statutory security of supply report, published in November, is a joint report of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Ofgem. It gives a full account of the Government’s latest assessment of the availability of gas to meet the reasonable demands of United Kingdom consumers. It concludes that the outlook for gas supplies is broadly benign but not without risks. The Government keep security of supply under constant review and have proposed measures in the current Energy Bill to further enhance our gas security.
Eric Ollerenshaw
I thank the Minister and accept that the gas supply is a vital part of our future energy needs, but will he reassure me and, more importantly, my constituents that their concerns and their safety will remain paramount considerations in decisions on gas storage sites?
Charles Hendry
I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that security and safety are priorities for the Government in developing gas storage facilities. We do need more such facilities; a number are under construction and a number more have been given consent. The planning process will ensure that safety issues are a priority in that work.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Charles Hendry and Eric Ollerenshaw(14 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
8. When he expects to announce his plans for a consultation on electricity market reform.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)
The Secretary of State announced his plan for a consultation on electricity market reform in the annual energy statement in July. In accordance with the DECC business plan, the consultation will be launched in December.
Eric Ollerenshaw
What reassurance can the Minister give the House that that consultation will end up not like the endless consultations of the previous Government, but with a clarity of purpose on our energy policy?
Charles Hendry
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We must put a stop to Green Papers, reviews and consultations. We must draw a line in the sand and say, “This is the time to make decisions, this is the structure and this is basis for getting on with it.” We simply must get on with the investment.
Onshore Wind Turbines
Debate between Charles Hendry and Eric Ollerenshaw(14 years, 2 months ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Charles Hendry
I am not aware of the specific cases to which my hon. Friend refers. If he writes to me, I will be more than happy to look into them.
We have to move to a greater spirit of partnership so that communities can see precisely what they would get out of hosting a facility and realise that genuine benefits would come to them—not necessarily from a wind farm but from other facilities, as well. Other countries have gone down a similar route and we are learning from the approaches that they have taken. We have also seen the significant number of green jobs generated here, albeit not as many as we would have wished from the supply-chain benefits coming to the United Kingdom, and the potential that that brings
I realise that my hon. Friends who contributed to the debate are less concerned about that aspect than they are about the implications of onshore wind for their constituencies, so I particularly want to address those issues. We have seen the benefits from offshore wind, but we recognise that communities often feel concerned that proposed wind farms in their areas will destroy the environment or have other negative impacts. We are convinced that, in the policy of localism that we are going to drive forward, local councils should be the driving force in deciding how they want their communities to develop. That is a fundamental part of the planning changes we are making.
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
In terms of localism, does the Department look at any measurements? What concerns inhabitants who debate the possibilities and planning applications is that the applications are turned down and then repeated, coming back with one fewer turbine and then two fewer turbines, so they go through the process again and again, and lose all confidence in any aspiration to real localism.
Charles Hendry
That is central to predetermination and to ensuring that more of the work is done through earlier discussion between the developer and the council, so they can agree what they think might be generally desirable. We are making those changes. We also need to ensure that we have lead authorities with particular expertise in handling such applications. Many authorities have not dealt with such applications before and do not know how to handle them when they come through. Finding ways to build a genuine body of expertise within local authorities is part of the approach we are considering.
We removed regional spatial strategies and the top-down regional energy targets, because they moved us away from the localism we want. We are committed, in relation to applications for below 50 MW, to local communities and local councils deciding how their areas will develop. The new planning framework will cover all forms of development and set out national economic, environmental and social priorities. Tackling climate change and ensuring our energy security will be among our top priorities, but as I said, we want communities and individuals to own a stake in our collective low-carbon future. That is why we are looking at how local communities can benefit from business rates staying locally, and why we want more genuine community ownership of applications, so that people can see the link between hosting a facility and the benefits that it brings directly to the local area and to the services that people care about.