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889 1 DECEMBER 2010 National Policy Statements 890
National Policy Statements
[Relevant documents: The Third Report from the Energy
and Climate Change Committee, Session 2009-10, on
The proposals for national policy statements on energy,
HC 231, and the Government’s response thereto, and the
Minutes of Evidence taken before the Energy and Climate
Change Committee on 30 November, HC 648-i.]
4.35 pm
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and
Climate Change (Charles Hendry): I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of the draft Energy
National Policy Statements.
The revised draft national policy statements for energy
set out national policy, which must be considered in
determining whether consent should be granted to
infrastructure projects that are examined by the
Infrastructure Planning Commission. As right hon. and
hon. Members will be aware, the previous Administration
consulted on a suite of draft energy national policy
statements between November 2009 and February 2010.
Alongside that consultation, Parliament undertook scrutiny
of the draft national policy statements. Scrutiny in this
House was undertaken by the Select Committee on
Energy and Climate Change, which held a number of
oral hearings, requested written evidence and published
a report of its findings, together with 30 recommendations
and conclusions. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the then members of the Committee for the
important work that they undertook and the thoroughness
with which they approached it.
This afternoon’s debate is part of Parliament’s scrutiny
of the draft energy national policy statements, so I will
talk about the purpose of national policy statements
and the changes that we have made to them, the
parliamentary scrutiny process required for national
policy statements, and the coalition Government’s proposals
for planning reform. The statements are complicated,
lengthy documents that cover all aspects of energy
policy, so I will talk at some length in introducing them.
I hope that the House will bear with me. I will also give
way to any interventions from hon. Members wishing
to raise concerns. However, before going into the detail
of the national policy statements, I would like to take a
moment to set out the background to the coalition
Government’s energy policy and the need to build new
major energy infrastructure, as it is against that background
that such massive new investment is required.
Our energy policy is based on four pillars: energy
saving, more renewables, new nuclear, and clean coal
and gas. That includes the green deal, which we believe
will help to bring existing buildings up to 21st-century
efficiency standards. We are taking steps to reduce
demand for gas through both energy efficiency measures
to help improve our energy security, and demand-side
response, through interruptable contracts for large users
that will ensure that domestic users are prioritised in an
emergency. A reduction in demand will also help to
improve our energy security. Under the green deal,
home owners and businesses will be able to get energy
efficiency improvements without having to pay cash in
advance. The private sector will provide the up-front
funding, receiving its money back from the energy
savings on household bills. That will help to save energy,
reduce carbon and protect energy consumers from price
rises through greater energy savings.
John Robertson (Glasgow North West) (Lab): I commend
the hon. Gentleman on the work that he did on the
Energy and Climate Change Committee, and on which
he congratulated everyone involved—they say that selfpraise
is no praise, but there we go. My great worry, and
that of many of my colleagues on the Opposition
Benches, is that the poor will always suffer. While
everybody else is looking for ways of saving money,
they cannot do so. What will his Government do to help
people who perhaps cannot afford to do what is necessary
to make the savings that he is talking about?
Charles Hendry: The hon. Gentleman has often raised
this issue in the Select Committee in the past, and it
should be at the heart of our thinking. At this time of
year, when people are struggling to pay their bills, how
they will pay them in the future is a matter of great
concern to us.
The nature of the green deal is that it does not
depend on the creditworthiness of the individual
householder. A charge will be set against the future
energy bills of their property, with the condition that
the total cost of the energy efficiency measures should
be such that it can be repaid through that extra charge
over a period of 20 or 25 years. So the people living in
those properties will get the immediate full benefit in
terms of warmth and reduced energy consumption, but
the charge will be brought back over time. We think that
this policy has been devised in a way that has at its heart
the interests of those who are fuel poor and have
difficulty in paying their bills. The hon. Gentleman is
absolutely right to say that, in all these issues, there are
massive costs for consumers. Our job as a Government
is to find ways of trying to drive down the number of
units that consumers will be using. The green deal is
part of that process, as is smart metering.
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/
Co-op): May I issue an appeal to the Minister and his
colleagues that, as the green deal mechanism is being
finalised and formulated, it should not be targeted at
only cavity wall and loft insulation? There are many
properties in my constituency and elsewhere for which
that would be no use at all, and some of those properties
are among the least fuel efficient.
Charles Hendry: The hon. Gentleman brings to the
House a huge amount of expertise on these issues and I
very much welcome his contribution. He has touched
on an issue that is at the core of our thinking on how to
take the green deal forward. He is absolutely right to say
that, while a significant number of houses would be
helped if it were to address issues of cavity wall and loft
insulation, there are many that do not have cavity walls
and many that need additional measures. We are looking
at the role that boilers can play in regard to energy
efficiency, because that area has not been given sufficient
attention in the past. The key will be to find a range of
measures that are relevant to each individual property,
the savings from which will justify the investment over
time. I can give the hon. Gentleman an absolute assurance
that the type of houses that he is talking about in his
constituency, in mine, and in many others across the
country will be very much included as the green deal is
developed.