Energy Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 4th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tim Yeo (South Suffolk) (Con)]

I beg to move amendment 11, page 1, line 4, after ‘ensure’, insert—

‘that a decarbonisation target range is set and that’.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 12, page 1, line 5, leave out

‘a decarbonisation target range is set, that’

and insert—

‘such a target range is set’.

Amendment 13, page 1, line 8, leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Amendment 14, page 1, line 11, at end insert—

‘(4) Subject to section 2(1) the decarbonisation level must not exceed the level deemed consistent with a low-carbon trajectory as advised by the Committee on Climate Change’.

Amendment 15, page 2, line 2, leave out from

‘and the first decarbonisation order may not’

to ‘Climate Change Act 2008’ and insert—

‘a decarbonisation order must be made by 1 April 2014’.

Amendment 16, page 2, line 6, leave out ‘A’ and insert—

‘Subject to section 2(1), a’.

Amendment 17, in clause 2, page 2, line 30, leave out from ‘The following matters’ to ‘target range’ and insert—

‘Before exercising the power to make a decarbonisation order the Secretary of State must obtain and take into account the advice of the Committee on Climate Change.’.

Amendment 18, page 2, line 32, leave out ‘The matters are’ and insert—

‘In providing its advice to the Secretary of State the Committee on Climate Change must take into account the following matters’.

Amendment 19, page 2, line 46, at end insert—

‘(3) As soon as is reasonably practicable after giving its advice to the Secretary of State, the Committee must publish that advice in such manner as it considers appropriate.

(4) If in making a decarbonisation order the Secretary of State makes provision different from that recommended by the Committee, the Secretary of State must, on making the order, publish a statement setting out the reasons for that decision.’.

Amendment 20, in clause 3, page 3, line 2, leave out from ‘a report setting out’ to the end of subsection and insert—

‘and publish a delivery plan setting out proposals to achieve the duty in section 1 to ensure that the decarbonisation target range is not exceeded.’.

Government amendments 51 and 70.

[Mr Yeo]

I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, in particular to my interests in the energy industry. In doing so, I emphasise, as I have done before, that my views on climate change and on the need for Britain to move more swiftly to a low-carbon economy and to cut its dependence on fossil fuels were formed two decades ago when I had ministerial responsibility for this area of policy.

I have not changed these views at any time since and have repeated them publicly and privately on many occasions throughout the past 20 years. My views have never been influenced at any time or in any way by my financial interests, all of which were acquired after I left the shadow Cabinet in 2005. That was 12 years after I accepted the overwhelming scientific consensus on this subject and began campaigning for a more urgent response to the challenge of climate change. Various bloggers, columnists and others, including one or two of my hon. Friends, who imply otherwise and who ignore the scientific consensus, invariably overlook my strong and consistent support for nuclear power, which is a low-carbon technology that should be part of Britain’s energy mix.

I am grateful for this opportunity to debate amendment 11, which stands in my name and the name of hon. Members from most parties. It is based on a unanimous recommendation made last July in the report of the Energy and Climate Change Committee on the draft Energy Bill. I am glad to say that the Government accepted many of the Committee’s recommendations, and by doing so materially improved the Bill, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his team on their response to our report and on the outcome of their negotiations with the Treasury on a range of issues, including the levy control framework.

For a variety of reasons, however, the need for the amendment is even greater now than when my Committee’s report was published. First, despite some positive signs on the Government’s support for low-carbon electricity generation, the publication of the gas strategy on the very day of the autumn statement confused many investors. The possibility that the Government might sanction 37 GW of new gas-fired generation capacity rests uneasily with their acceptance two years ago of the fourth carbon budget, which covers the period 2023 to 2027, and raises the fear that the purpose of next year’s review of the budget is to water it down and weaken the incentives for low-carbon investment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Barry Gardiner]

I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen) first, and then to the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat), if he wants to intervene again.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the hon. Member for Ynys Môn intervenes, I should point out that although the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) is, as usual, entirely in order as there is no time limit, he is a sensitive fellow and I therefore know that he will wish to take account of the fact that several other Members might also wish to volunteer their opinions in the course of the debate.

[Albert Owen]

I will be brief, but my hon. Friend’s comments on the German issue have provoked me to intervene. He is right that there may be no new-build coal power stations in Germany, but German business is concerned that it will be importing nuclear from France or coal from Poland, and that carbon issues will therefore be imported.