My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, Lord Offord. As he says farewell to this Chamber, I congratulate him, on behalf of the whole House, on his forthright but reflective valedictory speech. We overlapped only very briefly as Ministers in the last Government, but, as I think we all know…
I thank noble Lords for their participation in this debate, which is obviously a very important one. We are dealing with issues here that are going to transform the way we deliver energy for this country. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Bolton, for tabling a debate that recognises the urg…
I thank the noble Lord for that question. Obviously, we will do everything we can to expedite the planning process. We are very keen on infrastructure projects that are in the national interest. I want to refer to something that the noble Lord said yesterday about this Government’s approach to renew…
My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Statement made by the Secretary of State in the other place a week ago.
The state of climate and nature is one of the most important areas of policy that we can discuss in both Houses. However, true to form, the Secretary of State took advantage…
I thank noble Lords for their contributions, questions and general support for these technical adjustments to regulations. This Government remain firmly committed to supporting the households that need it most to live in warm homes with lower bills, while ensuring value for money and maintaining hig…
I thank noble Lords for their comments and their general support for these regulations, which, as I said in my opening remarks, are technical in scope. This Government are steadfastly committed to maintaining our electricity security and creating viable routes for unabated gas plants to decarbonise.…
I thank the noble Lord for that question, but I think that the Opposition want to airbrush out of the equation the last 14 years, from 2010 to 2024. As far as the petrochemical industry and oil refineries are concerned, under the last Government’s watch two oil refineries closed and a third, Grangem…
My Lords, I remind the House that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association. I understand the ambition of the Bill to speed up infrastructure delivery. Planning frameworks are complex and can be slow. But I remind Ministers that when the Audit Commission existed, it audited planning …
We have plans on the go to make everybody’s energy bills cheaper. We need to move towards having energy that is essentially homegrown, as at the moment it is not. We need to move in that direction if we want to bring down bills, which is the target of this Government.
My Lords, I begin by expressing my sympathy for all those impacted by the recent blackouts in Spain, Portugal and beyond. This blackout should serve as a stark reminder of the consequences when the power grid fails. Prolonged blackouts are devastating. The collapse of the grid in Iberia highlights t…
If I understand this, you are moving from 50 megawatts to 100 megawatts. So the 50 to 100 goes under the Town and Country Planning Act as local decisions. You are actually increasing it; previously the 50 to 100 was under NSIP. Therefore, what you are saying is completely wrong.
Would my noble friend give way so I can ask him about the phrase “arbitrary targets”? The targets are actually the result of the detailed propositions of the Climate Change Committee; they are not arbitrary in any way. He may disagree with the targets, but “arbitrary” means that they have just been …
My Lords, the UK has the highest industrial electricity prices in the OECD. We have discussed this many times in your Lordships’ House. Our prices are 45 times more expensive than in the USA and seven times more expensive than in China. Without cheap energy we are deindustrialising through the back …
My Lords, if I may say so, that sounded like a very dogmatic question. The noble Lord would be forgiven for not thinking that, in government, his party passed legislation committing us to net zero in 2050. As for the points he makes in relation to jobs, he will know that, in February, the CBI publis…
My Lords, I do not need to say anything further than that I withdraw the amendment I tabled. I thank the Minister for the response that he has given to the House. I commend the Government’s amendment to the House.