Infrastructure Bill [Lords]

Debate between Julian Huppert and Lord Barker of Battle

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Dr Huppert]

I thank the Minister for his intervention, although I am not sure whether he is asking me to answer; I certainly have not modelled what the shadow Minister would like to do.

I am very frustrated that it looks as though we shall have to choose between two options, both of which are deficient, and that we shall not have the chance to vote on the stronger proposals that I would much prefer.

[Gregory Barker]

I rise to support the Government on these crucial amendments and to congratulate the Minister on very deft handling of an issue that is difficult because it is complex and technical, and because there are some extreme opinions on the matter, some of which are based on ideology rather than technology or science. I commend her efforts to try to find a middle way and reach a broad consensus.

I was encouraged by the stance taken by the Opposition through most of the passage of the Bill. They behaved responsibly, taking the important role of opposition seriously and scrutinising the Bill, and offering up amendments and criticisms that they thought were valid. However, I am very disappointed that the Opposition in the Lords and back here again are trying to have their cake and eat it. They are trying to hunt with the hounds and with the hare.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Huppert and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 19th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

There are choices to be made. We are pressing ahead with an ambitious roll-out of energy efficiency measures, and targeting the fuel poor in particular through the ECO. As I said earlier, figures released this morning show that nearly 700,000 people have been helped since the launch of the ECO and green deal programme. However, we also have a responsibility to all energy bill payers, and we chose to reduce people’s energy bills. The hon. Gentleman clearly places Labour on the side of higher energy bills for all hard-working families, but I am afraid that, in our judgment, we need to bear down on the cost of living.

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

4. What progress he has made in increasing investment in low-carbon electricity projects.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Huppert and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 13th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

21. Whether it is his policy to include a decarbonisation target in the Energy Bill.

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

The coalition Government are absolutely committed to achieving substantial cuts in carbon from our electricity sector by 2030; that is entirely consistent with the targets set out in the Climate Change Act 2008. We have also announced that we will take a power to set a legally binding decarbonisation target for the electricity sector specifically as a Government amendment to the Energy Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gregory Barker]

I am afraid that I could not disagree more. If we look at the people who will be putting billions of pounds into decarbonisation, and if we consider what the industry is now saying, we can see that there is genuine transparency, longevity and certainty as a result of the Energy Bill. I understand the concerns of WWF, but now we have published the Bill the need for additional legislation to give certainty falls away. As I said, we will consider the need for a decarbonisation target as part of setting the fifth carbon budget for 2028 to 2032, which will happen in 2016.

[Dr Huppert]

I agree that certainty is needed for investors, and I hear that from the Cambridge cleantech cluster and others. I very much welcome the proposed power for the Secretary of State to set a target, but would the Minister support the Secretary of State in setting such a target?

[Gregory Barker]

I can assure my hon. Friend that there is a unanimous view among DECC Ministers. We think there is significant merit in a target, but the right time to decide whether we should set one and what it should be will be when we set the fifth carbon budget, which has to be done by June 2016. I reiterate that investor certainty, which was not there before we published the Bill, is now there in spades. I think we can all move forward and look to a future full of investment in a very exciting sector.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julian Huppert and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

12. What support he plans to provide for Cambridge retrofit and other schemes to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

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

I am very glad to report that my Department is already working closely with the Cambridge retrofit project, which is just the sort of ambitious city-wide retrofit programme the green deal is designed to support.

[Dr Huppert]

I thank the Minister for that comment. The Cambridge retrofit is an excellent programme that will make a huge difference. How will the Government ensure stability of energy and climate policies in the long term, so that investors are willing to put finance into major schemes such as the Cambridge retrofit?

[Gregory Barker]

My hon. Friend raises a good point. We know what investors want. They want TLC—transparency, longevity and certainty. Unlike previous short-term or stop-go policies, such as the carbon emissions reduction target and the community energy saving programme, the green deal is designed to run well into the 2020s, giving investors exactly the sort of longevity and certainty they need.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gregory Barker]

We have now put the whole solar industry on a much more stable foundation. We shall shortly be publishing our plans for a feed-in tariff system that really can go forward into the next decade and beyond, with a real sense of ambition. It is affordable, it is ambitious and it will bring real clarity to the industry.

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

T9. Earlier, the Secretary of State mentioned the excellent Which? big switch scheme to save people money. What I particularly like about it is the fact that it is based on co-operative action—individuals choosing voluntarily to work together rather than a statist top-down approach. Does my right hon. Friend share that view and what support was he able to give?

Feed-in Tariffs

Debate between Julian Huppert and Lord Barker of Battle

Monday 31st October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

That is absolute rubbish. There is no subsidy for nuclear power.

[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

I share people’s concerns about the suddenness of the change and the effect on individuals and organisations that were already planning solar installations between December and April and had budgeted appropriately. One example is Ridgefield, a new primary school in my constituency. Will the Minister consider carefully whether exemptions could be made for deserving cases such as that?

[Gregory Barker]

I am afraid it is just not possible to make exemptions in such a system. We need to drive down the cost of solar. We will achieve that by ensuring that people do not price to the tariff but are incentivised to bring down costs. We need to ensure that the fall in costs internationally is passed on to consumers and that the industry does not continue to price to the tariff.