Planning and Solar Farms

Debate between Dan Poulter and Caroline Nokes

Wednesday 19th July 2023 Westminster Hall

[Dr Poulter]

There is a problem in Suffolk with solar farms being proposed, but very few of them have used that final mechanism that my hon. Friend has outlined. In a lot of cases I can think of in my constituency in mid-Suffolk, it has been down to the discretion of the local planning authority to examine on their merits. The lack of a local framework against which the planning authority judges these applications means that the developer is empowered and local communities are disempowered, and unfortunately a number of applications have gone through. Will she join me in pushing this issue with the Minister?

[Caroline Nokes (in the Chair)]

Order. I remind Members that interventions should be brief.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Poulter and Caroline Nokes

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Dr Poulter]

I do not think that people wanting to see their GP was at all helped by the previous Labour Government’s disastrous decision to contract out the GP out-of-hours service. Many patients are now struggling to receive appointments in the evenings and at weekends. The previous Government also broke the link with family doctors. To reassure the hon. Lady, the latest GP patient survey results suggest that less than 2% of patients who want GP appointments have to resort to walk-in centres or A and E departments. Under this Government, we have put in place an extra 1,000 GPs.

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

4. What progress his Department has made on its long-term plans for easing pressures on A and E departments and preparing the NHS for the future.

Green Economy

Debate between Dan Poulter and Caroline Nokes

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

I add my congratulations to those of other colleagues to my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Laura Sandys) on securing today’s important debate. As a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, I am conscious—as our Chair, the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley), who is no longer in her place, mentioned earlier—of the need to have a green thread running through every area of Government policy. That, of course, gives us the opportunity to have a very wide-ranging debate today. I am conscious, however, of the number of Members who wish to speak, so I shall try to keep my comments brief and restrict them to just two areas.

First, we have seen over the last few days the importance of fuel tax as a fiscal measure, and we are all well aware of the impact of high fuel prices on our constituents—not just on motorists, but on the consumers of goods transported by road, which in this country is, of course, absolutely everything. The carbon emissions from road transport make up a significant proportion—over one fifth—of the UK’s total CO₂ emissions. Passenger cars, in particular, emitting in the region of 76 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, contribute 13% of all CO₂ emissions.

Clearly, this is an area where Government policy must be used constructively not only to encourage shifts in modes of transport, but to encourage road transport users to look for cleaner, greener alternatives. I am a big fan of differential rates of vehicle excise duty, as there is nothing that concentrates the mind of the user quite so much as choosing to drive a car that attracts a lower duty tariff. I urge Ministers to ensure that ultra-low levels of duty are retained for the cleanest and most efficient engines.

I do not wish to dwell today on passenger transport and the private car, so I shall move on to road haulage and the freight industry. This is an area of policy relating to green transport, which is a matter of concern to me, and I have asked a number of parliamentary questions on the subject. I particularly emphasise today the duty differential for used cooking oil biodiesel, which expired in March this year. I appreciate that biodiesel is currently little used in the passenger car sector, although it does have potential; it is far more significant in freight transport, which accounted for 26 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions in 2010.

Without the support of the duty differential, many biodiesel users will inevitably switch back to fossil fuels, resulting in higher emissions and risking the loss of up to 3,000 jobs in the low-carbon economy. The double certificates allowed under the renewable transport fuel obligation look unlikely to be able to support this sector, particularly given that recent certificate values have fallen as low as 10p. While this industry is maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the Minister’s colleagues in the Department for Transport, looking to find an alternative solution, Treasury support and awareness is also vital.

The second area of policy I wish to highlight is house building. The hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) mentioned the efficiencies that can be made through better insulation. Better use of water should also be highlighted, as should better and more efficient boilers. Linden Homes, a house building company that operates in my constituency, has come up with an innovative way to help the Government to progress a zero carbon policy. Its proposal to create a “new homes sustainability bonus”, has the potential to contribute towards a zero carbon policy in a sustainable and affordable way, at a time when the industry faces significant challenges.

At present, all new homes constructed in the UK are required to meet stringent Government energy and water efficiency standards—and rightly so. This company’s idea, as part of the policy mix for national carbon reduction, is that developers could, for all new units built from 2013, contribute a new homes sustainability bonus paid into a central fund, which would then be used to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon within the UK’s existing housing stock, which chronically falls behind new home standards and has significantly higher energy and water consumption. Only 40% of all homes currently have energy-efficient boilers.

[Dr Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a very good point about existing housing stock, which is the majority of the stock in this country. Retrofitting and improving energy efficiency in those homes is good not only for business, but for consumers, particularly for those on fixed incomes such as the frail elderly and people in other vulnerable groups.

[Caroline Nokes]

I thank my hon. Friend for that comment. He makes exactly the point I was moving on to.

Last year, the Environmental Audit Committee went to visit the Sustainable Building Centre in Leamington Spa, where we learned that if everyone in the UK with gas or oil central heating installed a high-efficiency condensing boiler, we would save more than 6.5 million tonnes of CO₂ every year—and that is only one aspect.

Dairy Farming

Debate between Dan Poulter and Caroline Nokes

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Westminster Hall

[Dr Poulter]

Instinctively, I do not like unnecessary red tape. However, given that the National Farmers Union has already been involved in some considerable nudging and given that there is a considerable imbalance between the power of the dairy producers and of the retailers, perhaps the Government have a role to play. I agree that it would be good to see a mutually agreed solution that supports the code of conduct and the role of the ombudsman. However, if that does not work, I hope that the Government will intervene. To start with, I would like to see things being resolved without using unnecessary red tape. Hopefully, we will see many organisations taking corporate responsibility and backing British suppliers. We have seen that in the pork and meat sectors of the industry, with many British retailers beginning to show greater corporate responsibility in buying British meat and putting it on their shelves. In the dairy industry, we need to see our retailers taking a similarly robust attitude and showing such corporate responsibility as well. I want to see that first and then, if necessary, further action and intervention from the Government.

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for having secured this important debate. Does he not acknowledge that there are a number of retailers who are showing greater corporate responsibility? Waitrose, for example, operates a partnership of dairy farmers, one of which is based in Leckford in my constituency. Can we not encourage a greater use of that model in the rest of the country?

[Dr Poulter]

That is a good point. Marks and Spencer provides us with another good example. Like Waitrose, it has already shown a high level of corporate responsibility. Indeed, Waitrose has a good attitude to supporting British farming in general. My hon. Friend is right to say that there is a need for a number of companies to support a profitable and sustainable agricultural sector. The crisis in the dairy industry at the moment highlights such a need.

A number of dairy farms are being forced out of business. The prices of commodities and fuel are making it difficult for farms to be as successful as they once were. My hon. Friend is right to say that retailers should show some support, and we hope to see the model that she has mentioned rolled out across the country. However, it is important for us to trust the retailers to show that greater corporate responsibility before the Government intervene.

In conclusion, the number of dairy producers in the UK is plummeting, and the price paid for milk is consistently low. At the moment, we are 25th out of 27 in the EU league table. Input costs have soared for producers in recent years, especially over the past few months. In 2009-10, milk production was at an all-time low in the United Kingdom.

The crux of the matter lies in the fact that contracts between suppliers and producers are skewed against the producer, so that prices can be changed arbitrarily while notice periods are often 18 months or more. Most contracts are exclusive, which means that a producer can be tied to one supplier for a long period. The penalty clauses in many contracts are detrimental to the producer and favour the retailer.

The Food Labelling Regulations (Amendment) Bill will help to address some of the imbalances, and I am sure that the Minister will discuss it. None the less, retailers need to show greater corporate responsibility. The Government must be prepared to intervene if retailers do not support the industry in such a way and if the current nudges in our regulations do not work.

I thank the Minister for attending the debate and look forward to hearing his remarks. Some colleagues may wish to add some remarks on bovine TB.