Solar Industry Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Darren Jones
Main Page: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)Department Debates - View all Darren Jones's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Solar Industry
Darren Jones Excerpts(5 years, 1 month ago)
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Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the effect on the solar industry of the replacement of the feed-in tariff.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am pleased to have secured this important debate. The Minister knows that I have been focused on this issue for a number of months now. The solar industry is reeling from the announcement that the feed-in tariff scheme is to close. The scheme was a huge success, with solar panels installed on nearly 1 million homes since it was launched in 2010. However, the loss of such a successful programme has led to a substantial loss of confidence in the sector. Between 30% and 40% of firms are contemplating closure, and international figures are considering pulling out of the UK market.
The news about the scheme came on top of a business rates rise and caused a huge degree of apprehension in the sector. If that apprehension turns into something more substantial, the loss of firms on the scale suggested would be hugely damaging to the sector, the wider economy and our efforts to tackle climate change.
Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Lady for securing this important debate. Does she recognise that this sector is not just about profit-making firms; it is also about charitable and community organisations? In my constituency, for example, they make money from solar farms to help fund youth centre services and other community outreach activities. This is also an issue for their funding sustainability.
Antoinette Sandbach
I absolutely agree, and I hope the Minister will say something about community schemes in her response, because there are many different ways of installing and making the best of solar power, as the hon. Gentleman has just indicated, and its flexibility has been one of the reasons why it has been taken up so quickly.
I was talking about the damage to the solar industry. One firm in my constituency, near the village of Malpas, closed once the restrictions on the existing feed-in tariff schemes were imposed. I hope that was a one-off and not a sign of things to come.