Oral Answers to Questions

Huw Irranca-Davies Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

My right hon. Friend picks up on an issue that is of great interest across the House. We are making good progress on the discussions about a green investment bank, and an announcement will be made shortly. We see this as a fundamental building block for bringing new investment into an area which is a massive driver for economic growth and recovery in this country.

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

The Government have very warm intentions for community engagement through the Localism Bill, although The Daily Telegraph has today rather cruelly portrayed it as “bribes for windfarms”. Mike Landy, who is very well respected and has 25 years of experience of renewables internationally, says:

“It is hard to see how the UK’s target of 15% renewable energy by 2020 can be achieved without a significant contribution from onshore wind. The localism bill has all the makings of a NIMBY Charter...there is a distinct danger we could be heading towards BANANA—Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything”.

So I have a straightforward question: what will be the average time taken for an onshore wind farm application by the end of this Government?

[Charles Hendry]

We are determined to stop the top-down approach that was taken by the previous Administration. We believe it is imperative that local communities should have an active engagement in the siting of big facilities in their communities, and the changes we are making will give them greater discretion. We will stop the regional spatial targets and strategies, but put in place significant benefits so that communities can see how they benefit from hosting a facility on behalf of the national interest instead of seeing it as something that is imposed on them, as at present.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gregory Barker]

I think I can reassure my right hon. Friend that his concerns are misplaced, and that the ministerial team is absolutely united in supporting an ambitious roll-out of renewables. The current feed-in tariff scheme for microgeneration would add something like £8 to the total energy bill of the average household by 2030, which means that it is not getting out of control in any way, shape or form. However, we have to be prudent.

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

Labour’s feed-in tariffs have created thousands of green jobs and real growth in the nascent microgeneration power sector, which now hang in the balance because of the Government’s panicked response to the narrow issue of solar parks. They are bringing forward an early review that throws the healthy baby out with the bathwater, jeopardising schemes for community housing, hospitals and schools. When the Secretary of State stood on the doorstep of Sharp in Wrexham a fortnight ago and announced the potential for 300 new jobs in British solar photovoltaics manufacturing, had he already made the decision to cut the legs away from under the emerging solar manufacturing and installation industry? Did he tell the managing director and the work force?

[Gregory Barker]

We know that the Labour party is a party of deficit deniers, who are in denial about their record. They are obviously also in denial about the potential costs of unchecked solar. We want to create a sustainable framework for long-term investment that is good for the industry. That is why we are fast-tracking the review and will improve the imperfect system that we inherited from Labour to make a much safer and securer platform for long-term green growth.