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Standing Committee B
Thursday 20 May 2004
(Afternoon)
[Mr. Jonathan Sayeed in the Chair]
Clause 1
Security and integrity of supply
Amendment proposed [this day]: No. 41, in
clause 1, page 1, line 4, leave out from 'State' to end of line 5 and insert
', having regard to the regulatory arrangements, shall have a duty to enable the framework whereby the market can ensure the security of electricity and gas supplies and the Secretary of State shall make regular reports to Parliament on these matters.'.—[Mr. Laurence Robertson.]
2.30 pm
Question again proposed, That the amendment be made.
The Chairman: I remind the Committee that with this we are discussing the following:
Amendment No. 38A, in
Amendment No. 72, in
clause 1, page 1, line 5, at end add—
'(2) The Secretary of State's duty under this section shall be wholly delegated to GEMA save and except after—
(a) GEMA has made a report to the Secretary of State setting out its reasons for believing that it has insufficient powers to carry out this duty, and
(b) the expiry of one year's notice of intended reversion of the duty to the Secretary of State.'.
Amendment No. 73, in
clause 1, page 1, line 5, at end add—
'(2) Such a duty shall in particular require the Secretary of State to have regard to—
(a) provision of supply in a national emergency,
(b) estimates of the long-term requirements for energy at the point of use, and
(c) the reduction in energy use achievable through conservation and efficiency measures.'.
Amendment No. 74, in
Clause 1 stand part.
New clause 13—Security of supply report—
'The Secretary of State must in each calendar year, beginning with 2005, publish a report (''a security of supply report'') on the progress made in the reporting period towards maintaining and enhancing, if necessary, UK security of supply.'.
Mr. Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con): I begin this part of my remarks by saying what a pleasure it is to see you chairing this Committee, Mr. Sayeed. We look forward to working with you.
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Before lunch, I was in the process of saying that we had had a good debate on the security of supply. It took all morning, but it was probably right to take so much time, because it is an important issue. In summing up, the Minister expressed sympathy for the clause that had been inserted by the Lords and, in particular, for my amendment No. 41. My understanding is that he promised to consider the amendment further. He said that he was not happy with all of it, but that there were parts that he would discuss with the Opposition immediately after the forthcoming recess, with a view to perhaps introducing something on Report. On the basis of those sympathetic remarks, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 1 disagreed to.
Clause 2
Annual reports under section 1 of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003
Dr. Desmond Turner (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab): I beg to move amendment No. 8, in
clause 2, page 2, line 7, leave out 'and demonstration' and insert 'demonstration and deployment'.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Clause 2 stand part.
Clause 3 stand part.
Amendment No. 39, in
Government new clause 7—Reports under section 1 of Sustainable Energy Act 2003—and amendment (a) thereto:
after ''clean coal technology;'' insert '(aa) coal mine methane;'.
New clause 8—Environmental targets—
'(1) The Secretary of State shall within six months of this Act receiving Royal Assent lay before each House of Parliament a report, prepared in consultation with the devolved administrations, on renewable energy and that report shall include—
(a) a set target for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, with individual targets for each area covered by devolved administrations as agreed between the Secretary of State and the relevant devolved administrations for the following ten year period,
(b) a set target for the percentage of electricity to be generated by renewable energy sources, with individual targets for each area covered by devolved administrations as agreed between the Secretary of State and the relevant devolved administrations for the following ten year period,
(c) the amount of electricity being generated by each method of renewable energy, and
(d) a strategy for meeting the targets set out in paragraphs (a) and (b).
(2) In each year thereafter the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a report setting out—
(a) progress made towards the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target,
(b) progress made towards the renewable energy target,
(c) the amount of electricity being generated by each method of renewable energy, and
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(d) strategy for meeting the continuing targets for both greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy with proposals for any changes necessary for meeting the targets set in subsection (1)(a) and (b).
(3) At the end of the initial ten year period, and every ten years thereafter, the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a report setting out the measures specified in subsection (1) for the following ten year period and in every year thereafter lay before each House of Parliament the report specified in subsection (2).'.
New clause 9—Report on sustainable energy policy commitments—
New clause 10—Amendment of Sustainable Energy Act 2003—
After section 2 of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003 there is inserted—
''2A Energy efficiency of business and public sector buildings: Secretary of State
(1) The Secretary of State must within one week beginning with the coming into force of this section designate under this subsection at least one energy efficiency aim.
(2) For the purposes of this section an ''energy efficiency aim'' is an aim which—
(a) is contained in a published document;
(b) relates to the energy efficiency of business and public sector buildings;
(c) specifies the amount of carbon dioxide to be saved from business and public sector buildings; and
(d) is compatible with European Union obligations and any other international obligations of the United Kingdom.
(3) The Secretary of State may, at any time after designation under subsection (1), designate under this subsection a further energy efficiency aim or aims.
(4) Where an energy efficiency aim is for the time being designated under this section, the Secretary of State must take reasonable steps to achieve the aim.
(5) In deciding which steps to take for the purposes of subsection (4), the Secretary of State must consider steps relating to the heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and insulation of business and public sector buildings.
(6) A designation under this section may be withdrawn, but not if its withdrawal would result in there being no energy efficiency aim designated under this section.
(7) If an energy efficiency aim designated under this section ceases to meet the condition in subsection (2)(d) it ceases to be designated under this section, but if this results in there being no energy efficiency aim so designated the Secretary of State must without delay designate a new energy efficiency aim.
(8) A designation of an aim under this section, or a withdrawal or cessation of such a designation, must be published in such a way as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(9) A designation may be contained in the same published document as the aim itself.
(10) In this section ''business and public sector buildings'' means buildings specified under any enactments or otherwise as business or public sector buildings.
(11) This section shall come into force on 1st January 2005.''.'.
New clause 12—Duty relating to energy provision and use—
'The Secretary of State shall have a duty to promote the efficient provision and use of energy [gas and electricity], and to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.'.
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Dr. Turner: May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under you as Chairman for the first time, Mr. Sayeed? Putting you in the Chair is obviously a way of keeping you out of the discussion. I hope that you do not find it too frustrating an experience.
Once again, the amendment will be redundant in practice because the clause will go, and I apologise to the Committee that I was not as sharp as my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) in spotting that and tabling an amendment to the new clause in time for today's debate. I will endeavour to do that on Report instead.
Amendment No. 8 looks as if it may be just a piece of semantics, but it is not. There is a clear distinction between the research and development of a technology and its deployment. It is vital that we do not do the research and development only. We have a long and honourable history in research and development in this country, but a less successful history of deployment. It is a constant criticism of the Department of Trade and Industry that it is good at supporting research and development only until the work gets anywhere near commercial exploitation. I mean no disrespect to the Minister, but that is what people in various industries have told us.
The difference is illustrated by what is happening with offshore wind power. The technology has already been researched and developed; one can buy a turbine off the shelf. If a turbine is going to be installed onshore, there is no need for any further Government help. For offshore installation, however, the Government have recognised that further help is needed to deploy the technology and are providing that through capital grants.
Under the amendment, such deployment would form part of the report. What matters is not just that we have a technology; we want to know how many megawatts of it are in place and how much progress has been made towards meeting the renewables target through its use. That is why I specifically want to insert the word ''deployment''. I want to make it clear that the Government will—as I believe they intend to—give whatever assistance is necessary. There may be means other than simple capital grants. The Government can help the deployment of technologies in all sorts of ways. We could expand on that all afternoon, but the Committee would not thank me for doing so, so I will not.
I want to make it clear in the Bill that the Government will assist the deployment of new technologies in any of the fields listed in clause 2 and new clause 7, and that that will be reported on, so that Parliament can note the progress that the Government are making and, if it is not satisfied with that progress, tell the Government to do better, if that is required.
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