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905 National Policy Statements 1 DECEMBER 2010 National Policy Statements 906
Christopher Pincher: I am grateful to my hon. Friend
for being so generous. May I take him back to his earlier
remarks about energy security and how the national
policy statements will feed into our energy security?
Energy security not only relates to the Department of
Energy and Climate Change, but has an impact on the
Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, the Department for International Development
and the Department for Transport. How do the threads
in our national policy statements interweave to ensure
that across all those Departments we have a holistic
approach to energy security?
Charles Hendry: One thing that has struck and impressed
me most as an incoming Minister has been the extent to
which Departments work constructively together, with
information shared appropriately and buy-in from every
Department on policy proposals. My Department clearly
leads on the energy market and the Treasury is critically
involved in setting a carbon price, which we believe is
part of the process, but there is a holistic approach and
investors are looking at that to make sure that there is
joined-up government.
I want to close, so perhaps I can respond in my
winding-up speech to any additional points about the
exact way in which we will take the process forward.
Having spoken for the best part of an hour, I feel that
many hon. Members on both sides of the House will
wish to have a chance to contribute fully to the debate.
In conclusion, our reforms of the major infrastructure
planning process will ensure much greater democratic
accountability. Ministers will be responsible for decisions
to consent to or refuse major infrastructure development,
and there will be a binding vote in the House on
whether to approve national policy statements. Our
debate today is about whether the House has considered
the matter of the draft energy national policy statements,
and I look forward to listening to it and having the
chance to hear the expertise that so many hon. Members
have to offer.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans): Order. As the
Minister says, a number of Members will be trying to
catch my eye during this debate. Therefore, I am introducing
a seven-minute limit on speeches.
5.31 pm
Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab): Thank you,
Mr Deputy Speaker. I have indicated to you through the
usual channels that, if it is your wish, I am more than
happy to forgo any concluding remarks so that more
people have time to make their contributions.
I welcome this general debate about national policy
statements, which is timely and necessary. I thank the
Energy and Climate Change Committee for its continuing
effort and expertise and, of course, the Committee on
Climate Change for its recommendations and analysis.
We share much of the Minister’s analysis of the challenges,
but that is not surprising because, as I say with some
humility, my predecessors laid the groundwork that he
is continuing. We are glad to see him and his colleagues
taking up the baton with such relish, because they do so
at a critical juncture, when delay and dithering would be
terminal to investor certainty, UK energy security and
our low-carbon future. There is a real need to get on
with that work.
On that thought, the shadow Front-Bench team and
I—and I am sure the whole House—send our best
wishes to the Secretary of State and his team on their
negotiations in Cancun. In government, Labour adopted
the world’s first legally binding framework to cut emissions,
by 80% by 2050, signalling our clear intent and leadership
on tackling climate change. My right hon. Friend the
Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) played
a difficult hand with some great skill and not insignificant
personal commitment at Copenhagen when he was
Secretary of State, and although the job has not become
any easier, we hope that the new Secretary of State will
keep the momentum going.
Let us reprise where we are, as laid out in the documents
before us. One quarter of the UK’s generating capacity
will close by 2018, and as much as 30% will need to be
replaced by 2020. Without prompt action we face an
electricity generation gap in the next 10 to 15 years as
our nuclear and coal-powered stations are retired. World
energy demand is rising and often highly politicised; as
North sea reserves decline, we are increasingly reliant
on imported oil and gas; and, as the Minister says,
electricity demand is forecast to double over the next
40 years. That will require rapid decarbonisation of the
electricity sector, diversification of the energy sector
with a decreasing reliance on fossil fuels and unabated
combustion, and an increasing reliance on renewables,
low-carbon energy and decentralised energy.
We will also require development of carbon capture
and storage and renewables technology for the UK and
for international markets. We will need to create sufficient
capacity to meet electricity generation needs at all times,
and we will need to put the necessary supply chains in
place. I will not go over the issue of Sheffield Forgemasters
again, as it has been well aired already. We will require
the development of smart grid and electricity networks
to meet the needs of a reconfigured, smart and diverse
electricity infrastructure and, of course, investment in
gas infrastructure.
Ian Lavery: The doubling of the electricity recovery
rate over the next 40 years is vital. As was mentioned,
the first phase of the four demonstration plants will
cost up to £1 billion. Does my hon. Friend agree that it
is essential that funding is found from somewhere to
fund phases 2, 3 and 4 if we are to meet our electricity
requirements over that period?
Huw Irranca-Davies: Yes, I agree entirely. It was
wonderful news that after a slight delay to do with the
coalition agreement, getting things in order, and some
wrangling with the Treasury, we had the announcement
that £1 billion would be available—the commitment
that the Labour Government had made to the first
phase of CCS on a commercial scale. However, it is
equally essential that we have phases 2, 3 and 4. I am
sure that the Minister is committed to continuing that
wrangling with the Treasury to ensure that we find the
mechanisms that will allow that to happen, and promptly.
We need it for coal, but we also need it for gas. I
welcome the in-principle announcements that have been
made about phases 2, 3 and 4, but what we are waiting
for, as with so much else, is the detail to make it certain.