Tom Greatrex
Main Page: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)Department Debates - View all Tom Greatrex's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Vince Cable
The hon. Gentleman’s constituency may well be a barometer of Government performance, but he has obviously overlooked the fact that in it, 19 businesses were offered loans, backed by the enterprise finance guarantee, totalling almost £2 million. That is help in a purely practical sense.
The hon. Gentleman makes a specific point on types of financing. Because of the difficulties of lending against property, the emergence of forms of lending against assets or future transactions is actually a positive diversification of finance.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
9. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on economic growth of green investment; and if he will make a statement.
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
The green economy will make a major contribution in the longer term to economic growth, because of the stimulus it provides to demand in green activities. However, energy-intensive industries are also an important part of our economy.
Tom Greatrex
The Secretary of State referred in his answer to the contribution that traditional heavy industries such as the Clydebridge steelworks in my constituency, which manufactures significant components of offshore wind turbines, can make to green investment. However, given his comments, what reassurances can he give to the House that the introduction of measures such as the carbon floor price will not disadvantage energy-intensive industries, which could have a significant effect on green growth in the economy?
Vince Cable
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to draw attention to that problem. I have had extensive discussions with the steel industry, and also with the ceramics and chemicals industries, which can be affected by precisely that problem. My colleague the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change made it clear in his recent statement that we are looking at a package of measures, in consultation with industry, that will hopefully help it to deal with the higher costs of electricity.