Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 31st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

I am afraid that that is not absolutely correct. I am pleased to report to the House that more than 1,000 measures have been delivered under the ECO in the past few days, even though Warm Front came to an end on 19 January. It is early days and there is a transition, but we are working with SMEs to make that transition work and the long-term prospects are bright.

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

I welcome the launch of the green deal this week. Consumers now need to know that it is available and must start signing up. What is the Minister doing to let people know that the scheme is available and to encourage them to join it?

[Gregory Barker]

Clearly the Government have a role. My hon. Friend may have seen the green deal adverts that have run in the press. They will continue to run this weekend and the weekend after. We will also be launching a digital campaign. This is a tightly focused, value-for-money campaign, not a huge advertising splurge. The real drive will come from the individual offers. What marks the green deal out as different from previous Government energy efficiency programmes is that there will be huge choice, huge competition and lots of market participants.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 1st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

I have not personally spoken to suppliers of heating oil because that is not part of my portfolio; it is part of the Energy Minister’s portfolio. As I have just said, however, the former Minister, the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), was extremely forensic in taking this through, and his work continues in the Department.

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

I welcome Ofgem’s changes allowing households on prepayment meters with debts of less than £500 to switch to a cheaper tariff with a different electricity operator. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that making it easier for consumers to shop around and get a cheaper tariff will benefit everybody on prepayment meters, as well as those on other forms of payment?

[Gregory Barker]

Absolutely. We not only want to make it easier for consumers to shop around; we also want to ensure they are supplied with better information. We will use legislation to help people get the best deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 8th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

The hon. Lady will know that there has been a significant level of deployment—contrary to some of the scare stories and predictions that were circulating before Christmas—in January and February and that continues. We have now put forward a consultation document that is gathering broad support for putting in place a sustainable framework that will result in a bigger scheme that offers better value. As a result, there will be far more PV under our reform proposals than there was under Labour’s very expensive scheme. We are keen to involve small and medium-sized businesses as much as possible.

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

Earlier this week I was in Berlin with the Select Committee on Science and Technology to look at the energy infrastructure in Germany. Will the Minister confirm that Germany is proposing to cut the feed-in tariff rates to below the UK level with just two weeks’ notice?

[Gregory Barker]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The German cuts are now going further and faster than those that we are proposing. We think that solar is a very dynamic technology that is up to the challenge. If costs continue to come down and it becomes competitive with fossil fuels by the middle of the decade, as we believe it might, we could see 22 GW of solar capacity installed by 2020.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

I do not think I could be clearer than to say that the focus of this new measure, unlike the CERT programme brought in by the previous Government, which we had to reform considerably when we came to office, will be on fuel poverty and hard-to-treat homes. We are absolutely clear about that and the measure is going to be much more effective than any measure that the Labour party introduced.

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

4. What contribution he expects the renewable heat incentive to make to the Government’s targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions.

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

We expect installations in industrial and commercial buildings to achieve cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 44 million tonnes of CO₂ by 2020. It is harder to forecast reductions for the domestic sector, but we hope to achieve a cumulative reduction of at least 2.5 million tonnes by 2020 also.

[Stephen Mosley]

I thank the Minister for his response, but I have one concern about the renewable heat incentive. We are proposing to introduce the premium payment scheme in July, which will run for 15 months until it is replaced by the green deal and the RHI tariff next October. Will he reassure people who are considering taking out the RHI premium payment scheme that they will automatically qualify for the RHI tariff when it is introduced next October?

[Gregory Barker]

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important point, not least because we hope that more than 25,000 people will take advantage of the premium payments. Providing that they comply with the terms of the payment, they will certainly be able to qualify for the RHI tariff.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Mosley and Lord Barker of Battle

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregory Barker]

I am delighted to answer this question, not least because I had the privilege of going to the Meadows last autumn and was very impressed with what I saw there. I can absolutely confirm that there is nothing retrospective about the feed-in tariff review. Any community, group or individual claiming the tariff will see no change in their tariff.

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

T6. Has my hon. Friend had any discussions on the future of the treaty of Almelo, particularly in relation to modifying it to allow British and European companies to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by China’s expanding programme of civil nuclear power?