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Finance (No. 2) Bill

I am talking about the creation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the movement from its predecessor authority, which is all that these provisions cover. The position as regards state aid confirms that it is tax-neutral; otherwise, it would not get state aid. These provisions concern the arrangements in the Energy Act for transferring from one public body to another. The accounting period for those public bodies would end as soon as they became private companies and moved beyond the scope of the provisions. My final point is not directly relevant to the clause but may help the House. Under the 2004 spending review, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority received a budget of £2.2 billion for 2005-06. That is to be derived half from commercial activities and, over time, commercial income in recognising those costs. As I understand it, the proposals on tax neutrality within Government, having been agreed by this House in 2004, had to be amended following a mismatch with regard to timing. The Bill lines that up again to preserve the position. I can absolutely confirm to the House that there is no question of state aid subsidies, nor can there be given the clearance that we have sought. On that basis, I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West, who follows these issues with great interest and in some detail, will not press his amendment. I feel that his questions are more relevantly directed to the future than to the past, whereas these clauses are directed to the past and to ensuring that we discharge our responsibilities on nuclear decommissioning.