Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will undertake a public consultation on the use of funding from the public purse in support of a nuclear programme.

As announced in my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s statement to Parliament on 4th June 2018, the Government has decided to enter into negotiations with Hitachi over the Wylfa Newydd new nuclear project. As part of these negotiations Government is considering direct investment into the project. Details of any Government investment are subject to negotiation and yet to be decided.

The Secretary of State made the statement at the earliest opportunity and committed to keeping Parliament informed during the negotiations, although due to the commercially sensitive nature of the negotiations, it is not appropriate to consult publicly on the details of the financing arrangements.

As set out in the Secretary of State’s statement to Parliament on 4^th June 2018 it remains the Government’s objective in the longer term that new nuclear projects, like other energy infrastructure, should be financed by the private sector.