Oral Answers to Questions

Meg Hillier Excerpts

Thursday 11th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

There already is dialogue with the Scottish Government on this important issue. The way in which we administer those funds must ensure that they are used to help to drive forward green growth and green jobs.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a shame that the Secretary of State cannot be here today, but I appreciate that his private office let me know in good time. I suspect that, even stuck in an airport in Hong Kong, he must be finding it a challenge not to gloat about the settlement that his Department received from the Treasury. We have heard the Prime Minister talk about the “greenest Government ever” and the Secretary of State talk about a “third industrial revolution”. The Minister today has talked about the private sector playing a key role, and yet, as we have just heard, we have no detail about the green investment bank. Is it just a crowd-pleasing gimmick, designed for the Secretary of State to please his friends in Birmingham next September, or is it going to be something real?

[Gregory Barker]

That is a bit rich coming from the party that produced a crowd-pleasing gimmick after we had published our proposals for the green investment bank last year. Unfortunately, absolutely no work was done in the Treasury before May on any such proposal, so we are starting with a clean sheet of paper. As I have said to the hon. Lady, and as the Chancellor has said, we are working hard on an ambitious proposal, and we hope to make our proposals before the spring. This is very real, and it will play a huge role in driving the green economy.

[Meg Hillier]

But we still have a distinct lack of detail. We are very aware that “spring” in civil service language can extend for a long period. While the Secretary of State and his team are polishing their green halos—indeed, the Minister is wearing his green tie today—will they tell us whether the green investment bank will have any capital? We are already seeing signs that capital that could have gone into it is going straight to the Treasury. Will the green investment bank be profit making? Will it invest in proven technology or safe bets? The simple question is: when will we know what the green investment bank will be capable of doing and whether it will fuel the private sector investment in green technologies that the Minister has talked about today?

[Gregory Barker]

If the hon. Lady had been at the comprehensive spending review, she would know that the Chancellor has already committed £1 billion as a backstop. Indeed, he told the Treasury Select Committee last Thursday that that would be just a backstop and that significant further funds would come from asset sales. I appreciate the hon. Lady’s eagerness to support a Conservative and Lib Dem proposal, but I have to say that we are going to get this right, and we will come forward with a robust proposal by next spring as a matter of urgency.

--- Later in debate ---

[Charles Hendry]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. Targeting payment to specific staff, rather than building it into a general salary, is a more efficient use of public spending. For example, it does not increase long-term costs such as pension entitlement. We are, however, looking closely at such issues. We have already taken measures to tighten controls in areas such as travel, and we have implemented a pay freeze this year and next year for all staff other than those earning less than £21,000. The use of bonuses has been significantly reduced.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

Moving from housekeeping to international issues, I note that next week there will be a debate on the Cancun climate change conference, thanks to the hon. Member for Chippenham (Duncan Hames). That debate is very welcome, but until we heard some snippets from the Minister today, it underlined the fact that there has been a deafening silence from the Government in the House about what they want to achieve. We all want a good outcome, and we recognise the challenges, as the Minister said, about legally binding international agreements. Will he tell the House clearly what the Government hope to achieve in the UK, and whether they are planning to make a statement in Government time?

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

We hope that there will be good progress at Cancun. In contrast to the sentiments expressed earlier, however, I think it is unlikely that we will get a legal agreement. We are certainly one of the most progressive nations, and we are following the example of the previous Government, to whose work on the international climate stage I pay tribute. It is tough but, as the Secretary of State said, there are grounds for optimism that we can make progress on measurement, reporting and verification, on finance architecture and on clarifying the next steps for the United Nations framework convention on climate change to make further progress towards a legally binding agreement. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady and her team to talk this through in more detail.