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