Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the implications for her policies on support for community-based renewable generation projects are of the proposed changes to the feed-in tariff scheme and HM Treasury's decision to remove such projects from tax relief.

Part of the purpose of the feed-in tariff (FIT) review consultation was to gather views on the broader economic impact of the proposed changes. We also sought views on whether the scheme should be focussed towards specific groups or sectors which might, for example, include households or communities. We had a strong response from community energy groups via the consultation and workshops.

The actual impact on the community sector will depend on the options taken forward after all responses to the consultation have been considered. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation and intend to publish a Government response as soon as possible.

The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to provide funding to smaller higher-risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access finance to develop and grow. To ensure that the schemes are well targeted and deliver value for money, the government announced at the Autumn Statement the exclusion of all remaining energy generation activities from the schemes. This follows the exclusion of certain types of energy generation in 2012, 2014 and 2015, including most recently the announcement that the provision of reserve energy generating capacity and the generation of renewable energy benefiting from other government support by community energy organisations would be excluded from the schemes with effect from 30^th November 2015, as well as from Social Investment Tax Relief when that scheme is expanded. These changes help to ensure that higher risk investments are not crowded out by lower risk investments.

We will continue to work with the community energy sector over the coming months to develop a joint approach that addresses the priorities of the sector and satisfies our overarching objective of cost-effective emissions reductions.