Onshore Wind Bill [HL]

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to take the Second Reading of the Onshore Wind Bill today, as it brings me and your Lordships’ House back in touch with my noble friend Lady Worthington. She is my mentor and immediate predecessor as Labour’s Front-Bench shadow Energy Minister in this House.

I mention this as, in 2015, she and I had to handle the Energy Bill, as it then was, when the Cameron Conservative Government took on UKIP clothes and effectively killed onshore wind, along with the UK solar industry, as part of the UK’s future energy mix. It turned the dial back on the necessary transformation of the energy market, undermined consumer and investor confidence at the stroke of a pen and denied so many the opportunity to be able to do their bit through solar panels to provide renewable energy to the grid. But for these missteps, would we be in a better place now in this climate emergency? The mindset is certainly slow to change.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, explained the Bill very ably, stressing the importance of onshore wind being in the right place and being the cheapest form of renewable energy generation. From these Benches, Labour believes that renewables will play the dominant role in our energy mix into the future.

Yesterday, the House debated the outcome of COP 26. The climate emergency is such an existential threat that we cannot afford to reject viable zero-carbon sources of power. This party is determined to provide much greater support for renewables. The Government must stop blocking onshore wind with their planning rules and should invest in wind-power jobs through a green industrial strategy.

That is why I mentioned yesterday Labour’s green investment pledge to invest £28 billion extra every year until 2030 to create the greener, fairer country that we need. This includes a national mission to insulate every home and make EV cars and hydrogen transport more affordable, creating the well-paid jobs in new industries like renewables and helping to transform existing industries, such as steel, to make the climate transition to rebuild our communities. We need to go faster along this pathway, cutting a substantial majority of carbon emissions by 2030. This is indeed the decisive decade for climate action.

The Conservative moratorium on onshore wind and solar PV needs to move on. Official figures show a loss of 33,800 direct jobs and a further 41,400 jobs in a supply chain for low-carbon and renewable sectors between 2014 and 2019. Thousands of jobs have been lost in solar, onshore wind, renewable electricity and bioenergy as well as in the energy-efficiency sector. The energy-innovation progression needs to be regenerated.

The Library’s helpful briefing for this debate highlights that, between 2016 and 2020, there has been a 96% decrease in planning applications for onshore wind developments. In October, the trade body RenewableUK published a report that found that planning authorities are approving just over 600 megawatts a year of onshore wind on average—well short of the 1.25 gigawatts needed to remain on track to hit the UK’s climate goals. RenewableUK said that substantial investment by 2030 in viable onshore wind would cut household bills by £25 a year, create 27,000 jobs and help in more rural areas.

The Climate Change Committee has said that the UK needs to install up to 35 gigawatts of onshore wind capacity by 2035, as part of the drive to hit the UK’s net-zero emissions targets by 2050. At present, the UK has about 14 gigawatts of onshore wind, with most of it installed in Scotland. Planning regimes vary in the devolved Administrations, with England being the most heavily restricted. The National Planning Policy Framework, last updated in July, says that proposals for onshore wind cannot go ahead unless objections from the local community have been fully addressed. Can the Minister clarify whether this means that it should be unanimous?

He will know that the Government’s December 2020 energy White Paper said that onshore wind is one of the

“key building blocks of the future generation mix”.

Following constant pressure, it is welcome that onshore wind is now allowed to bid for contracts for difference payments and may now compete in the next allocation round from next month—December 2021.

Mentions of onshore wind were extremely scarce in the Net Zero Strategy. The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, has quoted the main policy announcements:

“40GW of offshore wind by 2030, with more onshore, solar, and other renewables – with a new approach to onshore and offshore electricity networks to incorporate new low carbon generation and demand in the most efficient manner that takes account of the needs of local communities like those in East Anglia.”


Today’s Bill would force the Government to change their planning guidance, which they could do anyway without legislation if they so choose. Can the Minister tell the House what net zero adds up to? What is his Government’s view?

Green Gas Support Scheme Regulations 2021

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I have come to learn rather than to criticise or analyse in much depth. I was on the Select Committee on energy in the other place and I have tried to keep up to date with developments. I congratulate my noble friend on the fact that, according to his statement, we are the first in the world to go down this track.

My questions are really exploratory. I looked particularly at page 70 of the extensive documentation. First, I have a question about energy crops. It seems that if we are starting in a new area, the bringing together of waste collection is quite a challenge, whereas energy crops by definition are probably on a 12-month cycle. Therefore, the 50% limitation that is mentioned here, while probably the right strategy in the medium term, seems a bit of wishful thinking, certainly in the initial stages. You have to have energy crops to get the thing going.

Secondly, what is the estimated time required to set up any of these plants? Are we talking about a year, 18 months or two years? That is fairly key.

Thirdly, there is the question of the intermix of the gas provided by this route alongside gas from the North Sea. As far as I can see—I have not done an in-depth analysis—there is no reference to this. Is there complete compatibility or does there need to be treatment one way or the other to ensure compatibility in the mix of gases going into the grid?

There is another area that concerns me. Like so many others, I was previously in local government. How will we ensure that local government waste collections collect food waste and other waste suitable to feed these new plants? I do not know the proportions, but at this point in time we in central Bedfordshire are separating only recyclable and non-recyclable waste. I do not know what is happening in the rest of the country, and an update on that would be very helpful.

I thank my noble friend for taking this forward; it is crucially important. I will do my very best to help him on the journey forward.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for his explanation of the regulations before the Committee. They are important, because they establish the new green gas support scheme as a replacement for the renewable heat incentive, which closed to new applicants on 31 March this year. This scheme will begin on 1 April 2022, with a reach back to the scheme’s launch date, due to be 30 November this year.

This new scheme is for new deployment and excludes equipment and plants used to register under the RHI scheme, so can the Minister confirm that there will be no crossover of payments between the schemes and that there is therefore little likelihood of much new biomethane coming forward, certainly during the retrospective six months but also for some time to come as new plants come on stream? How soon, and in what number, does the Minister’s department expect applications for new plants to be built and come on stream? It would appear to be quite quickly, as payments will last for only 15 years in a scheme of 19 years until 2041. I presume that the department has confidence in the speed of decision-making, the planning process and the construction phase, all of which will need to go smoothly to encourage speedy deployment.

I must also admit to having some déjà vu moments as I read through the details of the scheme, with recollections of how Conservative Governments regarded such schemes in the past. When I read under paragraph 7.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum that tariff rates

“will be set at a level that aims to encourage continued deployment and ensure value for money”,

and, then, under the very next paragraph, that

“a degression mechanism … will reduce tariffs if certain triggers are met”,

I recall the devastating cutbacks introduced by the Conservative Cameron Government, which slashed support for wind and solar, devastating the industry and undermining investor confidence so tragically. The misprint in paragraph 7.4—

“compromise of an annual tariff review”—

only underlines the impression that undermining support for deployment, especially in conjunction with some sort of levy control framework coming back disguised as a budget cap, will be another feature of this scheme.

It also suggests that few lessons have been learned by the Government. The levy control framework became a politicised mechanism that defied industry understanding and eventually had to be scrapped. Can the Minister give more details today to give confidence that the balance between encouraging deployment and payback to investors will not suddenly lurch towards ill-defined value-for-money analysis being undertaken at the stroke of the department’s pen? Those lost years after those experiences for the solar industry, as well the jobs that were lost, have contributed to the climate emergency that is yet to be recognised fully across government.

Continuing further into the details, I commend the Government on the impact assessment accompanying the regulations. It gave greater insight into the set-up of the scheme and the changes from the RHI regime. This scheme will mandate biomethane producers to produce at least 50% of their biomethane from waste. On page 70 of the impact assessment, the full feedstock energy mix is identified, with 50% of the waste expected to be food waste. Can the Minister confirm whether there is a full definition of food waste that includes food waste in all its various unfortunate and distinguishing forms? My understanding is that this refers not merely to restaurant, domestic household and other post-consumption end-of-the-food-chain waste. It should also include waste that does not even reach the food chain, such as food being rejected or suddenly no longer wanted by supermarkets; this can befall farmers and growers, especially in salad crops and vegetables.

Has the Minister’s department worked closely with colleagues at Defra who are working to reduce food waste through recycling schemes and local authorities? Can he also say what analysis has been undertaken by the department to consider the effects on the renewable fuel obligation undertaken by the Department for Transport, which reuses cooking oils?

I am not aware of the definitions and analysis of “food waste” under the RHI scheme, but I remember that, at one time, miscanthus growing was an important feature of biomethane production plants. In the department’s analysis, maize is the next important feedstock, at 20%, along with agricultural waste. However, I note, under “Non-monetised costs and benefits”, which the Minister mentioned in his opening remarks, the effect on the rural economy. The analysis states that

“two thirds of … plants are located in rural areas, with 80% of all GB plants located in areas with a lower than average GVA.”

I welcome the positive effect that this will have on rural areas. I also note that many properties are not on the gas grid in these rural areas.

Net-zero Emissions Target: Fossil Fuel Extraction Projects

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. We are indeed following the advice of the Climate Change Committee, which has accepted the need for oil and gas as we proceed to net zero. I remind the noble Baroness that we have the fastest decarbonisation rate of any G7 country. So we are proceeding on the path to decarbonisation, but is unrealistic to expect that we can just turn off the oil and gas supplies tomorrow.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

The Energy Charter Treaty is allowing major fossil fuel investors to challenge the right of Governments to take the action required to reach net zero. During COP 26 this week, does the Minister consider that the UK should be leading the urgency to decarbonise the Energy Charter Treaty and remove the investor protections it provides in relation to fossil fuels?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The UK is indeed engaged in the process to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty to ensure that it is aligned with our climate objective and advances UK and global energy transition. So, through our COP 26 presidency we are working closely with global leaders to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, including supporting the accelerated phase-out of coal and the wider decarbonisation of the energy sector.

Climate Change: Trade Policy

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Thursday 28th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

My Lords, I am happy to repeat again from this Dispatch Box our commitment to maintaining very high standards of animal welfare, and of course food safety, in relation to free trade agreements. I do not fully agree with the points the noble Lord makes. We do seek to secure these points in free trade agreements, as I said earlier, and we are absolutely committed to upholding the UK’s high environmental standards when we negotiate our free trade agreements.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

Many countries are moving forward with proposals for carbon border taxes to address the emissions caused by their imports. The Government have said precious little about this. As COP approaches, does the Minister agree that the UK needs to show leadership in these proposals, not least as the UK has the highest rate of imported carbon in the G7? What proposals are the Government bringing forward?

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

My Lords, as we transition to net zero, of course the UK recognises the importance of addressing the risk of carbon leakage to ensure that our ambitious policy of decarbonisation is not undermined. We have ambitious carbon pricing through our emissions trading schemes, and we have committed to review this to ensure that it is consistent with our net-zero pathway and carbon priceable mechanisms.

Exports to Africa

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Thursday 28th October 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Popat, for bringing the important subject of trade with African countries to the attention of the House. With his Ugandan background, he has many notable insights, as Africa continues to present huge challenges to the world from both its colonial past and its own internal problems.

African countries are vastly different from each other in so many ways, including in religion, culture, terrain, economy, development and relationships. In its new status since leaving the EU, with continuity agreements, interim associations or new agreements, Britain now has eight trade agreements with Africa. On the face of it, that is perhaps not a huge number, yet trade between the UK and these countries was worth just under £17 billion in 2019, almost 49% of total African trade that year. Some £11 billion, two-thirds of that £17 billion in trade, was with South Africa, a Commonwealth partner and the UK’s biggest trading partner on the continent. However, this is but a mere 1.2% of all UK trade in 2019.

The Government’s stated ambition is for the UK to be the biggest G7 investor into Africa by 2022—not very far away—on the basis of its post-Brexit ability to agree trade deals and Britain’s historic ties with many African countries. The Government are a long way from achieving that ambition. Indeed, Africa is not just a small part of UK trade, it is a shrinking destination for the UK, with UK goods exports to the whole continent accounting for only 2.6% of total UK goods exports in 2019, down from 4.1% in 2012. Does the Minister have a clear understanding of why that has happened?

We have heard of the many challenges throughout this debate. The fading attraction of UK trade is illustrated by the fact that only 16 of Africa’s 54 heads of state or Government attended the January 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, compared with the dozens who attended the Russia-Africa Summit that year and attend China’s regular trade summits.

As my noble friend Lord Boateng, chair of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, has said, we have a lot of catching up to do if we are to make the most of what is an historic opportunity to recast the relationship between Africa and the UK away from it being seen solely as a philanthropic exercise, to an opportunity that requires investment, risk-taking and support from the Government for British companies. Can the Minister say what is going to change?

The UK-Africa Investment Summit in January this year was a high-profile beginning to the effort to increase trade and investment significantly. Concerted follow-up will be required. Can the Minister set out the steps that the Government are taking in this respect? The Government provided a detailed response to your Lordships’ International Relations and Defence Committee’s report last year, recognising the challenge as

“a long-term and cross-Government endeavour.”

There were many misgivings that the Government’s merging of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the Department for International Development to form the FCDO could work effectively to recognise both the need for aid to encourage development and entrepreneurial relationships to encourage trade. Can the Minister say how his department, the Department for International Trade, is supporting and working with this new department to encourage as a priority throughout potential trading communities that benefits will accrue and be shared with all citizens who create wealth and not merely the top African leaders?

There is also much that Africa needs to do itself to encourage trade, especially around its governance and regulations. Infrastructure in energy, water, communications and logistics should be improved to attract investment. There is much that can be facilitated by the UK. In the final week before COP 26 in Glasgow, that transformation must also include measures to reduce carbon emissions and increase resilience and adaptation to climate change. In its report, your Lordships’ International Relations and Defence Committee also called on the Government to extend their announcement that they will no longer invest in new coal mining, by going further and committing to ceasing all promotion and credit funding of fossil fuel investments. Can the Minister clarify the Government’s position on this?

Finally, the world is still in the grip of a Covid pandemic. While the Government have, to date, committed generous funding to the global COVAX scheme, they have yet to agree the WTO approach to suspending intellectual property protections. A waiver of vaccine patents is one necessary step towards boosting the global vaccine rollout. Many of us put forward a 10-point plan to boost global vaccines to encourage production and distribution. Can the Minister say in his reply to this debate what proposals the Government are now considering to enhance the COVAX scheme?

Cotton Imports

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

For the first part of my noble friend’s question, I refer to the answer I gave previously. On investment generally, we continue to pursue a positive economic relationship with China and we think that it is in our interests to increase trade with China. As an open economy, we welcome trade and investment; however, as I have said on many occasions, we are not so stupid as to welcome harmful investment from China.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

During the pandemic, the Government purchased PPE from companies facing modern slavery allegations. As Covid cases sadly begin to climb again, can the Minister say how Her Majesty’s Government will ensure that NHS contracts are not awarded to companies implicated in forced labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang?

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

My Lords, the same rules and advice apply to PPE as to other goods that we import into the UK. As noble Lords know, we take a market-first approach to critical supply chain resilience and are committed to championing free trade in a rules-based system. However, we have learned many lessons from the pandemic about the importance of resilience in supply chains; we continue to apply those lessons in practice.

Trade Policy: Environmental Considerations

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

The noble Baroness is right to draw attention to scrutiny. I am always happy to repeat our commitment to scrutiny from the Dispatch Box. Both the Australia and New Zealand agreements are at the in-principle stage, at the moment. The full texts will be published in due course. They will be made available to the House in good time and will be scrutinised by the TAC and by your Lordships’ International Agreements Committee. We will make sure that there is time for all those processes to be completed thoroughly and to the standard that noble Lords wish.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

Documents leaked to Sky News reveal that the Department for International Trade can drop both the climate asks on precedence of multilateral environmental agreements over FTA provisions and on the reference to the Paris Agreement temperature goals. This is of great concern. Can the Minister say whether the Norway agreement last week was one of very few including such clauses because Norway insisted, and otherwise, for a Conservative Government, it is always trade deals at all costs, irrespective of other issues?

[Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)]

My Lords, I am very pleased to be able to comment categorically that the leaked document to which the noble Lord refers is not government policy and is not being considered by Ministers.

Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for bringing yesterday’s Statement on the net-zero strategy and the heat and buildings strategy to your Lordships’ House. As he knows, the clock is ticking, and it is less than two weeks to go before COP 26 in Glasgow. I congratulate the Government on getting these two vital documents out—two coming along together at once—to fulfil long outstanding commitments to show the spread of attention needed across the economy. These are two vital aspects to the challenge to decarbonise all areas of our national life, our homes and buildings, and to how the Treasury values net zero in its command of the nation’s finances.

COP 26 is making the Government face up to the size of the challenge, and we support them in the focus that that brings on climate change action. We want the conference to be successful. It comes at a very opportune time in world affairs, and it comes now. Can the Minister update the House on the amount of commitments that the Government have secured to their goal of raising £100 billion annually for climate investments internationally?

There are many aspects of the Statement that are rightly welcomed—that the Government recognise that they must take action now, and that these two major initiatives represent vital change in the economy and environment. People are thinking that the Conservative Government are taking Britain back to the 1970s, with energy shortages and high prices. At this last moment before COP 26, there is a growing sense that the Government are finding the climate emergency too big to ignore and yet too hard to grasp. As the Minister is presenting both documents, can he confirm that the Treasury is now fully committed to helping industry and the public through this present crisis? There is a sense that the funding commitments nowhere near match the size of the challenge. There has been almost a decade since David Cameron shredded vital confidence on action when he slashed the renewable energy incentives that so many wished to participate in to do their bit.

Emissions from buildings are higher today than they were in 2015. There are 19 million homes rated below EPC band C that desperately need insulation and upgrading. However, having said that, I welcome the element on the incentivisation for heat pumps, especially recognising those off the grid, most notably in rural areas. It does rather leave consumers at the mercy of electricity prices, and the Statement makes mention of a further £950 million for a home upgrade grant scheme to decarbonise low-income homes off the gas grid. Can the Minister expand on this and say how many households this will benefit?

I wonder whether the support for heat pumps is actually a step back in support. To the majority on the grid, heat pumps are generally seven times the cost of conventional gas boilers. The £5,000 grant appears less than the help that is currently provided through the RHI. Granted that the RHI is being scrapped in April, and that it pays back over a longer timeframe, is the Minister convinced that the Government are doing enough to defray the huge up-front costs for consumers? The Government say that they would like to see conventional gas boilers no longer included in new house builds from 2035. Can the Minister show more commitment? Why cannot the Government bring in a ban on all new conventional boilers being available after at least 2035? This would parallel the challenges and ban on the production of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

The hydrogen sector would certainly welcome the commitment towards hydrogen-ready boilers, that all quotes for any replacement or new boiler must include one for hydrogen-ready boilers. While they are still more expensive than conventional boilers, they certainly do not carry the huge price disadvantage of heat pumps. The Statement does not add any additional funding to the £240 million in the hydrogen strategy, which will not be made available until 2023. How do the Government plan to kick-start green hydrogen production at home when, to date, all orders for green hydrogen technology have been made overseas?

Hydrogen would certainly benefit the transport sector in the long term as well. In the meantime, I welcome the promotion of electric vehicles. Can the Minister outline the Government’s plan to help make electric cars more affordable for all consumers? I also welcome the emphasis on investments across the regions, most notably the HyNet cluster in the north-west, and stress to the Minister the need to engage effectively with metro mayors and local authorities, who are all eager to promote the net-zero agenda.

The Government used to insist that they were technology-neutral in their policies. They then moved to the scattergun approach of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan without setting out a comprehensive plan across the economy. As they now fill in the gaps left, are the Government moving in this Statement from a scattergun policy towards picking winners and losers? This Statement, welcome as it is, resembles a pick ’n’ mix of support—so much has been omitted. I will leave it to other speakers to raise those many areas. However, the Government must go over to the touchline and check the monitor of reality. The Statement says that the Government will “gradually” move away from fossil fuels. “Gradually” is too slow. Action is needed now, and the Government must immediately cease the contradiction of providing support for fossil fuels both in the UK and overseas. The Government have said—the Statement repeats it—that the conference needs to be “a turning point for humanity.” What has been taking the Government so long? The earth is on the edge across the globe, and the Government must act as if they really believe it.

[Lord Oates (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Statement on these important and extensive documents, and I hope that the Government will provide time at an early opportunity when the House can have a full debate on the full detail that is included in the hundreds of pages that have been published.

I know that in the past when I have responded to publications, the Minister has sometimes been offended that I have not been as effusive in my praise as he thought was merited. As I know him to be a sensitive soul, I will try to start off as positively as I can. There is merit in the fact that, after so long, we actually have the documents at last. There is merit in the fact that the Government remain committed to our climate change goals, and we should give thanks that climate has not become the political dividing line that it has in other countries. I also welcome the decision to introduce a zero-emissions vehicle mandate and a new target for greening all electricity generation. However, I am afraid that, after that, I am running out of things to credit the Minister and the Government with.

The Treasury tells us in the Net Zero Review:

“The transition has implications for current and future taxpayers”—


but it does not tell us what they are. It provides no indication of how the black hole arising from declining fuel duty revenues will be replaced. It says only that

“the government may need to consider changes to existing taxes and new sources of revenue”.

Likewise, in addressing the crucial issue of carbon leakage, which is critical to the viability of our industries as we decarbonise, the Treasury blandly tells us:

“Further work is required”


and that

“a case for conducting a formal call for evidence may emerge.”

There is nothing in the document about using the financial regulatory system to curb the financing of new and dangerous fossil fuel exploration and exploitation, and there is nothing about net-zero requirements on all planning decisions. The complacency is breath-taking. The Treasury clearly thinks that the climate emergency is a distant threat rather than the clear and present danger that looms before all of us.

The heat and buildings strategy is even more devastatingly unambitious. The Government propose a grant scheme that they estimate will deliver 90,000 heat pumps per year, and they convert what was assumed to be a mandate to end new conventional boiler installations into an aspiration. Every year, something in the order of 1.2 million new gas boilers are installed. The Government’s target for heat pumps will reduce that number to just over 1.1 million new gas boilers installed every year. Bearing in mind that they have a lifespan of about 15 to 20 years, it is immediately apparent that we will be building in a long legacy of fossil fuel heating year after year. If that was not bad enough, 90,000 units will not provide the scale to drive down costs and incentivise installers to retrain in heat pump installation, so the Government’s hopes of falling prices driving demand will remain a fantasy.

However, worse than all that, there is no credible plan to upgrade the energy efficiency of our existing homes, which should be the very first priority. If we are going to upgrade the millions of homes the Government say we need to, we have to rapidly scale up our capacity so that we have the skills base to deliver at least 1 million home upgrades a year. We are nowhere near that yet and there is no plan here to achieve that. Installing heat pumps in homes that are leaking energy makes no sense at all, but the Government offer no route to tackling these problems.

What about the money? I would ask what happened to the £9.2 billion promised for energy efficiency in the Conservative Party manifesto, had it not become abundantly clear by now that a promise in that document now seems the best indicator of what will not happen rather than what will. However, it is clear that, after the green homes grant scheme ended, we are now being given a promise of less money over a longer period of time, and it seems to achieve less than we were promised.

So, while I welcome the continuing ambitions of the Government, I remind the Minister that, some months back, he acknowledged in response to questions that the Government needed not only ambitious 2050 targets but a credible short-term action plan to get there. Regrettably, this is not it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness has obviously not been paying attention to what I have said, but let me repeat the figures yet again. She might want to go and look at some of the fantastically successful delivery we were doing for low-income families under the local authority delivery scheme. We spent hundreds of millions of pounds on that; we have already rolled out the first phase of the social housing decarbonisation fund, and we are investing £950 million and £800 million respectively over the next two years. I referred earlier to the home upgrade grants. All these are paying for home insulation measures for the most vulnerable in society and for people on low incomes. I am sorry if the Greens are not aware of that or do not support it, but we are investing these very large sums of money to upgrade the fabric of people’s homes and install low-carbon heating systems in them. I have been out and viewed many of these schemes.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

If I may also take advantage of being able to jump up again on the Minister, I would mention one aspect of the spread of areas to be covered with new developments: nuclear. There was no mention of nuclear in the Statement. Are any updates to the small modular reactors policy being brought forward by the Government?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am happy to tell the noble Lord that there was mention of nuclear in the Statement, and we announced £120 million for a nuclear innovations fund. I can also tell him that we will have more to say on our nuclear ambitions shortly.

Shortages: Protection for the Vulnerable

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I know that we have debated these matters a lot in the House recently, and I know that the noble Baroness will be aware that the uplift to universal credit was only ever meant to be temporary. I outlined earlier some of the many schemes that we have on offer to pensioners and those living in fuel poverty to help them get through this crisis.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

In the energy market, when consumers were encouraged to switch suppliers to find the best deal, it was to encourage competition and innovation among utility companies. Are the Government still confident that the supplier of last resort mechanism is the correct outcome for suppliers and consumers in the process in a competitive energy market?

Free Trade Agreement: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2021 Lords Chamber

My final point is about the consultation. The Minister knows well enough that it has been raised on many occasions, in the Trade Bill and on other agreements, that the UK Government should genuinely be much more open with our devolved Administrations when it comes to consultation. I completely understand that the Scottish Government have a very different narrative going forward with regard to the situation with the single market, but that is not an excuse for the Government to not share negotiating texts, when 84% of UK animal and fish exports, 67%—£150 million-worth—of petrol and petroleum products, £155 million-worth, or 40%, of general industrial machinery, and 42% of iron and steel exports to Norway and Ireland are sourced from Scotland. I could understand that if the Government believed that trade agreements have very little impact on our nations, but, when there are agreements that have very significant consequences, it really is incumbent on the Government finally to have a change of approach, to be much more open and to consult in a genuinely free and open way at the outset. That would mean that all parts of the UK would be likely to have a much better deal at the end of it.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I thank the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for the timely report of his European Affairs Committee on this trade agreement and for his excellent introduction. The report supplements the earlier scrutiny provided by your Lordships’ International Agreements Committee in February this year before the signing with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. This deal has been categorised by David Henig, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, as

“a pretty bog standard Free Trade Agreement, with some level of tariff reduction and other preferential access against WTO terms”.

Of course, deals with our European neighbours are important as we want good trade deals that grow our economy, stimulate sectors and add to the prosperity of our communities by upholding our British values. But let us give this a closer look.

There seems to be a bit of a competition with Japan regarding whether its deal or this deal can be said to represent the first new post-Brexit trade agreement. The Minister will remember the debates during the passage of the then Trade Bill in 2019, which he emphasised was a continuity Bill, when many proposals were made to modernise this procedure and the way the UK would approach trade deals in the future. The Government refused to go further than the procedure of the CRaG Act, with some enhancements. However, they know that this Act was part of the process for parliamentary scrutiny when the UK was a member state of the EU. As the noble Earl’s report stated at paragraph 9:

“Although this agreement is substantially a new trade agreement, the Government has not adopted the approach to parliamentary scrutiny it is applying to other new free trade agreements”.


The Government published a parliamentary report more usually featured alongside other continuity agreements. The objective in this supposedly new deal is to replicate as far as possible the effects of the UK’s existing trade agreement. All this means that this agreement has not been subject to the same levels of transparency and scrutiny as other new trade agreements. In addition, materials and memoranda published alongside the trade agreement appear to have been produced in haste.

I therefore ask: have the Government yet decided on their blueprint of how they will undertake trade agreements? Do they yet have a consistent approach? The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, mentioned the new proposals outlined in the latest report from the International Agreements Committee. As he asked, it would be illuminating if the Minister could make some initial comments on this.

Meanwhile, it can be considered how this agreement reflects a modern approach to trade deals. This model has many expected elements, notably chapters on trade in goods, trade in services and investments, government procurement, intellectual property, cross-border trade, customs and trade remedies. In view of the many previous discussions, it is to be welcomed that this model includes important sanitary and phytosanitary measures to maintain levels of protection for human, animal and plant life and health, with co-operation commitments on animal welfare, AMR and sustainable food systems. The tariff reductions are also welcomed as part of the usual bartering. According to Erna Solberg, outgoing Prime Minister of Norway, Norway has

“given on cheese, but we got a little more on fish”.

There are some very worthwhile new features to congratulate the Government on achieving, but, regrettably, many notable omissions and inconsistencies. First, it is good to note the inclusion of labour standards and so refreshing to see the chapters on women’s economic empowerment and trade. Can the Minister confirm that these will now become universal and included in all future trade deals?

Also to be noted is the chapter on the environment, including climate law. Under paragraph 93 of the department’s parliamentary report, the agreement

“sets out provisions which seek to implement the Paris Agreement, cut greenhouse gas emissions and to promote trade and investment to grow the low carbon economy”.

This includes commitments to net zero, renewable energy, CCUS and hydrogen technologies. If this is to be the new model for future trade deals, which at last we can celebrate, can the Minister confirm that the newly proposed agreement in principle with Australia will also contain strict protocols on climate change in its final drafts, which are now being drawn up? With COP 26 only a couple of weeks away, I cannot stress enough to the noble Lord the urgency with which this must become part of everyday business for the Government.

The most serious omission, most notable by its absence, is the inclusion of a human rights clause. The Government have been repeatedly called on to explain their policy on the inclusion of human rights in trade agreements, with the Government agreeing to their importance but, yet again, failing to implement any commitment. On these Benches, we believe that the protection of human rights is fundamental to British values and our way of life and is to be included in how we trade. The Joint Committee on Human Rights declared that there was

“a strong case for requiring minimum standard processes, practices and clauses to protect and promote human rights in all international agreements”.

Can the Minister explain why this is excluded from this trade deal? While I am sure that there will be no concern when it comes to trade with our Scandinavian and near neighbours, what precedent does this set for future trade agreements? Can the Minister clarify whether human rights clauses are to be a standard inclusion in trade agreements by this Government, or will Ministers continue to fail to fulfil commitments to suspend preferential treatment to trading partners who knowingly commit genocide, the most heinous of crimes?

I would also like to mention issues around professional qualifications, which are part of this agreement. We recognise the importance of professional qualifications to allow skilled workers necessary to the UK economy to enter the UK and contribute to the UK’s overall economic benefit, as well as allowing British workers to live and work abroad. Regulators must be allowed and guided to seek mutual recognition agreements, but essentially in a way which does not undermine their regulatory autonomy, and which must ensure that domestic standards are protected.

This is crucial to the Professional Qualifications Bill currently awaiting Report in this House. It was revealed in Committee that the Bill had been drafted without the Government being able to understand which professions and which regulators were to be caught under the legislation. The Professional Qualifications Bill contains a power to implement the recognition of professional qualification elements of international agreements. Can the Minister explain how Clause 3 of the Bill relates to this trade agreement? Can the provisions of this agreement be implemented without Clause 3? How do the provisions in the trade agreement maintain and secure regulatory autonomy?