Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Thursday 16th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

I can give the hon. Gentleman an absolute assurance that I am in regular contact with my ministerial colleagues in other Departments, Sir Michael Pitt of the IPC, and the industry, to ensure that the transition arrangements pose no threat to such projects. The measures that we are putting in place will be a significant enhancement of the regime, because they will reduce the risk of judicial challenge and review, and provide parliamentary and democratic accountability. That is an important element of such critical infrastructure issues.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

3. What outcomes his Department is seeking to achieve at the Cancun conference on the UN framework convention on climate change in December 2010.

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

The new coalition Government are absolutely committed to achieving an ambitious global deal to cut emissions sufficiently to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2°C and also to providing support to developing countries in adapting to the inevitable consequences of climate change. However, although we are not raising expectations of a legally binding treaty being achieved at Cancun, we want to see substantive progress at COP 16.

[Duncan Hames]

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive response, on which I hope we have a debate in the House soon. Does he accept that climate finance is critical to reaching an effective agreement? We need the UN advisory group on climate finance, on which the Secretary of State sits, to provide not only a menu of options for the future, but concrete recommendations that can be agreed now.

[Gregory Barker]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the Secretary of State is an important member of that group. Its report will be published later in the year. Here in the UK, we are taking an active role in trying to develop the private sector solutions that must be part of the overall funding package for developing countries, both in adaptation and mitigation.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)]

I would be more than happy to write to the right hon. Lady to set that out in more detail. Speeding up the roll-out of smart meters has been one of our priorities. We felt that the ambition of 2020 roll-out across the nation that we inherited was pathetically unambitious, and we have already managed to bring the target forward by a couple of years. We are continuing to drive the roll-out forward and consulting industry on how to put it in place most quickly. Every day, 10,000 dumb meters are installed in our homes across the country. We want to ensure that the new meters installed in our properties are fit for purpose for the needs of the 21st century.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

T9. I am sure that, like me, the Secretary of State will have welcomed the introduction of green energy certification, but he will also know the central role of utility broker websites in consumer decisions. Will he join me in urging those broker sites to incorporate green energy certification in the information that they provide to consumers?

[Chris Huhne]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It is very important that consumers have the information that they need when assessing their energy use, and that is very much one of our departmental objectives. We are considering every possible way to ensure that consumers are fully informed so that we have a marketplace that drives energy saving and energy efficiency. As my ministerial colleague with responsibility for energy, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), has just pointed out, the smart metering programme is part of that, but it is also crucial that we have a commitment to the display of energy use details.