All 38 Debates between Ed Davey and John Bercow

Wed 28th Nov 2018
Offensive Weapons Bill
Commons Chamber

3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Mon 5th Feb 2018
Tue 13th Jan 2015
Mon 2nd Dec 2013
Wed 15th May 2013
Tue 6th Dec 2011

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 18th March 2019

(5 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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A Kingston knight, no less. I call Sir Edward Davey.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In our current constitutional crisis, I welcome your reaffirmation of the rule of law in this House—namely, “Erskine May”—and the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. Given the gravity of the situation, though, could you enlighten the House as to whether “Erskine May” makes any provision for a Speaker’s Conference to bring together all parties in the House under your chairmanship to try to find a way forward?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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There can always be Speaker’s Conferences, though I must say—I do not direct this particularly at this Government at all; it is a wider observation—that it is a perhaps curious and quaint fact that ordinarily, Speaker’s Conferences are convened at the instigation of the Government of the day. Indeed, I recall a particular occasion some years ago when I had some interest in the possibility of a Speaker’s Conference on aspects of parliamentary power. If I said to the right hon. Gentleman that the reaction to my suggestion at the time from the then Leader of the House was not wildly enthusiastic, I think that I would be somewhat understating the position. But that was then, and maybe the new Leader of the House, or relatively new Leader of the House, who has been a notable reformer in other respects, will be seized by the salience of what the right hon. Gentleman has commended to the House and will feel that she could have a key role in initiating such an important constitutional development. If she did, I would be perfectly willing to play ball with it. I have no idea; it is not something she and I have discussed, but you never know.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 5th February 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call a south-west London knight, a former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and, by all accounts, a cerebral denizen of the House of Commons, Sir Edward Davey.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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Thank you, Mr Speaker, especially for allowing me to exercise my knees more than usual today.

Will the Secretary of State confirm that the offer and acceptance of payments to and by an MP for the benefit of their constituents by a Minister of the Crown in an attempt to influence votes in this House could represent breaches of sections 1 and 2 of the Bribery Act 2010?

No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Wednesday 16th January 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Thank you.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. From the Liberal Democrats position, we are clear that we want to engage in talks with Her Majesty’s Government, but it is important that the Government make clear that no deal is not an option. It is very important that the Prime Minister does not—as, to be fair to her, earlier today she did not—rule out extending article 50; it is important that the House has that chance to think and come together. Finally, I ask the Prime Minister to ensure that this House gets a chance to take control of our own business as we go through the next few days and weeks.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Thank you.

European Union (Withdrawal) Act

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 10th January 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you made a new ruling on parliamentary language that I am not aware of?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I have made no new ruling on parliamentary language. I was listening, as colleagues would expect, with my customary rapt attention to the observations of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I richly enjoyed those observations and particularly his exceptionally eloquent delivery of them, which I feel sure he must have been practising in front of the mirror for some significant number of hours, but on the subject of that which is orderly—because a number of Members were chuntering from a sedentary position about whether the use of the word beginning with b and ending in s which the Secretary of State delighted in regaling the House with was orderly—the answer is that there was nothing disorderly about the use of the word; I think it is a matter of taste.

Offensive Weapons Bill

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Wednesday 28th November 2018

(5 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Offensive Weapons Act 2019 View all Offensive Weapons Act 2019 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Consideration of Bill Amendments as at 28 November 2018 - (28 Nov 2018)
Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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I congratulate the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker) on his excellent speech and I associate myself with his sentiments. The Bill makes some welcome improvements to how the police and courts tackle threats to the public from offensive weapons. Given the violence and the deaths we are seeing now, it is vital that we act. I welcome some of the amendments, particularly those tabled by Labour colleagues, including new clauses 1 and 6. However, a number of details in this Bill would prove counterproductive in the fight against crime—things that are not based on evidence—so I have tabled a range of amendments. I will speak only briefly to some of them now, given the time available and the fact that other Members wish to get in.

Amendments 12 and 13 would in essence replace short-term prison sentences with community sentences. As the Bill stands, the new offence in clause 1 of selling corrosive products to under-18s is punishable by up to 51 weeks in prison. We are puzzled by this, because it directly contradicts Government policy as articulated at the Dispatch Box. The Secretary of State for Justice himself has said that short-term prison sentences do not work. He said that they should be used only “as a last resort.” Amendments 12 and 13 therefore appear to be in line with Government policy and would ensure that the offence set out in clause 1 is punishable by an effective community sentence and/or fine, instead of by an ineffective short-term prison sentence.

Amendment 14 would amend the welcome new offence of possession of corrosives by adding to clause 6 the words “with intent to cause injury”. I assume that the current wording is the result of a drafting error.

Finally, amendments 15 and 16 would remove mandatory prison sentences for a second offence of possession of corrosive substances. In other words, they would prevent this House from yet again trespassing on judicial discretion. I have never understood why Governments and colleagues think that they are capable of second-guessing the facts of a case that has not yet happened, or why this House should pretend that it makes any sense at all to bind the hands of judges, who see and hear the real facts of the case, are trained to assess the facts and are experienced in sentencing.

The House may remember when, back in 2014, a Conservative Back-Bench new clause was passed to create mandatory prison sentences for a second offence of possession of a knife. My party voted against that new clause on the principle that mandatory sentences tie judges’ hands, put more pressure on already overburdened prisons and mean that more people, especially young people, end up with ineffective short-term prison sentences. Regrettably, that new clause was passed, thanks to some Labour MPs supporting it, the Conservative Front-Bench team abstaining and Conservative Back Benchers voting for it.

To be fair, there were Labour MPs who voted with those of us who opposed the tying of judges’ hands. One Labour MP in particular made a fine speech, and said:

“There is a principle at stake here. There is a Sentencing Council and legislation on what is and is not a crime, but surely it must be for the courts to determine what is appropriate for the prisoner in front of them, rather than to have that laid down by statute.”—[Official Report, 17 June 2014; Vol. 582, c. 1041-1042.]

That MP was the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), so I hope that the Labour Front-Bench team will support our amendments to get rid of mandatory prison sentences.

Back in 2014, when the House debated similar proposals in respect of knife crimes, the supporters of tying judges’ hands said that it would send a message to the people, and that that message would reduce knife crime. That was a rather odd argument, which seemed to assume that young people especially tuned into our proceedings with enthusiasm. It had no basis in fact at the time. We now have the benefit of seeing how four years of limiting judicial discretion over knife crime has worked—how the message that Parliament apparently sent was heard.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I am listening intently to the right hon. Gentleman, as always, and in a friendly way I express the confident hope that he is approaching his peroration.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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Mr Speaker, you are right to be confident because I am.

There may now be more people behind bars to whom the judges might have given, on the evidence, community sentences. We may now as a society pay more in taxes to keep locked up people whom it would be better not to lock up, so we may not be able to use the money that is currently spent on prisons in other ways, such as for spending on police or youth services.

All that does not look like a good outcome from the message sent by mandatory sentences, so why are we repeating the mistake? What evidence are Ministers using to introduce more mandatory sentences? What happens if the person was coming home from the shops and he or she was holding his mum or dad’s shopping bags when stopped and searched? Surely it is for judges to act on the basis of fact, not for Parliament to second-guess it. We do not think that mandatory sentences are the right approach, and I hope that the other place will deal with the matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 16th October 2018

(5 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Oh, very well, Sir Edward—blurt it out, man!

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I bring to the Secretary of State’s attention the power that he has to mutualise Post Office Ltd to allow sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses, and their customers, to have a share in their own Post Office? Will he look at this, because it would bring greater sustainability to the post office network?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 1st May 2018

(5 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Forgive me, but I want to get to other colleagues’ questions as well, so if it is a short sentence, I will take it, but if it is not, I will not. No? All right.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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Will the Minister tell us why it has taken so long to disburse some of the £320 million fund for district heating schemes? So many local authorities and other bodies want to apply for funding, but the Government are being slow in disbursing the money.

EU Referendum: Electoral Law

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 27th March 2018

(6 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I should say to the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Sir Edward Davey) that I am not in receipt of an application from him to speak in the debate, whereas others have applied. I know that he is a figure of considerable celebrity in his constituency and, although it is a divisible proposition, arguably within the House. I am sure that I will be happy to hear him, but he has a habit of looking at me astonished that he has not been called immediately, so in case he wonders why I am not calling him immediately, I say very gently to him that other people, also busy with many commitments and very full diaries, actually got around to applying to speak, so he had better wait. We can look forward to his eloquence and erudition.

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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The short answer is no. The hon. Lady highlights an extremely important and sensitive matter, and I appreciate that she does so not least in her capacity as a constituency Member of Parliament. It will be a matter of considerable concern, not just to Members in affected constituencies, but right across the House. I have received no such notification but, knowing the perspicacity and ingenuity of the hon. Lady, I feel sure that she will find a way of highlighting the matter in the Chamber sooner rather than later.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister mentioned the role of the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission in these types of discussions and inquiries. My understanding is that your Committee’s statutory duties are focused on matters such as the estimate and the resources available to the Electoral Commission. That has been raised as a matter of debate, so I wonder whether you could enlighten the House on what role your Committee might take in this regard.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The short answer is that the right hon. Gentleman is right; the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission preoccupies itself with the estimate, and scrutiny thereof. That is a narrow albeit important remit. We are concerned with resources. There have been occasions when a particular issue appertaining to the Electoral Commission has arisen that has caused the Committee to meet to hear from its officers. However, so far as investigations are concerned—to be fair, the Minister did not suggest otherwise—those are not matters in which my Committee would in any way become involved. There is a model for this in relation to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority—the model of a Committee scrutinising an estimate—and Members should have that in the forefront of their minds. We do not get involved in investigations. In so far as the right hon. Gentleman’s point of order and my response to it has made that even clearer, I welcome that.

Rail Update

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 5th February 2018

(6 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call Mr David Linden.

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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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We shall now hear from a Kingston and Surbiton knight—Sir Edward Davey.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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Thank you, Mr Speaker—that was a difficult choice for you.

The Secretary of State has today acted when a franchiser overpaid, hitting its shareholders. Will he commit to the House that when a franchiser under-delivers, hitting the passengers, he will also act?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 20th November 2017

(6 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Surely a Kingston and Surbiton knight of the realm must be capable of brevity. I call Sir Edward Davey.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey
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I will try, Mr Speaker.

Has the Home Secretary read last month’s statistical bulletin on crime figures in England and Wales, which looks at the problem of the difference between recorded crime and the outcomes of the crime survey? If not, will she read it and send me her comments?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 16th October 2017

(6 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I understand that the right hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead is to become a knight of the realm. I had not been aware of that important fact, but I am now, and I warmly congratulate the right hon. Gentleman, who is evidently absolutely delighted with the status to be conferred upon him.

On the matter of knights, I call Sir Edward Davey.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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Given that the Met police are issuing guidelines that some so-called low-level crime will no longer be investigated in London, is it not now crystal clear that Government cuts in community policing are helping criminals and hurting victims? Will the Home Secretary now tell the House that she is campaigning in the Government for a big rise in police funding in the forthcoming Budget?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 19th March 2015

(9 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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The negotiations with the Tidal Lagoon Power company are bilateral, so they will set the strike price over months and we cannot give an exact timetable on how long they will take. I read the CAB report, but it was not as informed as it might have been. The first tidal lagoon power plant, which will be the world’s first, is likely to be a bit more expensive, just as when the UK had the first offshore wind farm it was a bit more expensive. Unless we invest in new technologies, we will not get the costs down. We have seen the costs of solar tumble. We have seen the costs of offshore wind tumble. We have seen the costs of onshore wind tumble. That has only happened because we have invested in new technology. That is the way that Britain—a world leader—should go.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Untypically, we are ahead of time and can proceed with dispatch to Topical Questions.

Kerry McCarthy Portrait Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
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T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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rose—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I am tempted to think that that would ordinarily be a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but if ingeniously the Secretary of State can contrive to fashion a response that relates to his own important responsibilities, and if he can give us what he described a few moments ago as his “considered view”, the nation will be enriched.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Mr Speaker, you are just too kind.

The Government, whether the lead has been taken by a different Department, such as DEFRA, or another Department, have done their best to deal with flooding issues. I speak as one of the Ministers with responsibility for flooding. We have done a lot of work in the south of London to assist with this matter, including on aspects of the Thames flood alleviation, but the real issue for me, as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, is that if we do not tackle climate change, this country will be badly hit by more flooding. We can build the flood defences we need, but in the long term if we are to reduce the cost of climate change to this country we need to tackle climate change itself.

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Lord Barker of Battle Portrait Gregory Barker (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
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Does the Minister agree that, when the history of the coalition comes to be written, the Department of Energy and Climate Change will be seen as outstanding in terms of effectiveness and impact, and as a cut-out example of two parties, Conservative and Liberal Democrat, coming together to govern in the national interest? In that context, may I also pay tribute to the terrific leadership of the Secretary of State, his effective ministerial team, and the brilliant officials—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I must say to the House, in response to a sedentary interjection from an Opposition Member, that the use of the word “barmy” is a matter of taste rather than order.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Talking of taste, Mr Speaker, I thought that the question from my right hon. Friend for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) was very tasteful, and that he made a very sensible point. I am grateful to him. I think it is clear that, although there are some differences between us on some aspects of energy policy such as onshore wind, the two parties have been able to work together in the country’s interest to achieve our objective of providing affordable, secure, green energy. I am grateful to the Minister of State for what he said earlier, although he did make me laugh when he claimed that the Chancellor was the force behind the tidal lagoon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 5th February 2015

(9 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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The problem with the Opposition’s policy is that if we had listened to them and frozen bills, people would now have even higher bills and would be in even more debt. We are not going to listen to the Opposition’s failed energy policy. Our policy has seen bills come down, not just frozen. People can get some of the best deals by switching to the independents that we have encouraged into the market.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call Mr Geoffrey Robinson. Not here.

Pamela Nash Portrait Pamela Nash
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With the news this week that price comparison sites do not always show customers the cheapest offers because they would not get their share, and given that switching is so crucial to the Government, is it not time that we had a non-commercial Government comparison site?

Nuclear Management Partners (Sellafield)

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 13th January 2015

(9 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Barry Gardiner Portrait Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)
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The great thing about a National Audit Office report is that it is consensually agreed between the Department and the NAO. I am afraid that rather disproves the points that the Secretary of State has tried to make. He tried to locate the original plan in 2008 under the now Leader of the Opposition, but the report says that the previous plan was designed in 2007. The Secretary of State called this the revised plan, but the NAO report is very clear that, in fact, the

“Authority accepted the revised plan in May 2011”,

so this is a revision of the revision that his predecessor approved. Finally, the report was produced in 2012, when the Secretary of State was in post, and states that there were significant uncertainties back then. Why did he not act on the uncertainties that he agreed with the NAO existed then and work up an improvement for the time break in the contract?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I think the hon. Gentleman is planning for a future career as a regius professor in which he has an attentive audience, no interruption and can expatiate at a length of his own choice. We shall see what happens.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Mr Speaker, I think I understood what you just said.

I must tell the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) that he possibly should have listened a little more carefully to what I said. The original contract was engaged with and drawn up by the Minister who preceded the Leader of the Opposition, but it came into force when the right hon. Gentleman was doing my job.

The issue we have looked at is that of the model, which was designed under the previous Government and which we inherited. The contract that the hon. Gentleman talked about was looked at and then rolled forward, but the issue at stake is the model. We are changing the model of the management structure for the better, because the one we inherited was complex and expensive.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 18th December 2014

(9 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I share the hon. Gentleman’s view that it is very important to get energy-efficiency in the private rented sector—something that the previous Government failed to act on. We have legislated in the Energy Act 2011, we have consulted on this and we will be making proposals.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call Mr Tom Harris. He is not here. I call Mr David Jones.

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John Robertson Portrait John Robertson
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I congratulate the Secretary of State on what happened in Lima. Let us hope that when we get to Paris we can solidify all the things that were talked about.

Secretary of State, I sent your Department, Ofgem, the chief executive officers of the big six companies and many other interested groups a copy of a report that I did for the Energy and Climate Change Committee on how to help the safety of vulnerable people at times of need. Everyone except your Department and Ofgem has replied: why? All the others have contributed to a voluntary code of practice, and I am happy about that. Why cannot DECC and Ofgem put people before political point-scoring?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I do not have a Department and I have not failed to reply, but if someone has I am sure he or she will take responsibility.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Let me give the hon. Gentleman a Christmas present—I will ask for his report to be put in my Christmas Red Box.

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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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It was a very good question; it was not about the money resolution for the Affordable Homes Bill, either.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. In our community energy strategy and our work with both the solar and the onshore wind industries, we have stressed the importance of community benefits, and that is having a marked effect. We have enabled that through voluntary protocols, community benefit registers and the like. We have accepted and are taking forward the report of the shared ownership stakeholder group, which has also shown that people can be directly involved and have a stake in local renewable energy projects.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 6th November 2014

(9 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
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With permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer question 1 and questions 13, 19 and 21 together.

I am delighted to tell the House that European leaders recently signed an historic deal agreeing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, and that the UK played a crucial leadership role over two years to deliver that deal. It establishes EU leadership and influence ahead of negotiations for a global climate deal next year, and it provides business with additional certainty to help unlock billions for low-carbon investment. It reforms EU energy policy to give member states more flexibility so that they can go green at the lowest cost, and it helps to improve Europe’s energy security, sending a strong signal to Russia at a moment of heightened tension. I commend the EU deal on energy and climate change to the House.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The grouping is actually with questions 9, 15 and 17. I fear that the Secretary of State has not been as well served as he might have been. People must try to keep up.

Alan Whitehead Portrait Dr Whitehead
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In the light of that deal, I am sure that the Secretary of State will now be anxious to make the UK’s contribution by laying down the order for the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy supply to 2030. Will he tell me when he intends to lay down that order and, when he has done so, what he has in mind for the decarbonisation range that will be in it?

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Dennis Skinner Portrait Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
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On reflection, will the Energy Secretary now condemn the Thatcher decision to shut not only the pits, but the clean coal technology plant in south Yorkshire? She was so determined to smash the National Union of Mineworkers that she closed that plant as well. When he thinks about it—the late ’80s—does he condemn it? Come on, stand up!

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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With reference to the EU 2030 framework. [Laughter.] I look to the Secretary of State now to deal with the matter pithily.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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It is difficult to find any relevance in the hon. Gentleman’s question to the 2030 deal. Like him, I did not always agree with the late noble Lady, but I have to say to him that he is very backward looking in his approach to energy policy.

Annual Energy Statement

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 6th November 2014

(9 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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It is quite difficult to argue that this Government have not put huge amounts behind the offshore wind industry. We have more offshore wind installed and under construction than in the rest of the world put together. We are on track to meet 10 GW by the end of this decade, which is a huge amount. If, when thinking about the allocation of CfDs from the levy control framework—that is what lies behind the hon. Gentleman’s question—we had allocated all of it in the first round, there would have been less to allocate in future. One of the things the industry has said is that it wants a much smoother deployment of offshore wind. By the way, that will also enable us to get the benefit of cost reductions, which is vital for consumers.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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In two days’ time, the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) will celebrate 41 years since his election in a by-election. I call Sir Alan Beith.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 3rd April 2014

(9 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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My right hon. Friend the Minister of State is right. The reduced amount of solid wall insulation in the proposed changes to the ECO means that the money can go further and help more households.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Mike Freer—not here. Richard Graham—not here.

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Duncan Hames Portrait Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
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The latest quarterly figures reveal that the share of the UK’s electricity generated from renewable sources rose year on year from an eighth of our electricity supply to a sixth. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need to go further in reducing carbon emissions from our energy supply and that, given that the largest share of that increase came from onshore wind, that should play a key part?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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That is quite long enough.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. We have seen a massive increase in renewable electricity under this Government and the pipeline for more renewable electricity has never been as healthy as it is today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 27th February 2014

(10 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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We have listened to several representations on that and other areas. We will shortly publish the consultation document on the ECO, to which the hon. Gentleman might want to respond formally, as well as our fuel poverty strategy, which will cover some of the issues that he raises.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call Emma Reynolds.

--- Later in debate ---
Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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My hon. Friend is right that we saw consolidation in the energy market under the previous Government, which is when the big six were created. We have acted since day one through deregulation, which has enabled more independent suppliers to come to the market, and through making it easier to switch to the simpler and easier tariffs and bills that Ofgem has promoted. This week’s announcement in the wholesale market will see much greater transparency in forward markets, which will reduce barriers to entry to take on the electricity generation side of the big six.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Thomas Docherty: not here. I do not know what is going on; the fellow was here earlier and he has now beetled out of the Chamber. How very unfortunate. I call Tessa Munt.

Tessa Munt Portrait Tessa Munt (Wells) (LD)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Given the complaints figures uncovered by Which? recently, which showed that the big six received more than 5.5 million complaints in 2013 alone, does the Secretary of State think the time has come to have a full overhaul of the broken energy market, starting with a full competition inquiry to increase competition after the market assessment has been completed?

Energy Bills

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 2nd December 2013

(10 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
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With permission Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the action the Government are taking to reduce the impact of Government policies on energy bills.

British households pay some of the lowest prices for gas and electricity in Europe, but that is no comfort to those who have seen energy bills rise considerably over the past 10 years. The latest round of price rises announced by the energy companies has been particularly unwelcome, coming ahead of what is likely to be a cold winter. In such circumstances, it is right that people ask whether these rises are justified and what the Government are doing to keep energy bills affordable now and in the long term.

The main driver of the energy price rises has been rising wholesale energy costs, and the need to upgrade energy infrastructure to ensure security of supply in the long term. Wholesale and network costs make up over two thirds of bills. Supplier costs and profits make up around a fifth. Energy companies need to be more open about these costs so that consumers can judge which suppliers are acting responsibly and keeping their costs down.

Working with Ofgem, the Government are making this possible by forcing the energy companies to open up their books and justify price rises to their customers. We are increasing competition in the market to bear down on prices and provide people with a proper choice of supplier, and as I announced in the annual energy statement, Ofgem, working with the competition authorities, will report annually on the state of competition in the market, looking in depth and across the energy sector at profits and prices, barriers to entry and consumer engagement. Ofgem’s reforms for competition in the retail market are already making it easier for people to understand their bills, work out where they can get the best deal, and switch providers easily.

But it is also right that the Government are open about their social and environmental policies, which make up just under a 10th of the average bill. Our policies provide for immediate help for the most vulnerable with direct cuts to bills, as well as long-term savings on bills through energy-efficiency programmes and support for low-carbon energy that boosts energy security and tackles climate change. For example, the warm home discount cuts the bills of 2 million vulnerable households by £135. The energy company obligation provides permanent long-term savings on bills, including to the most vulnerable, by helping people to upgrade their homes and making them easier and cheaper to keep warm.

Support for cleaner energy increases our energy security and boosts investment in our thriving renewable energy industry, with tens of thousands of green jobs being created, but unlike the winter fuel payment, which provides around 12.5 million pensioners with help with their bills, and cold weather payments, which last year provided over £146 million to cut bills for the most vulnerable, policies such as the renewables obligation, ECO and the warm home discount are paid for directly by consumers through their bills, rather than through general taxation. So it is right that Government keep these social and environmental obligations paid for by energy bill payers under continuous review, and where we can act to reduce their impact on bills, while maintaining the integrity of our policy, we will, but as we do this, we must act responsibly. We must ensure—[Interruption.] We must ensure that the changes we make maintain the support provided to the most vulnerable, maintain the investment in clean energy and do not have a negative impact on our carbon reduction ambitions.

In this spirit, the Government have reviewed the cost profile of social and environmental policies and I can today announce proposals that would reduce the average household bill next year by £50 on average. First, the Government will provide £300 million—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Order. Let us have a bit of order in the House. The Secretary of State is doing his best to plough on—[Interruption.] No, he is doing his best to plough on through his statement. Let me say to the House that the opportunity to question the Secretary of State will arise, and that is what he would expect, but the Secretary of State is entitled to be heard courteously from start to finish.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Thank you, Mr Speaker.

First, the Government will provide £300 million in both 2014 and 2015, £600 million in all, for a new rebate to all domestic electricity customers worth £12. Secondly, we propose to consult on remodelling the ECO so that it is easier and cheaper to deliver. The changes to the ECO would result in between £30 and £35 off average bills next year, although the precise reduction in individual households’ bills would depend on their energy supplier. The existing dedicated support in the ECO for low-income and vulnerable households—affordable warmth and the carbon saving community obligation—will both be maintained at current levels and extended from March 2015 until March 2017. The other element of the ECO, the carbon emissions reduction obligation, will also be extended by two years but reduced by 33%. These changes are subject to consultation, which will be carried out early in the new year. In addition to Government action, the electricity distribution network operators are willing to take voluntary action to reduce network costs in 2014-15, which would enable suppliers to pass on an average one-off £5 reduction in domestic electricity bills.

I have been clear from the start that support for low-carbon energy should not change, and it will not. The Government recognise that green energy investment incentives such as the renewables obligation, contracts for difference and feed-in tariffs are essential for investment in future home-grown clean energy generation. Without this low-carbon investment, energy security would be jeopardised as Britain would become ever more dependent on imported oil and gas, and energy bills in the future would be increasingly subject to high and volatile fossil fuel prices. The Government will also ensure that their overall approach will cut just as much carbon as planned. New measures, worth more than £540 million over three years, will boost energy efficiency even further by introducing new schemes for home-movers, landlords and public sector buildings.

In future, when people buy a new home, they could get up to £1,000 from the Government to spend on important energy-saving measures—equivalent to half the stamp duty on the average house—or up to £4,000 for particularly expensive measures. The scheme will be available to all people moving house, including those who do not pay stamp duty, helping around 60,000 homes a year over three years. The Government will also introduce a scheme to support private landlords in improving the energy efficiency of their properties, which will improve some 15,000 of the least energy-efficient rental properties each year for three years. Together, the home buyers and private rental schemes will be worth £450 million over three years. In addition, £90 million over three years will be spent on improving the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public sector buildings.

The Government will deliver a significant boost to the green deal, increasing the funds available to local authorities this year through the green deal communities scheme from £20 million to £80 million, to help support “street-by-street” programmes for hard-to-treat homes in a cost-effective way. We will keep the green deal cashback scheme open, which will protect jobs in the energy efficiency industry before the new measures take effect.

All the major energy suppliers have confirmed that they will pass the benefits of this package on to their customers. The reduction in individual household bills will depend on the energy supplier: some companies have not yet announced price rises for 2014, or have limited their rise until the Government’s review of green levies concluded. Others have announced price rises and have indicated that they will reduce their customers’ bills as a result of these changes. Energy companies will now make final detailed decisions about how to apply these measures, but these cost reductions will ensure that average energy bills are lower in 2014 than they otherwise would have been—on average, by £50 per household. As the major energy companies have now confirmed, there will be no need for price rises in 2014, unless of course there is a major change in wholesale or network costs. Some have gone further, with commitments to hold prices down for longer.

Today’s announcement of cuts to energy bills is just part of the concerted action the Government are taking to help hard-working families, including through income tax cuts, the council tax freeze and the fuel duty freeze. This help for people with energy bills is being achieved while we maintain and extend support for the fuel-poor and continue to back green energy, and by boosting energy efficiency. I commend this statement to the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 28th November 2013

(10 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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As the House knows, I am a perennial optimist.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I will certainly bring my hon. Friend’s point to the attention of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Annual Energy Statement

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 31st October 2013

(10 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
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Today, I am laying before the House the annual energy statement, alongside the statutory security of supply report. This coalition Government are putting in place the most coherent, sustainable energy policy the United Kingdom has ever had. We are creating one of the most competitive and attractive electricity investment markets in the world; improving our energy security and affordability; and boosting home-grown clean energy, and providing jobs and economic growth in the process.

This ambitious energy and climate change policy is vital so that Britain can meet our significant challenges. The coalition Government inherited from the previous Administration an energy future with a huge, multi-billion pound black hole at its heart, which was the result of years of underinvestment, dithering and delay. So this Government are having to take the tough decisions others ducked to make sure that Britain’s lights do stay on. Everything we are doing has to ensure that we drive investment into the system, not scare it off or freeze it out. But, as I will make clear in this statement, energy security must go hand in hand with affordability.

So let me set out the robust plans we have to deliver affordable energy security. To deal with the problem of tightening electricity margins up to 2018, the Government have been working with National Grid and Ofgem to develop existing safeguards, in order to have more electricity available for the grid at peak times, including, if needed, through the use of power plants currently mothballed. We are introducing to Britain a capacity market to ensure that we attract the investment we need in new power stations. The first capacity market auction will take place next year—for delivery from the winter of 2018. In addition to those measures to keep the lights on, Britain now has a long-term strategy encapsulated in the Energy Bill. Over the summer, we published draft strike prices for renewable electricity under contracts for difference. Detailed proposals for the implementation of electricity market reform were published this month.

The fruits of bringing this greater predictability and certainty to investment are already showing. Latest estimates suggest that at least £35 billion has been invested in new electricity infrastructure since 2010, and much more is in the pipeline. In the past 12 months alone, we have provided consent for seven major energy infrastructure applications worth about £20 billion, with the capacity to generate electricity for more than 6 million homes. That, of course, included last week’s announcement that we have reached key commercial terms with EDF for the first new nuclear power station in a generation at Hinkley Point C. And there is more: through the Energy Bill’s final investment decision enabling programme, 23 applications for 26 investment contracts are currently being evaluated by the Department of Energy and Climate Change for a broad range of renewable technologies, including onshore wind, offshore wind and biomass projects.

Even though British households pay some of the lowest prices for gas and electricity in Europe, such facts are scant comfort to those who have seen energy prices rise considerably over the past 10 years. The main driver of these energy price rises has been rising wholesale energy costs, not social and environmental policy. But apportioning blame is also scant comfort to people who are struggling to make ends meet. That is why we have been taking action to help people and businesses struggling with their energy bills.

We have already introduced some help that is immediate. Two million vulnerable households will get £135 off their energy bill this winter, thanks to the Government’s warm home discount. Around 12.5 million pensioners will get the winter fuel payment—£200 for the under-80s and £300 for those over 80. And of course there are cold weather payments if needed, which last year delivered over £146 million to help cut bills for the most vulnerable.

This year we have added to these policies with more direct action. Our new big energy saving network is training 500 volunteers to go out into communities to help people get better deals from energy suppliers and reduce their energy bills. These volunteers will be fully supported. We know how much people in communities across the country rely on the post office network, so we will be working with the Post Office to raise the profile of the big energy saving network so that it can make the links with the elderly, the vulnerable and other cost-conscious families trying to make their budgets go further.

We have also brought together in one place all the advice from across Government—from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Work and Pensions—and from charities such as Age UK and Citizens Advice. Today, I am writing to all Members of this House with information about this new guide so that they can share it with their constituents, to make sure they are getting all the help to which they are entitled.

But while such immediate help for consumers and companies is important, we need more permanent change if we are to keep bills down not just for 20 months, but for 20 years and beyond. The energy company obligation is delivering such permanent change by modernising our housing stock and making it cheaper to heat our homes. Some 230,000 low income households will be warmer this winter, thanks to energy efficiency measures already installed through the ECO.

Energy efficiency remains a central part of our strategy both to help the fuel poor and to deliver permanent energy savings, but the permanent energy change that we seek also needs more competitive markets. This, however, is not something that the Opposition understand, for the previous Government created the big six, and their irresponsible policies would only help the big six. In contrast, from day one, this coalition Government have been determined to take on the big six for consumers—[Interruption.] The Opposition do not like it. We have been taking on the big six for consumers with the stick of competition. We have done a lot, but as I will set out, we need to do more.

Already our measures to deregulate have seen a major growth in the number and size of independent energy suppliers. In 2011 there was no independent supplier with a customer base greater than 50,000. Now we have three independents with more than 100,000 customers, and a further eight companies have entered the market since May 2010. We have delivered a doubling of the number of independent energy suppliers offering competition to Labour’s big six, and already hundreds of thousands of people are benefiting, but we are doing more. We are backing Ofgem’s reforms to help consumers get better deals—market reforms to make sure that customers are on the lowest tariffs for them, are moved off poor value dead tariffs, and no longer face the complex web of hundreds of tariffs designed more to confuse than to compete.

Our reforms are ensuring that people are given clearer, more personalised information on their energy bills so that they can compare tariffs and switch more easily to save money. We are also promoting collective switching, particularly aiming to ensure that the more vulnerable get to benefit from the best deals on the market. Today, however, I am challenging the industry to deliver faster switching. If someone can change their broadband provider with a few clicks of the mouse, why should they not be able to do the same with their gas or electric? It should not take five weeks for the change to take effect; 24-hour switching is my ambition.

First Utility has been out in front with its target of reaching 24-hour switching. Now E.ON, SSE and Scottish Power and a number of independent suppliers, including Good Energy, Ovo and Co-operative Energy, have accepted my invitation for urgent talks over the next month on how we can dramatically speed up switching.

I want five-week switching to come down to one-week switching, and then I want to go faster still. Let us be clear that it will not happen overnight. We could announce 24-hour switching and then suppliers would say, “Okay, we’ll put up our prices to cover the cost”. That cannot and will not happen. I want to talk to suppliers who can agree to and deliver a plan to speed up the process of switching down to 24 hours, without increasing bills.

Companies that are interested in making things easier for customers to switch are invited to come and see me, in addition to the others that have already agreed to do so. Our preference is to do that jointly with suppliers, building on the good work of Energy UK, which has raised ambition on the issue across the industry, but we are prepared to take action, if required, to compel those who drag their heels.

I have also written to energy companies about direct debits. I share concerns that they might be holding on to significant credit balances when customers have overpaid through direct debits. I expect all suppliers to make every effort to return money to customers with closed accounts. I accept that that sometimes will not be possible, but, when it is not, my view is that credits should be applied directly to help the fuel poor and other vulnerable customers. The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), will meet energy suppliers next week to discuss that question and that of the level of credit balances that energy companies are holding on to.

In our debates on energy bills, many have understandably asked whether competition is working in our energy markets. Although the coalition has already done a great deal to promote competition, we are ready to do more. As the Prime Minister announced last week, we now propose to introduce annual reviews of the state of competition in the energy markets. The first of the new competition assessments will be delivered by spring next year. The assessment will be undertaken by Ofgem, working closely with the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition and Markets Authority when it comes into being.

The exact metrics for the review will be a matter for the regulators but I will ask them to look in depth and across the energy sector at profits and prices, barriers to entry and consumer engagement. The Government have equipped the regulators with strong powers to deal with unjustified barriers to competition. If abuses are found they must be addressed.

We also need to ensure that the energy suppliers are open and honest about the profits they are making, so I have also asked Ofgem to deliver, again by spring next year, a full report on the transparency of the financial accounts of the energy companies and ways in which that could be improved, building on the work already completed by accountancy firm BDO.

Ofgem will publish its consultation on financial transparency this afternoon, but the public need to know that our reforms will have teeth and that companies that play outside the rules will be penalised and fined. With our Energy Bill, Ofgem now has powers to require energy companies to make compensation payments directly to consumers who have lost out, but today I want to go further. That is why I intend to consult on the introduction of criminal sanctions for anyone found manipulating energy markets and harming the consumer interest.

Ours is a record of delivery and action. As set out in the annual energy statement—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Order. The remainder of the statement must be heard. Matters are not greatly assisted by the fact that the statement is over-long. Frankly, a blue pencil should have been deployed, as statements should take no longer than 10 minutes, but we must let the Secretary of State trundle towards his conclusion.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

I am concluding, Mr Speaker.

As set out in the annual statement, the Government are acting to help those most in need to keep warm this winter and ensure that everybody gets a better deal from the energy companies. We are also acting to deal with Labour’s energy crunch, filling in its energy black hole with home-grown energy and bringing stability and certainty to drive investment. That is our strategy for affordable energy security, a strategy to power the country, protect the planet and help keep bills affordable. I commend the statement to the House.

UK Nuclear Energy Programme

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Monday 21st October 2013

(10 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Barry Gardiner Portrait Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

How much of the £16 billion of construction costs will the developers of Hinkley Point C be able to offset in tax reliefs and capital allowances? Does the Secretary of State consider it ironic that EDF has insisted on an insurance clause against his own party’s future policy by stipulating that the strike price will rise to reflect any future tax on or shutdown of the industry? While he is at it, will he explain why the strike price for the Flamanville sister plant in France is only £64—some 30% of the £92.50 he has negotiated?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I think that the hon. Gentleman should seek an Adjournment debate on the matter; in fact, on reflection, I think he has already had it.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I said in my statement that the UK taxpayer can expect to gain £4.5 billion in corporation tax as a result of this, paid for by the investors, but it is even better than that; I have some very good news for the hon. Gentleman. Because we wanted to make sure that these companies could not rearrange their tax affairs after the deal and somehow reduce the tax funds that we were expecting to come to Her Majesty’s Treasury, we undertook a very unusual clause in our deal to make sure that, should they do exotic tax deals to shelter their tax liabilities, the strike price will reflect that and be adjusted downwards. That is how far we have gone to make sure that the taxpayer and the consumer are protected.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 17th October 2013

(10 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
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With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to group this question with several others.

I am taking many steps to help, which come under three broad categories—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Order. I think the Secretary of State is seeking to group this question with Questions 6 and 18. I understand the concept of the broad brush, but it can be taken a bit far. We need greater specificity.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

As always, I am very grateful for your advice, Mr Speaker, as I am sure the House is, too.

I will start again. I am taking many steps to help households with their energy bills. Those steps come under three broad categories: first, direct help for millions of people, with money off their bills and money to help to pay their bills, through the warm home discount, winter fuel payments and cold weather payments; secondly, energy efficiency, to help people to cut their bills by wasting less energy, through the energy company obligation, the green deal and smart meters; and thirdly, competition. I am intervening to make electricity and gas markets in the UK ever more competitive, so that energy companies cannot exploit people through market power.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 11th July 2013

(10 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and his colleagues from Cornwall, who have been true champions for green energy and the impact that will have on jobs and the economy in Cornwall. He will know that I have already visited Cornwall, but I am very keen to visit again because it is such a powerhouse behind our low-carbon economy.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I call Caroline Flint—[Interruption.] Caroline Flint?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 6th June 2013

(10 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for her constituents in villages, helping them with community halls and so on. I am aware of this issue—it is not just grants from the lottery, but grants from elsewhere in government that prevent installation of micro-technology receiving feed-in tariffs under the Ofgem scheme. This matter has been raised by a number of hon. Members and I hope we are able to look at it in due course.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The Secretary of State does not have to compete with Back Benchers. There is no obligation for the answer to be as long as the question.

Andrew Gwynne Portrait Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Earlier, the Minister mentioned that the Government’s policies would result in energy bills being about 7% lower, but is that not correct only if people go out and buy new energy-efficient TVs, washing machines, dishwashers and combi gas boilers, and that if people do not their bills will actually be higher under this Government?

Petrol Prices

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Wednesday 15th May 2013

(10 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Despite the fact that the Government have cut and frozen fuel duty, prices at the pump have gone up by 60% since 2009. Last year a motion for a full OFT inquiry into price fixing by oil companies was passed unanimously in the House. We were approached by a whistleblower who suggested that the things we have seen over the past two days had been going on. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the OFT carried out a limp-wristed, lettuce-like inquiry, when it should have made a full 18-month inquiry into what has been going on? Does he also agree that if proved true, this is a national scandal for the oil companies concerned, and the Government should look at changing the law and put people in prison for fixing oil prices? This has caused misery for millions of motorists up and down the country. Finally, if the accusations are proved, will he impose harsh penalties on all oil companies involved and give the billions of pounds in penalties back to the motorist?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I have been generous with the hon. Gentleman, which I hope the House will realise, but I cannot help but feel that his appetite would be satisfied only by a full day’s debate on the matter. He will have to make do with what he has had so far.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s questions, and I pay tribute to the way he has campaigned on this issue. He has made a big impact in the House and we have reacted to his campaigns with respect to fuel duty—something the Labour party never did. The OFT is a strong, independent body. It has powers and carried out its investigation. It received a call for information and it is responding to that. It made some warnings. As my hon. Friend knows, it was concerned about a number of areas, not least the transparency of petrol and diesel prices at motorway service stations, which I referred to in my statement. I know that as a result of that, my hon. Friend—indeed, the whole House—will be concerned to ensure that any evidence is put before the European Commission and the UK competition authorities. If any Members of the House or members of the public have such information, I call on them to pass it to the competition authorities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 14th March 2013

(11 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. We are grateful; we have got the gist.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question. I have seen that letter. He will know that there is a case, which I have supported, for bringing this forward and setting a target in 2014, but we have reached an agreement across the coalition. I think it is a very sensible agreement, because we are the first Government ever to propose setting a decarbonisation target. I think we should be proud of that. Rather than talking it down, the Opposition should realise that we have moved further and faster than they did.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 13th December 2012

(11 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

With respect, I did answer the question. It involves something called competition. On this side of the House, we understand competition and how it supports consumers. I have to say to Opposition Members that an awful lot of people were asking the last Labour Government why they did not sort out the multitude of tariffs that were creating complexity and confusion and getting in the way of competition. Through our simplification, we are helping the most vulnerable people and those who have been on dead tariffs and paying far too much for their energy, but we are also ensuring that competition can deliver for our economy.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I call Jim McGovern. He is not here.

Ann McKechin Portrait Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

23. The Secretary of State will be aware that Scottish and Southern Energy has indicated that pre-payment customers will now be able to enjoy the same rates as other customers. Is he going to persuade the other suppliers to do exactly the same?

--- Later in debate ---
Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
- Hansard - -

First, I thank the right hon. Lady for saying she will look at our statement carefully. I know that her colleague, the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Tom Greatrex), wrote to my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden when he was a Minister to set out the Opposition’s conditions. I believe that when the Opposition study the written ministerial statement—we gave a copy to the right hon. Lady before this Question Time, but she should have a chance to examine it—they will see that we have met all the conditions.

The right hon. Lady’s main question was on prices. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden that we should not bet the farm on shale gas. I am absolutely clear that the most responsible and sensible way forward for energy policy is to have a diverse set of resources and sources for our energy. Some of the press and commentariat have got very excited about the possibility of gas prices falling, but the independent analysis and the International Energy Agency findings do not necessarily support that.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

Order. This may be a suitable subject for a full-day debate, but the answers must not take that form. We are grateful to the Secretary of State for his recognition of that important point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 1st November 2012

(11 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I am sorry if I have disappointed my hon. Friend by my presence at the Dispatch Box. She will know that Ministers do not comment on particular planning applications, but I have made it absolutely clear, working with the Department for Communities and Local Government, that the planning system needs to be more responsive to local communities. I personally launched the consultation on trying to get greater community benefits for communities who host renewable sites. I hope that she will, with her experience, contribute to that consultation process, which is very important in ensuring that communities who host these sites can gain a real benefit.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I understand the temptations, but may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to face the House in answering questions, not to look backwards at the hon. Member who happens to be asking the question?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 8th March 2012

(12 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is leading on our preparations for Rio. I know she will want other senior Ministers to accompany her.



Royal Assent

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Just before we move on to the business question, I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that Her Majesty has signified her Royal Assent to the following Acts:

Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2012

Live Music Act 2012

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims (Amendment) Act 2012

Welfare Reform Act 2012

Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012

Bank of Ireland (UK) plc Act 2012.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 8th December 2011

(12 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I think we have got the thrust of it.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I am very grateful for my hon. Friend’s question. She will be aware that her constituents in this village share their concerns about postcode issues with many other residents in many other constituencies across the UK. I have raised this matter in the past with Royal Mail, and it believes that the costs of changing its systems would be disproportionate. Of course I will raise her point, but I do not want to raise her expectations.

The Economy

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Tuesday 6th December 2011

(12 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Given that that comes from a former Treasury Minister in a Government who often got their figures wrong, I do not think that the OBR needs to listen to that. It is absolutely clear that the Labour party is taking the OBR’s figures seriously. It is significant that we can at last have a debate without the numbers being the issue—without the spin and the game playing that so debased the House’s deliberations in the past. The Labour party’s acceptance—grudging or otherwise—of our or the OBR’s forecasts presents Labour Members with a problem. Why do they not accept the underlying explanation of the OBR’s forecasts?

This House has heard that the OBR’s forecasts changed not because the Government’s policy has gone wrong, but because of three reasons outside this Government’s control: imported inflation, with higher oil and commodity prices; the huge uncertainty caused by problems in the eurozone; and, finally, the boom and bust that Labour once arrogantly told us they had abolished, which was worse under Labour than anyone had previously thought. The Labour party has to face up to this reality, yet the shadow Chancellor did not. This Government have, and have made the difficult choices in doing so.

Our strategy of loose monetary policy and fiscal consolidation, backed with some of the most ambitious supply-side reforms in generations, was not just right when we first announced it after the election; it is right now. Indeed, recent events have given even stronger confirmation that it is right. That is why, despite the changed forecast, our interest rates remain so low while countries all around us have seen their credit rating slashed, downgraded or put on negative watch. The markets have shown their confidence in the UK with the interest on our debt falling to historic lows.

In what was probably the most remarkable part of today’s debate, the shadow Chancellor was astonishingly dismissive of the low interest rates and our achievements. Never mind that Italy and Spain have seen their rates shoot above 6% while ours have fallen towards 2%; never mind the benefit to mortgage holders, businesses and taxpayers of that achievement. The shadow Chancellor seems to believe that the UK is in a liquidity trap—despite the fact that we have a credible central bank, despite the fact that quantitative easing has been judged effective and despite the major credit easing announced in the autumn statement. In the early 1930s, ahead of Keynesian rearmament, a monetary expansion with low rates combined with fiscal consolidation produced a significant recovery. Is that not the lesson from history that the shadow Chancellor simply has not learned?

Of course, we could have opted for another growth policy—some call it plan B—involving unfunded tax cuts, more borrowing and more spending. The details of that are never clear, but the consequences are higher interest rates. [Interruption.] Labour positions itself as the party of high interest rates, although a 1% rise in market interest rates adds £10 billion to mortgage bills—meaning that the average family with a mortgage will pay £1,000 more—and increases business rates by £7 billion and taxpayers’ costs by £21 billion. That would be the price of Labour government. [Interruption.]

I have looked around Europe for Governments or mainstream political parties that have opted for a policy such as plan B, but they are in short supply. Other Governments are now having to address their budget deficits—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. Far too many private conversations are taking place in the Chamber. Let us hear the Minister.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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Other Governments, faced with rising interest rates on their debts, are now having to address their budget deficits. Often they are having to cut deeper than us. It is true that our deficit reduction, at 3.7% of GDP over the next four years, is the third highest in the G7. After all, in 2007 our structural deficit was the highest in the G7. Yet Italy is now making much deeper cuts, and France too is planning deeper cuts. Our deficit reduction is of course significantly less than that of Greece, Ireland, Portugal or Spain, so we will not be opting for plan B as suggested by the Labour party.

We heard many excellent speeches from Members in all parts of the House. I particularly commend those of my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr Tyrie) and of the hon. the Members for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith) and for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), all of whom referred to the importance of the supply-side reforms. The hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon mentioned the important employment law reforms which, I believe, will make a big difference to our efforts to return people to work, and the hon. Member for Newton Abbot spoke of the importance of ensuring that regulation was cut for micro-businesses. I can tell the hon. Lady that we are achieving that now, even at European level.

We also heard good speeches on the importance of infrastructure investment from the hon. Members for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins), for Ochil and South Perthshire (Gordon Banks) and for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin), and from the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling). The significance of the infrastructure plans that we announced in the autumn statement is that they are well advanced, and some are even shovel-ready, so the problems that the shadow Chancellor worried about do not pertain.

This was an important debate. For once, it was not about the figures in the economic forecasts and the Budget questions. Thanks to the innovation of the Office for Budget Responsibility, it focused largely on analysis—although at times the analysis presented by the shadow Chancellor was more theoretical than academic—and it sharpened the differences between the coalition and the Opposition. While the Government are focused on keeping interest rates low, Labour’s priority is to spend and borrow more. While this Government—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 14th July 2011

(12 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I strongly support the sentiments behind my hon. Friend’s question. He will know that the report of Lord Mervyn Davies encourages chairmen and chief executives to publish their aspirations and to have a strategy for their aspirations to have more women on boards. When we consult on the future of narrative reporting, we want to consult on the proposal to make the top FTSE 350 companies disclose their performance, including on women on boards.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Earlier in this question session, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills lamented the absence of his colleague, the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, and referred to the increased burden on him by virtue of that absence. I thought I would share with the House the very courteous letter received from the Minister of State, the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), who wrote earlier this week as follows:

“Dear Mr Speaker, My apologies for not being present for either DfE or BIS questions as I am abroad on Government business. I hope that your disappointment is as great as mine at the missed opportunities for a heady mix of scrutiny and theatre beloved by we connoisseurs of such things.”

Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Wednesday 4th May 2011

(12 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Julian Lewis Portrait Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
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Does the Minister agree that one reason why the Duke of York has considerable credibility is his distinguished record as a former member of the Fleet Air Arm who gave valuable service in the Falklands war? That shows a degree of commitment over and above any inherited responsibilities that he might be considered to have.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. We must take great care, and care has not been taken sufficiently on this front, to avoid straying into matters of conduct that render someone suitable or not suitable for a particular role. I believe I am right in saying that “Erskine May” is clear that matters may be raised only on a substantive motion and such matters include the conduct of the sovereign, which we shall therefore strive to avoid discussing.

Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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The duke is not paid for the work that he does in this role. UK Trade & Investment pays for the costs of UK-based and overseas visits undertaken by the duke and his supporting staff, and these visits are undertaken in agreement with UKTI and are in support of UKTI objectives. Let me give an indication of the cost of these visits. In 2008-09, the costs amounted to just over £149,000 and just over £154,000 in 2009-10, and the flights are paid for by the royal travel budget. I believe that these activities represent excellent value for money.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 31st March 2011

(12 years, 12 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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The hon. Lady was not listening to the answer that I gave a few moments ago to her colleague, the hon. Member for Glasgow East (Margaret Curran). The Government are working hard with the OECD taskforce on tax and development, because we want greater transparency in the reporting of profits and tax.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Liz Kendall. Not here.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 17th February 2011

(13 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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I share my hon. Friend’s interest in red post boxes, so I visited the British postal museum and archive only last week, and I can tell him that Britain’s post boxes were originally green, but the public complained that they were too camouflaged, so chocolate brown was tried instead. That colour required too much paint, however, so we ended up with red, and we are on the fifth shade of red. I can also tell my hon. Friend that it would cost almost £1.7 million to repaint the nation’s 115,000 post boxes, and given that Royal Mail has 300 litres of red paint in stock I think he can sleep easily in his bed at night about the colour of our post boxes.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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We have now learned more about post boxes and the Minister’s travel plans and personal interests, for which we are grateful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ed Davey and John Bercow
Thursday 3rd June 2010

(13 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ed Davey Portrait Mr Davey
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rose—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. Just before the hon. Gentleman replies from the Dispatch Box, I should say that I know he will want to keep his answer within order, and that as far as I am aware, the Conservative party is not a public sector body.