draft Electricity Supplier Obligations (amendment and excluded electricity) (amendment) regulations 2017

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2017 General Committees

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

I want to reiterate the point about the £3,100 per year cost to businesses. I know that there has been an impact assessment, but what assessment has the Department made to establish how much pressure that would put on those businesses? I reiterate the need to support them.

There is a reference in the impact assessment to voluntary organisations and charities. Will the Minister clarify what would be the impact on them? Are they expected to make the payment or would there be any exemptions for them? I may have misunderstood but I would like some clarification on that point.

--- Later in debate ---

[Margot James]

Eligible energy intensive industries can also be small and medium-sized businesses. Very few of the vast array of companies across the country are exempt. The cost of the exemption will be amortised across many million businesses, so the average increase will be small, and the average company can bear that. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with any further information that we have that demonstrates the assessment that we have made of those companies.

I mentioned that we have developed a package of measures to support businesses to improve their energy efficiency. That aims to improve energy usage by at least 20% by 2030. We have also launched an independent review of the cost of energy, which I am sure the shadow Minister is familiar with. That review is led by Professor Dieter Helm and is all about helping companies to reduce their energy usage, which will be good for the environment and for company costs.

[Rushanara Ali]

Has the Department requested feedback from the businesses that will bear the £3,100 per annum cost as part of the impact assessment?

If so, what was their response? On the costs being passed on to charities, to which paragraph 10 in the impact assessment refers, will the Minister explain which charities are affected? What is their size and scale? Are they small, large or medium-sized? What will be the annual cost to charities? Public sector organisations are under a lot of pressure as a result of cuts to funding. Will the Minister update the Committee on whether an impact assessment has been carried out and what feedback has come back from those organisations about the cost burden of the policy? Once again, I support the thrust of the proposal, but we need answers to those questions.

[Margot James]

I am happy to write to the hon. Lady with more details of the assessment that has been carried out and about the size of the charities that have been scrutinised.

The exemption is a key component of our programme to reduce electricity costs for energy intensive industries. It will help to prevent putting those industries at a significant competitive disadvantage. The increase in industrial electricity costs due to funding the CfD can reduce the UK’s attractiveness as an investment location, and increases the risk that companies will invest and move elsewhere.

[Margot James]

I will ask my colleagues to write to the hon. Gentleman with more information. I would not like to mislead the House, and I do not have the information at my fingertips.

[Rushanara Ali]

I am concerned that if the Minister writes to us as she proposes, we will not have an opportunity to amend the regulations, and she will not have the opportunity to take into account the cost to charities. She will be aware that many charities are having to shut down—I know that, because I chair one which, like others, has faced real challenges staying afloat, but has successfully done so. If she is suggesting that those costs should be borne by not-for-profit organisations without support from the Government, that concerns me. Will she assure us that the Government will find a way to mitigate those costs and will find resources to help those charities so they do not have to bear the costs of companies, if the costs are transferred?

[Margot James]

The Government provide advice to charities, voluntary organisations and businesses to help them improve energy efficiency and lower their costs. We are also revitalising the green deal, which they can access to improve energy efficiency. The cost to charities, like the cost to businesses, will be very small—0.2% of their total bill.

[Rushanara Ali]

It is not acceptable to expect a charity to bear the cost, even if it is 0.2%, without any assurance from the Government. Why are we cross-subsidising from the private sector to the not-for-profit sector? The Minister’s answer is not satisfactory. Will she assure the Committee that charities will not have to bear the cost of the Government’s decision to cross-subsidise by getting them to pay for the changes that they are making to help companies?

[Margot James]

I cannot add anything to what I have already said in response to the hon. Lady. I will ask for further clarification on the matter, but at the moment I can only repeat what I have said: it is a very, very small increase, because it is amortised across so many electricity users—not-for-profit organisations and companies. The exemption scheme allows for real-time changes in energy use to be taken into account, and provides greater certainty. We recognise that the exemption will redistribute the cost of funding to other electricity consumers, but we have taken steps to reduce costs on consumer bills, and they are now lower than they might otherwise be. The proposed measures update and improve the regulations, and they bring them into line with the terms of our state aid approval, allowing us to commence the scheme.

Question put.