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919 National Policy Statements 1 DECEMBER 2010 National Policy Statements 920<br />
[Dr Whitehead]<br />
for plants that are not yet completed and that will be<br />
needed for a decentralised and decarbonised future<br />
energy supply.<br />
I do not have time to go into the matter of electricity<br />
storage, but I hope that the NPSs will pay some attention<br />
to that question. It is not true that electricity cannot be<br />
stored, as NPS EN-1 says. It can be stored and storage<br />
must be a future part of our increased capacity, as the<br />
Minister mentioned in the Select Committee yesterday.<br />
I hope that the Minister will reflect on that.<br />
6.21 pm<br />
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con): Thank you,<br />
Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to<br />
this stimulating debate, which is fundamentally focused<br />
on the process of establishing the Government’s important<br />
plan for the greatest increase in energy capacity and<br />
generation that we will see in our lifetimes. It is required,<br />
of course, to avoid a situation such as the one described<br />
by the line, “The lights are going out all over Europe; we<br />
may not see them lit again in our lifetimes.” That phrase<br />
was used by Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign<br />
Secretary at the beginning of the first world war, as a<br />
metaphor for the catastrophe that was enveloping our<br />
continent, but by 2014 it could be the reality of our<br />
energy situation.<br />
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on leading<br />
us towards a plan and through a process that will attract<br />
the enormous new investment of some £200 billion that<br />
is required to replace a third of all power stations in the<br />
next 10 years. I want to touch briefly on one aspect of it,<br />
which is the nuclear energy part. I am conscious that the<br />
shadow Minister said earlier that our overall energy<br />
situation was in “darn good shape” and “ready to go”.<br />
If new nuclear power stations had been under starter’s<br />
orders for 13 years, t<strong>here</strong> must have been a terrible<br />
problem with the starter’s pistol.<br />
Today those plans are closer to becoming reality, not<br />
least because of the contribution made by EDF and its<br />
plan for a new nuclear power station. It is worth reminding<br />
Members that EDF took over the eight existing nuclear<br />
power stations previously operated by British Energy<br />
from Barnwood in my constituency. It is also worth<br />
noting EDF’s considerable investment, which will benefit<br />
people all over this country, of £20 billion towards the<br />
next new power station. That is almost twice EDF’s<br />
initial investment in buying British Energy.<br />
With the new generation of nuclear power stations<br />
come one or two other things I want to make the House<br />
aware of. First, the Barnwood nuclear power academy<br />
is becoming the training academy for nuclear engineers<br />
not just from this country but from all over Europe, and<br />
it brings thousands of young engineers to learn their<br />
trade in the centre of England. It is also running the<br />
country’s leading apprenticeship scheme, with some<br />
400 apprentices studying on a four-year course. I am<br />
optimistic that before the Gloucestershire apprenticeship<br />
fair in February of next year, the academy will offer<br />
more apprenticeships in finance and human resources<br />
as well as in the core business of engineering on the<br />
operations side. Nuclear power is critical to the future<br />
of our energy supply and to employment opportunities<br />
in the energy sector—EDF will create some 2,000 jobs<br />
over the next 10 years. It is also important in terms of<br />
employment opportunities for our young through an<br />
ever-expanding apprenticeship scheme. That illustrates<br />
how important it is, first, to attract foreign investment<br />
to Britain; and secondly, to set up a framework and a<br />
robust plan so investors have the confidence to fulfil<br />
their part in the important new energy capabilities that<br />
the Minister is shaping us towards.<br />
I conclude by saying that I hugely look forward to<br />
hosting a visit by the Minister to Barnwood soon to see<br />
at first hand the enthusiasm in my constituency both for<br />
tackling the energy shortages in our country and for<br />
building new nuclear power stations. Overall, the national<br />
policy statements will contribute hugely to having a<br />
more robust process, and I will certainly vote in favour<br />
of them this evening.<br />
6.26 pm<br />
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/<br />
Co-op): I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in<br />
this debate. I served for a short time on the Energy and<br />
Climate Change Committee before being moved on to<br />
other things.<br />
As the Minister and the shadow Minister, my hon.<br />
Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies),<br />
made clear in their opening remarks, the policy statements<br />
are important, and it is crucial that we have the opportunity<br />
to debate them—I hope that we will have more opportunity<br />
to debate them than the short time that is available this<br />
evening. Bearing in mind that several Government Members<br />
want to speak, I will try to curtail my remarks to less<br />
than seven minutes, if possible.<br />
As the Minister has said, policy statements are crucial<br />
to energy security, our capacity and our ageing plant,<br />
which needs to be replaced. As the hon. Member for<br />
Gloucester (Richard Graham) said, they are crucial to<br />
investment, which can create and sustain jobs in the<br />
industry and the supply chain—I know that many Members<br />
on both sides of the House have a definite interest in<br />
that.<br />
I will not repeat the issues with Sheffield Forgemasters,<br />
other than to say that it is a crying shame that opportunities<br />
to develop, nurture and create jobs and skills will be<br />
enjoyed by other parts of the world, when we are<br />
focused on trying—in the words of the Prime Minister—to<br />
“rebalance the economy”.<br />
I want to touch on a couple of issues, to which I hope<br />
the Minister will respond. Many Members are more<br />
than aware of the huge frustration at the time it takes to<br />
move an infrastructure project from planning to building<br />
and to being ready for use—the clock is, as we all know,<br />
ticking. The previous Government looked to address<br />
that frustration through the Infrastructure Planning<br />
Commission. T<strong>here</strong> are concerns that by choosing a<br />
different route—by making the IPC part of the Planning<br />
Inspectorate—the Government might be subjecting the<br />
certainty that investors need to further delays. In moving<br />
to that model, I hope that some reassurance will be<br />
given that delays will not result in investment decisions<br />
not being taken or in investment being taken elsew<strong>here</strong>.<br />
That is absolutely crucial.<br />
The Minister knows from our discussions that I<br />
welcome the Government’s commitment to carbon capture<br />
and storage and to the pilot project at Longannet. That<br />
is the right project, given the speed with which existing<br />
coal technology can be retrofitted and be up and running.