Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justin Tomlinson and Matt Western

Tuesday 16th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

That is absolutely understood. As set out in the spring Budget, the Government are working with Ofgem and network companies to release more network capacity and to prevent speculative projects from obtaining and retaining network capacity. That, alongside faster network infrastructure delivery, should result in more capacity across the country and help to reduce any clustering of generation projects.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

National grid infrastructure is critical to the delivery and connection of these solar farms, as it is for onshore and offshore wind. The importance and urgency of that was stressed by the Winser review of August last year. The Government have got until 2030 to deliver this policy. Will the Minister update us on the transmission acceleration action plan?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The hon. Member is spot on. We are proud to have gone from 7% renewable energy to 47%. To go further, we must hit those ambitious targets by unlocking additional investment. For example, through the accelerating strategic transmission investment process, we anticipate unlocking a further £198 billion of investment by 2030. Alongside the changes I have already set out, that will be key to getting that extra power generated through solar.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justin Tomlinson and Matt Western

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

Auto-enrolment is a success, with 10 million new savers, and we intend to lower the starting age from 22 to 18 and remove the lower earnings limit.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking to ensure that disabled people can access the social security benefits to which they are entitled.