Maria Caulfield
Main Page: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Andrea Leadsom
I absolutely agree that it certainly plays a part, but I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that, as part of the reform of the RHI, we are trying to ensure that the budget offers the best value for money. Solar thermal requires the highest subsidy from the Government of all RHI technologies, and the evidence suggests that nearly 50% of RHI respondents said they would have installed it anyway, even without Government subsidy. We always need to look at the balance between keeping the costs down for the bill payer and supporting these technologies.
Maria Caulfield (Lewes) (Con)
15. What steps her Department is taking to encourage growth in the green research and development sector.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will take Questions 15 and 19 together.
The Government are taking steps to build on our proud history of energy innovation and are more than doubling our energy innovation budget over the next five years to a total of £500 million. With this budget we can continue to support the development of clean, cheap and reliable technologies and the growth of the green research and development sector across the UK.
Mr Speaker
We would take this question with Question 19 if the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) were here, but he is not, so we will not. I do not know what has happened to the chappie, but I hope he is all right.
Maria Caulfield
I thank the Secretary of State for her reply. With the new Rampion offshore wind farm being based in the Newhaven enterprise zone in my constituency, and with the recent opening of the university technical college in Newhaven, does the Secretary of State agree that Newhaven town has the potential to be a hub for green research and development, and could she outline how the Government can support that?
Amber Rudd
I welcome the activity already under way in my hon. Friend’s constituency and will of course be considering opportunities to support research, development and demonstration across the UK as we develop our energy innovation programme. I encourage her to speak directly with low-carbon energy funding bodies, which stand ready to support innovation in the technologies that we will need in the future. I really welcome the development of the UTC, which is partnered with, among other companies, E.ON UK and EDF Energy. It has a specific focus on green engineering, so I think that there is a great opportunity there for Newhaven.