Malcolm Wicks
Main Page: Malcolm Wicks (Labour - Croydon North)(13 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Charles Hendry
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is why the Chancellor made his announcement yesterday. This is a simpler way of getting the funding in; it provides the funding up front rather than it being based on output, and it is a significant step forward.
Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab)
Given the abandonment of the levy and a reliance on Government money from general taxation, the words “blood out of a stone” come to mind, in view of my own experience with the Treasury. Will the Minister assure us that public spending will be made available in addition to what has already been announced to ensure the future of this technology, which is absolutely vital to our fight against global warming?
Charles Hendry
The right hon. Gentleman has tremendous knowledge in these areas, so he will also be aware of the European scheme NER300, to which the United Kingdom has submitted nine projects out of a total of 22 across Europe. That provides capital up-front funding. What the Chancellor announced yesterday removes the tremendous complexity from the levy and provides a much more straightforward scheme to drive this technology forward.