Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I am surprised that my hon. Friend, who has great experience in the House, should ask a Minister to comment on a live planning inquiry.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Even after the bodged, late and partial mitigation of the carbon floor price, it remains a tax on UK manufacturing that is unilateral to this country. When will the Government come forward with an energy policy to support our UK manufacturing that matches the best in Europe?

Annual Energy Statement

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 6th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

First of all, I would like to praise my hon. Friend, who has shown great leadership. He is right that it has been a collective effort, and it is also right to say that we have greater consensus across the House on these issues. This sends out a strong signal to the European Commission and to other European countries. This is fantastic news for energy security in the 2020s, and fantastic news for our climate change objectives.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

The mitigation of the impact of the Government’s unilateral carbon floor tax has been too little, too late. In the light of that, will the Secretary of State and the Government look to bring forward support for energy-intensive industries in relation to the renewables obligation from 2016 to 2015?

[Mr Davey]

This Government have done more than any other to assist in these areas. I spoke to a group of manufacturers earlier this week at the Engineering Employers Federation, and I found there was real recognition that we had done a huge amount domestically and on the European front, with the 2030 deal and getting much more of a level playing field across Europe. The hon. Gentleman asks me to announce a new policy from the Dispatch Box, but I am certainly not going to do that. I can tell him that we keep this issue under close review and that I work very closely with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on this matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 4th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I am pleased at the way in which our demand-side measures have been advancing. They are something on which I have placed a lot of stress. I know that my Minister of State appeared before my hon. Friend’s Committee when it was investigating this matter. We certainly want to ensure that we move forward on this and that there is nothing in the way of taking up more demand-side measures.

[Nic Dakin]

Last month, EDF announced that it was temporarily closing four of its nuclear reactors, reducing the UK’s nuclear capacity by a quarter. With most of the nuclear fleet being decommissioned by 2023, what steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure maximum use of those assets before that date?

[Mr Davey]

With regard to the two nuclear plants involved, Heysham and Hartlepool, we are taking only precautionary measures to ensure that proper safety and security measures are examined, and I am sure that the whole House will agree that that is the right step. The impact that that will have on our margins over the winter has already been taken account of in National Grid’s analysis and procurement plans. On the hon. Gentleman’s longer point, the whole energy strategy is designed to ensure that we have the capacity that we need not just for the short and medium term but for the long term. I refer him to the investment report that we published in July, which shows a fantastic record of investment in energy across the piece. Indeed, there have been record levels of investment in energy, especially in low-carbon energy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 19th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question. We are giving huge support. We published the first ever interconnection strategy in December and we are working with Ofgem, which recently published a new registry framework. We hope that three interconnector projects will get to financial close very shortly—the Eleclink through the channel tunnel, the Nemo Link project with Belgium and the NSN project with Norway—and we think that two other projects could come forward with France. The question is really important as it involves the single European energy market, of which we are strong supporters. We are working tirelessly on that very point.

[Nic Dakin]

Given that industry is having to use load management measures more often than before, is it not time to establish, as Labour has proposed, a single institution—an energy security board—to assess future capacity and establish strategic objectives to deliver it?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 28th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

The House will be pleased to know that the social and green levies protect everybody, whether they are in rural Somerset or anywhere else in the country. On a number of occasions, I have made clear in this House and elsewhere my commitment to maintain the support for the fuel poor.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Why is the Secretary of State persisting with the carbon price floor tax, which is unilaterally damaging core foundation industries such as steel and chemicals, when even his predecessor says it has no green benefit and is simply about lining the Chancellor’s pocket?

[Mr Davey]

The Chancellor introduced the carbon price floor at the beginning of this Parliament and confirmed the rates in the Budget this year. The purpose is to send a clear incentive message to people investing in low carbon, which I believe the hon. Gentleman supports. I also hope that he supports the compensation package this Government have put together to help energy-intensive industries, to support them and to help them defray those costs.

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[Mr Davey]

We understand people’s concerns not just about onshore wind but about other forms of energy production, such as shale and so on. We need to ensure that the planning system is responsive. The hon. Gentleman knows that what he has said could be applied to many other developments outside energy. It is often the case that the unpopular development of housing or a supermarket gets overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State admitted, in answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), that due to Government incompetence no money has been paid to energy-intensive industries in mitigation for the carbon floor tax. However, he did say that money is being spent on the European Union emissions trading scheme. In answer to a parliamentary question, the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) told me:

“£16 million has been paid to 17 companies.”—[Official Report, 5 November 2013; Vol. 570, c. 142W.]

When I asked him to name those companies, he wrote:

“We are still assessing applications.”—[Official Report, 18 November 2013; Vol. 570, c. 663W.]

How can money have been paid out when applications are still being assessed?

Annual Energy Statement

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question. The code of conduct, which the Minister of State with responsibility for energy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), has negotiated, will stop that practice.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Despite the Secretary of State’s answers to earlier questions, Tata Steel, which announced 340 job losses in my constituency this week, is still saying that the carbon floor tax, unilaterally introduced by the Chancellor, is putting its businesses in the UK at risk, compared with the rest of the European Union. Will the Secretary of Sate commit to working with the Business Secretary and the Chancellor to bring action forward rapidly to address that issue?

[Mr Davey]

I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that we have been working together closely and that is having an effect—we are succeeding. We want the state aid case for the carbon price floor compensation scheme to come out of Brussels. We are working hard to make that happen.

Grangemouth Refinery

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price), the hon. Gentleman invites me to talk about a disciplinary dispute. The investigation is due to be published and shared with those involved on Friday and it would be wrong for me to speculate about the rights and wrongs of any individual or individuals involved.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s approach. Will he say more about how he will assure the UK’s fuel security and secure a sustainable future for UK refineries, including those on the South Humber bank?

[Mr Davey]

I am grateful for that question. One of the first issues I had to deal with when I became Secretary of State was the potential for a tanker drivers’ dispute. I got very involved in thinking about energy security with respect to transport fuels. The Department has set up a unit that was not there before. When we talk about energy security, we normally mean the security of the electricity supply, but actually the issue is much wider than that. I have personally given a lot more focus to that than previously, particularly in respect of what the hon. Gentleman mentions—not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK. The review of refinery capacity is part of that, but only part; we have to look at a number of issues to make sure that the people who drive the cars, lorries and vans on the roads get the fuel they need, given the critical role that that transport sector plays for our economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 11th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

1. What recent assessment he has made of levels of investment in energy infrastructure.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)]

Average annual investment in energy infrastructure from 2010 to 2012 has been £8.5 billion, more than double the average for 1997 to 2010. Our electricity market reform and other measures are designed to continue this investment surge and sustain it.

[Nic Dakin]

Delivering energy security provides a real opportunity for jobs in the renewable sector for the Humber. What are the Government doing to provide security and encouragement to investors beyond 2017 to develop renewable energy in the UK?

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Gentleman will know that we are taking a whole range of measures. Obviously, the Energy Bill itself gives a very strong legal framework and the levy control framework up to 2020 gives visibility on the overall support for the system. I am sure the hon. Gentleman will also welcome the announcements we made on 27 June, ahead of schedule, with respect to the strike prices for renewables.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 8th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his welcome. He is right. Edinburgh is an established centre for financial services and it couples that skill with a thriving green sector. That is why I believe my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has chosen it. I know that my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr Kennedy) has been a champion of investment for Kishorn point and welcome the planned investment for redeveloping the point.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

17. What recent assessment he has made of the level of investment in low-carbon technologies in the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

T4. In June, the Office of Fair Trading upheld the Which? super-complaint about card surcharges, agreeing that they pose significant detriment to consumers. When will the Government act to stop people being exploited in this way?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. We are looking at the OFT’s powerful report and consulting colleagues in the Treasury, and we will come back to the House in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and Nic Dakin

Thursday 9th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

13. What steps he plans to take to support those affected by job losses at the Tata plant in Scunthorpe.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)]

Of course, we were very disappointed to hear the news. It will be a worrying time for the workers affected, but I reassure the hon. Gentleman that the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service and the Skills Funding Agency are working with Tata Steel to support workers at the Scunthorpe plant.

[Nic Dakin]

I thank the Minister for his response. It would be good if he or the Secretary of State could come to Scunthorpe to see the situation first hand. Will the Government be bidding for European globalisation adjustment funds, for which the situation in Scunthorpe is eligible?

[Mr Davey]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for his efforts. He has met the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), and I am sure that he welcomed the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State of the taskforce, on which the hon. Gentleman is serving. It is for the taskforce to come up with ideas not just for the regional growth fund but for European funding. If the taskforce can put together a bid, I am sure that it will get the Department’s support.

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[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

T3. According to the Office of Fair Trading, self-regulation of debt management companies is not working. Does the Minister agree that it is time for the Government to act to protect vulnerable consumers?

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. He knows that I met him and other members of the all-party group on debt and personal finance to discuss that very issue. He will know of my concern about it, which was shared across the meeting. When we respond to the call for evidence on consumer debt and personal solvency, we will have a lot to say about that very issue.