Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Greenwood and Andrea Leadsom

Thursday 14th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and to prove that collective responsibility has once again taken effect, I reassure him that VAT is a matter for the Treasury. I agree about the need to reduce the number of households in fuel poverty, which is why we are consulting on proposals to focus more of the energy company obligation on those most in need. We have laid regulations that will ensure continued support for more than 2 million households through the warm home discount.

[Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab)]

The Minister suggested that there has been no loss of confidence in investment in clean energy as a result of the vote to leave the EU. Will she explain why the Swedish firm Vattenfall is reviewing its investment in the UK, which will put £5.5 billion of investment in offshore wind at risk?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I made it clear that continued, enormous investment is coming to the UK from offshore and onshore investors. I am not aware of the hon. Lady’s particular point, but the UK remains an attractive place to invest. The Government are doing everything they can to ensure that we get even more overseas investment in our energy infrastructure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Greenwood and Andrea Leadsom

Thursday 17th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Christina Rees (Neath) (Lab)]

18. What steps her Department is taking to promote investor confidence in low-carbon energy generation.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom)]

I welcome the shadow Secretary of State to her position, and in particular I welcome Otis, who I gather was born only a few months ago. That is fantastic, and I congratulate the hon. Lady on being here so soon afterwards. I wish her every success in her new role.

The Government remain totally committed to our green energy future and to tackling climate change. The success of our renewables programme has exceeded expectations, which means that we are on track to meet our targets comfortably. A key priority for the Government is to keep consumer bills down and limit the cost to hard-working families, while ensuring that the UK remains an attractive location for all forms of low-carbon energy.

[Margaret Greenwood]

The Government are axing support for onshore wind earlier than expected, cutting feed-in tariffs for solar, and ending the exemption for renewables from the climate change levy. If renewables really are the future for our energy supply, what action will the Government take to repair investor confidence?

[Andrea Leadsom]

That is an incredibly important question. More than £42 billion has been invested in renewables, nuclear and CCS since 2010, and 2014 was a record year with more than £8 billion being invested. The Government remain committed to our long-term, low-carbon future in all areas of low-carbon generation. As the hon. Lady will appreciate, we must also consider our other priorities, such as keeping bills down for consumers. The policy reset that we are undertaking is about ensuring that through our success in generating renewables, we do not impact in a devastating way on the bills of hard-working families in this country.