Oral Answers to Questions

Tim Farron Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

First, every customer will get something off their bills because of the rebate that we are putting through related to renewable and social costs, so it is not true that some people will not see any reduction. Furthermore, when the hon. Lady and her colleagues talk about the big six, they forget to mention that Labour created the big six. It was when Labour messed up the reforms of the energy markets in 2001 and abolished the pool in a bad way that we saw consolidation and the big six. We are now fixing that problem.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

9. What estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created in the renewables industry as a result of the provisions of the Energy Act 2013.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Michael Fallon)]

Directly, and indirectly through supply chains, the Government’s electricity market reforms could support up to 250,000 jobs by 2020, the large majority of which will be in renewable electricity.

[Tim Farron]

In Westmorland, we are extremely proud of having one of the largest and most important hydro manufacturing firms in the world in Gilkes of Kendal, which is a reminder that, unlike other energy sources such as nuclear and shale gas, 95% of the supply chain of the hydro and tidal energy industry is British. Given that and the almost infinite potential of the industry around this island, will the Minister commit to creating tens of thousands of British jobs by making hydro and tidal energy the centrepiece of Britain’s energy policy?

[Michael Fallon]

I will certainly commit to supporting renewable technologies and a mix of renewable technologies. My hon. Friend will have seen that we have confirmed the strike price for tidal and wave power in the final electricity market reform delivery plan that we published in December.