Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Durkan and Charles Hendry

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

As my fellow Minister of State has made clear, the previous Government got their estimates wrong. They assumed there would be no large-scale solar developments in this country by 2013, but there have been a significant number of large-scale applications. That would have blown the budget and made it more difficult to deliver for domestic installations, and we are therefore right to review this process.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

What assessment have the Government made of the effect of speculative commodity indices activity on wholesale commodity prices, and what steps are they taking to restrain such activity by banks here and international funds?

[Charles Hendry]

There is varying evidence on the effect. There is certainly some evidence that it has pushed up prices, but there is also evidence that hedging can help consumers. We have had discussions with countries, including Saudi Arabia, and it is willing to increase oil production to deal with any market shortages that might arise. I am satisfied from those discussions that demand can be met by increased supply, so shortages should not be a factor in pushing up prices.