Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Mosley Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effect of the Green investment bank on levels of investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Chris Huhne)]

I regularly discuss the Green investment bank with ministerial colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and am confident that it can play a major role in capitalising private sector investment in renewable energy.

[Stephen Mosley]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer and welcome the Chancellor’s announcement in his autumn statement earlier this week of £200 million in incentives to support the green deal. Will the Green investment bank be able to back up that important investment and provide low-cost loans to support the green deal?

[Chris Huhne]

Supporting energy efficiency projects is indeed part of the Green investment bank’s remit, and clearly that includes the green deal. We can certainly envisage a key role in the launch of the private finance, because after all the green deal is private finance, but at the very beginning it will be important that the markets gradually get used to the idea of that new type of instrument, and the Green investment bank could have an important role in facilitating that.