Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the mineworkers' pension scheme on the living standards of recipients.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) (Lab)]

2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the mineworkers’ pension scheme on the living standards of recipients.

[Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the mineworkers’ pension scheme on the living standards of recipients.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ed Miliband]

I should say that the praise all goes to the Minister for Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon West (Sarah Jones), for the progress that has been made. She is in sole charge of the issue. I know that she has been engaging with the trustees of the BCSSS; indeed, I believe she met them yesterday. She knows the point my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Lillian Jones) is making about that scheme.

[Nick Smith]

In Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, 1,600 miners received the biggest number of increased payments from the mineworkers’ pension scheme in Wales. All of my uncles on my mum’s side were miners. Dessie Winter, who is alive and well, will benefit from the MPS changes, but my uncles Georgie and Jackie were pit supervisors who paid into the separate National Coal Board staff pension scheme. They have sadly passed, but their colleagues deserve fairness. Since 1994, the Government have received £3.1 billion from the BCSSS. Will the Secretary of State say if he will look again at the staff side’s surplus payments to benefit our pensioners?

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend makes his point with customary eloquence. I know from personal experience that there were people who were waiting for the injustice to be remedied but unfortunately died before that happened. He refers to part of the issue raised by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, as it then was, about 50:50 surplus sharing. I know my hon. Friend the Minister for Industry is looking at that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 28th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Claire Coutinho]

We have taken energy prices going up incredibly seriously, which is why we have spent £104 billion protecting the British people. That is one of the most generous packages anywhere in Europe. If the hon. Member cares about the incomes of people in Scotland, I suggest that he backs British oil and gas jobs.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment she has made of the impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on levels of investment in low carbon industries in the UK.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Claire Coutinho)]

In the UK, we have seen nearly £200 billion-worth of investment in low carbon sectors since 2010. That is 50% more than the US as a share of GDP. At the global investment summit just yesterday, it was clear that businesses see Britain very much as open for business, and that was backed up by £29 billion-worth of investment.

[Nick Smith]

In the summer, I heard about President Biden’s plan to use America’s industrial might to power up New York using offshore wind. Given that we need to turbocharge the green economy, why will the Government’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act not come into effect until 2025?

[Claire Coutinho]

We have taken many steps already. We have set out new plans for auction round 6 of renewable energy and for permanent economy-wide full expensing. We changed planning, and we are unlocking the grid. The fund that the hon. Member mentioned will unlock supply chains across the UK. What have people said? Scottish Renewables has said it is

“a shot in the arm for the sector”.

The Offshore Wind Industry Council has said that it will help us retain our position as a “global leader”. It has been welcomed by Make UK, Energy UK and many other businesses as well.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

T8. On the subject of facts, my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) just said that there are currently zero planning applications in the pipeline for onshore wind in England. Can the Minister please confirm whether that is true?

[Graham Stuart]

As I have said in earlier answers, we are seeking to encourage more applications. As far as I know, the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) may be right, which is exactly why we are consulting on improving community benefits and have consulted on changing the planning system.

Powering Up Britain

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

The current nuclear policy statement identified Bradwell as a site for nuclear electricity, as my right hon. Friend rightly says, until the end of 2025. That statement continues to have effect for any nuclear infrastructure deployable before the end of that year, and of course with the launch today of Great British Nuclear, its first job is to look at the process for down-selecting technologies for small modular reactors, but it will also be involved in a renewed siting policy that will look at both gigawatt and SMR-scale nuclear projects.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Minister talks up energy security but fails to prioritise onshore wind, the best value renewable energy. By when will the Government remove the ban on onshore wind?

[Graham Stuart]

I have set out our position on onshore wind. The great thing about the CfD system we have set up is that it has helped to reveal costs. Ground-mounted solar might actually prove to be the lowest cost generator, but thanks to the system this Government have set up, we have competition between the various types of energy, and we are continuing with that. Having led the world on offshore wind and transformed the parlous situation we inherited, with just 7% of electricity coming from renewables in 2010, I am delighted to say that wind, both onshore and offshore, has a brilliant future under this Conservative Government.