Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey(9 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Davey
In 2010, the big six, created under the previous Government, had a share of the retail market of more than 99%. As a result of the competition we have encouraged, there has been a big increase in the number of independent competitors, whose market share has increased from less than 1% to more than 10.5%, and is rising fast.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
On 13 January, when answering an urgent question in this House on decommissioning at Sellafield, the Secretary of State said on three occasions that he would engage with the 10,000 people working at that complex site. What discussions have he and his officials had with those workers?
Mr Davey
We are engaging with those workers through the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and through Sellafield Ltd, and we stand ready to assist in the discussions to make sure they understand the implications of the changes to their livelihoods. As I said in response to the hon. Gentleman’s urgent question, we are talking about good news for workers at Sellafield, and indeed it was welcomed by the MP representing that constituency.
Tom Greatrex
If it is such good news for the workers at Sellafield, I would expect the Secretary of State to be engaging with those 10,000 highly skilled workers, who are very concerned about what the impact will be on their jobs and their livelihoods. I can tell him that there has been just one local meeting with those workers in the past few weeks, and very many of their questions were not answered. He has had communication from their representatives. Will he now undertake to fulfil the promise he gave this House just three weeks ago to engage properly with those people, at a time of severe anxiety for them?
Nuclear Management Partners (Sellafield)
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey(9 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make a statement on Nuclear Management Partners and Sellafield.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Mr Edward Davey)
I thank the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Tom Greatrex) for his question.
As I have informed the House today through a written ministerial statement, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has today announced a change to its commercial model at Sellafield, its largest and most complex site.
Dealing safely with the UK’s nuclear legacy is a key priority of my Department. It is important for the communities involved and for the future of nuclear power in this country. We work closely with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and its contractors to ensure that decommissioning is undertaken as effectively as possible, but as we are guardians of the public purse, we must also make sure that clean-up is done in a way that delivers the best value for money.
Over the past year, the NDA has been conducting a thorough review of its business model in the unique context of Sellafield to consider what contractual model might best deliver improved performance and value for money. In April last year, we endorsed the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s decision to roll the current parent body organisation contract—PBO—forward into the second term to ensure that the progress made in the first five-year term could be built on. The complexity and technical uncertainties at Sellafield are unique and need a management structure best suited to meeting the specific challenges faced by the site. Sellafield is the most complex industrial site in Europe. It is home to some of the oldest nuclear facilities in the world—the legacy ponds and silos that were constructed in the 1940s and ’50s—as well as the UK’s plutonium stockpile.
Because of these unique challenges, Sellafield is less well suited to the transfer of full site-wide responsibility to the private sector via a PBO structure. The NDA has now recommended to Government that management arrangements are simplified. In future, the private sector will be retained as suppliers of Sellafield Ltd rather than as owners of the site. Sellafield Ltd will remain a publicly funded company owned by the NDA. The team will be appointed and governed by a newly constituted board of the site licence company. The new model will, in due course, see a strategic partner appointed by Sellafield Ltd to strengthen the programme management and commercial capability at the site, as well as playing a key role in managing capital projects and contracts. This approach is recognised as best practice in other major projects such as Crossrail and the Olympics.
The NDA and Sellafield Ltd will manage the transition to the new arrangements, which is expected to take about 15 months to complete. This will be done in close co-operation with work force representatives, Nuclear Management Partners, the supply chain, the regulators, and the local community. The continued safe and secure operation of the Sellafield site will remain the overriding focus during the transition, and it will remain so under the new structure. This new structure is the best way to ensure that safety and value for money are pursued in tandem.
Tom Greatrex
I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. He will appreciate that this an issue of very serious concern for the 10,000 dedicated, professional and highly valued workers employed at Sellafield and for all of us who, as taxpayers, have just seen a £20 billion public procurement decision partly reversed. I want to ask him a few specific questions on the details of his decision and his statement.
In 2013, just 15 months ago, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), then a Minister in the Secretary of State’s Department, allowed the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to continue into a five-year contract extension for Nuclear Management Partners. This was despite a National Audit Office report from November 2012 that concluded that the contract led to
“poor project design and delivery by Sellafield Limited and weaknesses in the”
Nuclear Decommissioning
“Authority’s oversight.”
Why was that advice ignored, and why is this decision now being made today? Is it because, in reality, the situation was getting worse and not better?
The Secretary of State has suggested that in 2013, at the review point, the Government accepted the problems with the NMP contract but did not have an alternative solution prepared. What is the point of a review point if one is unable to consider other options? Will he illuminate for the House what termination fees apply to the cancellation of this contract and whether those fees could have been recovered at any stage? What assessment has his Department made of the risk of legal action from NMP to recover further funds?
Last year, it was revealed under a freedom of information request that in September 2013 KPMG completed a 277-page internal review of the contract for the NDA that was highly critical. To quote the Public Accounts Committee, it found that
“there was a mis-alignment between the objectives of NMP and the…Authority’s commitment to deliver value for money for the taxpayer, and…potential conflicts of interest associated with contracting by Sellafield Limited with NMP’s affiliate companies.”
Will the Secretary of State confirm how much was spent on that advice from KPMG by the NDA, which reports to him—advice that was then ignored and, it seems, is now being adopted?
In February last year, the PAC reported that even after the contract was extended with NMP, it
“has not provided the clear leadership, strong management and improved capabilities needed to deliver the performance required at the site.”
Fifteen months on from having overseen that contract extension, why have the Government come to the conclusion that it was the wrong decision? Will the right hon. Gentleman describe the immediate arrangements for the 10,000 people employed at Sellafield, and tell us what impact today’s decision will have on the running of other sites? Will this create the need for a review of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s other operations, where similar contracts that might give poor value for the taxpayer could still be in place?
Can the Secretary of State clarify why this announcement was extensively trailed in the press last night and this morning, rather than being made in the first instance before the House today? Is it not the case that what we have seen today is a frantic U- turn, an abandonment of the extension of a contract and the reversal of a decision that should probably never have been taken in the first place? Does the Secretary of State not appreciate that such casual disregard for the evidence and conclusions of the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee has resulted in wasted time and public money and may risk a loss of confidence in the important decommissioning work at Sellafield? Does he acknowledge that insufficient care and due regard were taken by the Ministers in his Department who have ultimate responsibility for these matters? Does this not eloquently make the case against part-time, part-time energy Ministers and is it not now time that the Secretary of State got a grip, stopped playing stupid inter-coalition games and got his dysfunctional and misfiring Department into shape?
Mr Davey
The hon. Gentleman was doing quite well until his peroration. I will explain why it was a big political mistake for him to go down that route, but first I shall answer his specific questions, because they were important. He began by praising the staff, and I agree that they deserve huge praise because they are tackling one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in Britain today. I can confirm that their terms and conditions are not affected by this at all. There will be full discussion with work force representatives. At this point, I should like to pay tribute to the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr Reed), who has worked assiduously on this issue.
The hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West asked why we allowed the contract continuation in 2013, given the findings in the National Audit Office’s report of weaknesses in it. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority recommended that the contract be continued, and we had to endorse that recommendation. It was not a question of approving it; we endorsed it. At that time, when I looked at the structure that we had inherited from the last Government, I was concerned about the model. It was the model that I started asking questions about, and it is the model that has been reviewed. I have already explained a little about the review process; it is the model that we feel needs changing for the long term.
The hon. Gentleman asked why there was no alternative solution. The contract renewal process looked at the performance, which had not been good enough, but it is worth putting on record the fact that the performance of Nuclear Management Partners since the contract renewal has improved significantly, so this decision has not been taken on account of the performance of NMP. If we look at its performance over the past year, we can see that it has delivered on things that no one has delivered on for years. For example, the sludge-packing plant, which is needed to take out the toxic sludge from B30—a pond that has been there for decades—has now been commissioned and is ready for operation. That is a big achievement and I pay tribute to NMP for that. The decision has not been taken on account of performance; it has been taken because Ministers and the NDA questioned the model that we inherited from the last Government. We then put in place a proper review of that model.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the termination fees, and I can tell him that they are very low. The mechanisms under the current contract allow for termination and appropriate fee awards of less than 1% of the annual fee, and those mechanisms will be adhered to. Of course, during the transition, NMP will earn the fees that it would normally earn under the existing contract while it is still carrying out the work, but the termination fee is very small.
The hon. Gentleman also asked about the cost to the NDA of the KPMG report. I do not have that figure with me but I would be happy to write to him about that. He also mentioned the parent body organisation model that we are getting rid of at Sellafield, and asked whether we should get rid of it elsewhere. Our argument is that we should not. Let me explain why Sellafield is different.
At other nuclear power plants that are being decommissioned, such as Dounreay, the PBO model is working well. At Dounreay and other decommissioning sites, it is easy to specify the performance, the activities and the outcomes that are required. Those requirements are more certain and clear, and therefore easier to contract for. At Sellafield, because it is so complicated and because of the huge uncertainties about some of the materials that they are trying to clear up, it is very difficult to do that. Those huge uncertainties make the risks of contracting much more difficult, which is why the PBO structure needs to go there but not elsewhere.
The hon. Gentleman asked why the announcement was trailed in the press. I am afraid that it was not, and I am pleased that it was not, but there was some sort of leak. I do not know where that came from. He then suggested that this was a frantic U-turn, which is complete rubbish. We have been working on the issue carefully and diligently for some time. The NDA set up a review of the model, which I think was required. It made recommendations to officials who looked at them and made recommendations to Ministers and we have been looking at them for some time. Indeed, I asked questions when I got the initial recommendations to ensure that during the transition any risks were properly mitigated and I was not prepared to take the decision until I saw a proper risk mitigation plan for the transfer.
Ministers have been involved in the process, and given that the hon. Gentleman made a political point at the end of his peroration, let me make a political point back to him. These contracts and this model were drawn up under the previous Labour Government. The contract came into effect when the Leader of the Opposition was doing my job, so the hon. Gentleman should be addressing his questions about the model and the contract to the Leader of the Opposition, his own party leader. Once again, we have had to clear up the mess left by the Labour party.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and this point is not discussed enough. When we talk to the industry, and to investors in the UK and internationally, they tell us that one of the things they fear most from Labour’s price freeze is that it would prevent them from going ahead with the investments that they want to make. A price freeze would undermine investment; it would represent a lurch back to the ’70s. Let us look around Europe to see what has happened when price freezes have been implemented. Hungary implemented a price freeze—indeed, a price cut—recently, and investment there has plummeted. All that is needed is a grasp of standard economics, but the Labour party does not appear to have even that.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
As the Secretary of State is well aware, competition in our energy markets is partly governed by EU regulations, particularly those relating to state aid. In the light of the announcement by UK Coal yesterday, will he confirm what the trade unions learned in talks with the Commission this week—namely, that the attitude to Government support to prevent the immediate closure of the two deep pits at Kellingley and Thoresby is much more flexible than his officials’ interpretation seems to suggest? Given that the amount of support required would be less than one tenth of the £700 million that the miners’ pension scheme paid to the Government last month, does he agree that he and his officials should be taking urgent action to prevent immediate job losses?
Mr Davey
The energy Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), has been working tirelessly on this matter with our officials. I hope the Opposition will recognise the huge efforts that officials in my Department, under his leadership, have been putting into it. We have been talking to all parties, including the Commission, to make sure that interpretations are based on the law, and we will do whatever we can to help.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey(10 years, 12 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Davey
The Chancellor introduced the carbon price floor at the beginning of this Parliament and confirmed the rates in the Budget this year. The purpose is to send a clear incentive message to people investing in low carbon, which I believe the hon. Gentleman supports. I also hope that he supports the compensation package this Government have put together to help energy-intensive industries, to support them and to help them defray those costs.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
One element of the levies applied to consumer bills funds the renewables obligation certificate payments, as the Secretary of State knows. He will also be aware that a third of those payments go to generators in Scotland, but, with 8.4% of the consumer base, they are funded by bill payers across Britain. When Infinis, a Scottish-based renewables generator, published its flotation prospectus a couple of weeks ago, it cited the outcome of separation as one of its key risks. On Monday, the nationalists in Edinburgh published their plan for Scotland to separate from the rest of the UK, asserting that
“shared support for renewables and capital costs of transmission among consumers in Scotland and the rest of the UK”
would continue. Can the Secretary of State guarantee that that will definitively be the case?
UK Nuclear Energy Programme
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
As the Secretary of State is aware, there have been severe disruptions on the railway line today between Doncaster and London, owing to a power failure, which have prevented my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) from being here—she sends her apologies to the House, Mr Speaker.
I thank the Secretary of State for giving me early notice of his statement and congratulate him on making it back from Hinkley this morning looking slightly less damp and dishevelled than he did earlier. At the outset, let me make it clear that we support new nuclear power in Britain as part of a balanced, diverse and lower-carbon energy mix. Of course, we will look in detail at the agreement, and those aspects of the agreement yet to be concluded, but in principle we believe that nuclear power is safe, and that it contributes to our energy security, reduces our carbon emissions and makes us less vulnerable to the vagaries of wholesale gas prices.
Today, I want to ask the Secretary of State about three aspects of his statement, the first of which is the very important one of value for money. He has announced a strike price of £92.50, of which £3 will be shared as “first-of-a-kind” costs with Sizewell C, should that development go ahead. Can he explain how that figure was arrived at, and why he believes it represents good value for money for consumers? Will he also confirm that any change to an investment contract will be published, and that any change which results in an increase in cost to consumers in the view of the panel of independent experts will be classed as a “varied investment contract” and therefore laid before Parliament for debate? EDF has also said that its £16 billion budget included a contingency fund. If that fund is not used, or if costs underrun, what mechanism will there be to ensure that compensation goes to consumers, rather than to the general Treasury pot?
Secondly, let me turn to the impact of the announcement on our environment, on the local community and for the economy. The Secretary of State will be aware that the Energy Act 2008, passed by the last Labour Government, means that before consents for new nuclear power stations are granted, the Government have to be satisfied that effective arrangements exist, or will exist, to manage and dispose of the waste they will produce. In January, although Copeland and Allerdale borough councils were in favour, Cumbria county council voted to withdraw from the process to find a host community for an underground radioactive waste disposal facility. I understand that his Department has started a new consultation exercise to find a host site, so is he satisfied that the arrangements to manage and dispose of the waste produced at Hinkley Point C are in place?
There is also agreement across the House that communities that host nationally significant infrastructure should be compensated. In July, the Government announced a package of community benefits, but those come into force only when the plant is operational and not during the construction phase, when disruption is likely to be greatest. What consideration has the Secretary of State given to the Select Committee’s recommendation, which I know is shared by Sedgemoor district council, to extend community benefit to the construction period?
The Secretary of State also mentioned the wider economic benefits of the investment. We share his desire that today’s announcement will help to create a strong British supply chain and secure highly skilled engineering, construction and operating jobs. Last week, the Government signed a memorandum of understanding allowing Chinese companies to take a minority stake in nuclear developments in Britain. Given the nuclear expertise that exists in this country, can the Secretary of State tell the House what provisions were made to allow British firms to advise on and be involved in nuclear build in China?
Thirdly, we hope that today’s announcement is the first in a series of new nuclear projects in Britain, so let me finish on the lessons of these negotiations and today’s agreement. Today’s announcement is subject to EU state aid approval, so will the Secretary of State tell the House whether he has received any indication from the Commission about whether approval is likely to be granted and in what time scale? What are the Government doing to ensure that other potential nuclear sites are developed? Does he also accept that today’s agreement shows that long-term certainty is what really matters to unlock the investment we need, not allowing overcharging to continue now? The Government say that they cannot freeze electricity prices for 20 months, but he has just set them for 35 years for companies producing nuclear power. So does he therefore further accept that when on 24 September he said that our 20-month price freeze proposal would put “investment in doubt”, today’s announcement shows him to have been completely wrong?
Finally, as this comes on the same day as npower became the third big energy company to announce another price rise, and in light of the potential costs of this agreement, does the Secretary of State now accept that it is all the more crucial that we reform the retail energy market so that it is clear, fair and transparent, and so that consumers can have confidence that prices as well as investments provide value for what is, after all, their money?
Mr Davey
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his response and, of course, we understand that the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) has been detained through no fault of her own. I think the power failure shows that we need this investment in our economy.
I welcome the support of the hon. Gentleman and of the Labour party. Let me go through his questions. He asked first about value for money and how the figure was arrived at. We have had a huge amount of negotiations. The hon. Gentleman will have noticed that many people thought that we would end up with £100, £97 or £95 per megawatt-hour. We have done a lot better than that—we have got the figure under £90, and I do not think that anyone thought that we would do that. We have got a good figure through hard, tough negotiations.
As for the hon. Gentleman’s question about value for money tests, he will know that as we have said on the record we have compared what we have achieved with the price of low-carbon generation and gas plus the carbon price. We believe that we will be able to show, both now and when we sign the final investment contract, that we have met that test. He asked whether any changes in the future would be published and I am sure that that will happen. It is very important that Parliament is kept abreast of those big changes.
The hon. Gentleman asked what would happen if the construction costs, including the contingency fund, were not used. If EDF and NNBG make savings on the construction plan, as projected, the good news is that we have negotiated a gain-share for the consumer. The consumer will have no pain-share: if the construction costs go higher, that risk is taken by the developer, by EDF, but if the construction costs are lower, the consumer will benefit. That has not happened before, and it is a welcome protection for the consumer.
The hon. Gentleman rightly asked about waste. I can tell him and the House that I am satisfied that arrangements are in place to deal with the nuclear waste, both in the interim and in the long term. He mentioned the consultation and that is part of that process.
The hon. Gentleman asked about community benefits and he is right that the package we announced last July comes into play only when the power station is operational. We have heard the Select Committee’s recommendation and, although I cannot prejudge our response to it, we will listen to it carefully. I will only say that EDF is already benefiting the community, investing in skills and young people in the area, and economic benefits will flow during the construction phase. EDF has already said that during the peak construction £100 million will go into the local economy every year. The local community will benefit even before the community benefit package is in place.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the memorandum of understanding and how it relates to UK companies going to China. He is absolutely right: the purpose was to ensure that UK nuclear companies, and there are many, get some benefits from exports and from working in China and other markets. That is important.
The hon. Gentleman made an important point about state aid. Of course, we were in touch with the Commission before the notification. Now we have formally notified, we will continue that contact. The Commission does not tell a member state ahead of notification whether it will grant approval—of course it does not—and it will not commit itself to a time scale. I am pleased that Commissioner Almunia has told us that a team will be in place in a timely fashion and will treat the issue with the priority it deserves.
The hon. Gentleman went on to ask how other nuclear sites are doing. I could go into a lot of detail, but let me simply give him one example. He will know that Hitachi bought the Horizon site and its nuclear reactor design is in the generic design assessment phase with the Office for Nuclear Regulation. Hitachi wants to proceed with its investments and, in due course, will enter negotiations.
The hon. Gentleman wanted to relate today’s deal with Labour’s price fix con. He was trying to argue that Labour’s price fix con must be possible if we can offer a fixed price for nuclear for 35 years. Once again, the Labour party shows its economic illiteracy. Given that the Leader of the Opposition did my job, he ought to know that even if a part of the electricity generation mix has a fixed price, the majority of generating costs remain variable and will be for some time. The fact that generating costs and wholesale costs are variable, often unpredictably so, means that prices sometimes have to change to avoid firms going bust. The fact that the Opposition’s energy price fix con cannot address this is bad news for consumers, bad news for competition and bad news for investment. It is genuinely worrying that the Opposition cannot see that.
Finally, the hon. Gentleman referred to npower’s decision today, which is extremely disappointing. I would say to npower’s customers, as I have said to British Gas customers: thanks to this Government there is a choice. Under the previous Government, who created the big six, there was not a choice of independent suppliers. There are now 15 independent suppliers taking on the big six. There is a real choice now—real competition—and that is a new development. It was not the case under Labour. So we are reforming the market in the Energy Bill, creating competition and getting a much better deal for the consumer. This is a good deal for the consumer. The only thing that would not be are the Labour party’s policies.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey(11 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Davey
I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question. I hope he will be reassured by the fact that I have spoken personally both to key Unite trade union leaders and to Ineos. We persuaded them to go into ACAS talks. I regret that those talks have broken down, but I urge both parties to resume them and try to resolve this situation without industrial dispute. May I take this opportunity to say that, working with the Scottish Government and industry, we have done everything we can to make sure that if there is a dispute, the fuel will flow through Scotland’s economy?
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) gave two of the many examples that hon. Members could give of how the retail energy market is not working in the interests of households or businesses. Ensuring that all power trading is on an open exchange and stopping companies selling power to themselves at secret prices, as we are proposing, will reset the market, encourage other entrants and ensure that people know why they are paying what they are paying. Will the Minister confirm the speculation in The Times at the weekend that his Government will shortly perform a welcome U-turn and adopt our proposal to introduce a pool that will bring clarity, fairness and transparency to the UK retail energy market?
Mr Davey
No, we will not, because we have got a much better policy. Working with Ofgem and in the Energy Bill, as the hon. Gentleman ought to know now, we are tackling the real problem in the wholesale market—a problem that the previous Labour Government completely failed to deal with. Interestingly, Labour’s new policy reverses the policy that Labour implemented in government —talk about confused; never have an Opposition been so confused in their policies.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey
Mr Davey
First, I thank the hon. Gentleman for all his work on this important issue. He has made a valuable contribution. We are raising the matter, because we take it very seriously. Ensuring that consumers have the right information so that they can switch to cheaper tariffs is very important.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
It is not just households that need better protection in the energy market. Small businesses are also consumers under pressure from soaring bills. In the debate on the Queen’s Speech on 16 May, my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) asked the Secretary of State to end unfair roll-over contracts, stop small businesses being subject to six years of back-billing and ensure that energy companies act responsibly towards small firms that have fallen into difficulty. On that occasion, he was not able to give an answer. Now that he has had a chance to reflect on those issues, will he give an answer and indicate whether the Government are serious about Britain’s small businesses having support in the energy market if they are to help us to get out of recession?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Tom Greatrex and Ed Davey
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)
Is the Secretary of State aware of the concern that if Areva were to win the contract to build the reactor at Wylfa, the supply chain work may not be likely to go to UK companies? Given the comments in the Business Secretary’s confidential letter to the Prime Minister, which received some publicity earlier this week, what do the Government intend to do to maximise the opportunities for UK firms in the supply chain by encouraging contractors to buy where they build?
Mr Davey
The Government have been focusing on this with great intensity from the Prime Minister down. Indeed, when we held discussions with our French colleagues and EDF, we made it clear that we expected there to be British involvement in the supply chain, and that is beginning to happen. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the many agreements that were signed in Paris, including a ground-breaking £400 million deal on nuclear projects between Rolls-Royce and Areva.