Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of reinstating tax relief for investors in community energy schemes.

The venture capital tax reliefs are intended to incentivise investment in higher risk companies who struggle to access finance. Energy generation was excluded from these schemes in 2016 in response to evidence of such investments being used for tax planning purposes. The Government has no current plans to reinstate eligibility for community energy schemes.

The Government offers other forms of support to community energy projects, including through five new regional Local Energy Hubs, the new Smart Export Guarantee and the £10m Rural Community Energy Fund.