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Energy Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord has just referred to a post-oil economy. When, in anticipation of a strike, the Grangemouth refinery was shut down recently, motorists in my part of the world realised for a brief moment the importance of security of fuel supply. People on the whole did not panic, but it took only three days of a bit of extra topping-up for there to be no diesel at all left in our town, while a number of petrol pumps were empty. The situation was relieved only by tankers arriving in the River Forth from elsewhere. We realised, momentarily, that security of supply is crucial to our lives and not to be taken for granted. The Bill is partly about that. It may be limited to only a few aspects of our energy future but it is nevertheless necessary and is, as most noble Lords have said, very urgently needed. Taken together with the Climate Change Bill and the Planning Bill, it is the outcome of the Government at long last beginning to make up their mind and give a lead on the many practical changes that have to be made in the energy field. Airy discussion of global warming and the charm of renewables is comparatively easy, as we have seen over a number of years, but the reality of what has to be done, and done in time and paid for, if we are to have security of supply in the United Kingdom, is much more difficult. Some noble Lords may remember that not long ago two French politicians from opposing parties came to speak to an all-party group here on how France set about persuading its electorate several decades ago that their future lay in building a large number of nuclear power stations. This was achieved by different political parties coming together in a campaign to educate the public about nuclear power generation and about why it was the best way. France has no oil of its own. The people had to be persuaded, and they were. There are now 59 nuclear power stations in France generating more than 78 per cent of its electricity. That was necessary leadership. Albeit there were few alternatives for France, needs must when the devil drives, as they say. It is only now, as the hitherto oil-rich UK begins to realise the implications of oil and gas dependency coming to us and the likely timetable ahead, that the Government are getting down to the detail. From now on leadership will be of the essence. Great urgency is needed in developing the matters dealt with in the Bill and those not in the Bill. I shall not reiterate them as we have heard about them several times. My main point is that leadership is now needed not just at Westminster but in the devolved Administrations as well. What is happening in Scotland is not encouraging. Under the Scotland Act, energy is reserved to Westminster, which is sensible. Nowadays, Scotland’s energy generation is an integral part of the United Kingdom system, so the Bill applies to Scotland, apart from chapter 1 of Part 3, to which I shall return in a moment. The problem is that the populist minority Scottish National Party Administration, in their desire always to please and never to ask for difficult decisions, are trying to lead in two opposite directions at once. They want a much stronger economy and a Scotland better able to stand on its own feet, which is wholly laudable, but they also want a nuclear-free Scotland and aim to use existing planning powers to block any proposal for a new nuclear power station in Scotland. Incidentally, those powers will not be affected by the Planning Bill now in another place as it does not extend to Scotland—I suspect, disastrously. At the same time the Administration have just called in, and blocked, planning permission for a vast 181 turbine wind farm on the Isle of Lewis which would have made a major contribution to Glasgow’s electricity and would have created 400 new jobs. However, there was a row about the effect on the island’s ecology so Ministers blocked it. Other significant wind farm developments are alarmingly slow to materialise. Clyde wind farm, promoted by Airtricity, is five years behind schedule, the local planning authority having taken three years to refer it to a public inquiry in 2006. Also stuck in a public inquiry—the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, referred to this kind of thing—is a huge line of giant pylons cutting through the beautiful countryside between Beauly, near Inverness, and Denny, near Glasgow. It is essential for transmitting electricity from a large number of intended wind farms to the centres where most people live, but vast pylons conflict with tourism; and tourism is crucial where the line is planned, so there is a public inquiry. It seems that, across Scotland, projects spend two or three times as long in the planning system as in England, and in the end only 56 per cent are approved, compared to 65 per cent in England, 77 per cent in Wales and 93 per cent in Northern Ireland. To replace outdated electricity generation in a clean, green way, in sufficient quantity and in time, is in fact probably impossible without nuclear power. Far from planning, as it might, to export electricity, Scotland is going to depend on England for supply. By the same token, Scotland in its Cairngorm Mountains has the right sort of rock for the deep down, permanent disposal of nuclear waste. However, the SNP boasts, ““No nuclear dumping in Scotland””. It could well, given safe, proven techniques, be missing out on a lucrative new industry offering many jobs, provided by natural resources. That leads me to ask the Minister one question. Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Bill, which includes the clauses dealing with decommissioning and clean-up of future new nuclear installations, does not apply to Scotland. I understand that that is because the Scottish Executive want no nuclear power. If, as seems inevitable, the present or a future Scottish Executive find new nuclear build unavoidable, do they have the power under, Head D4 in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act to legislate for themselves? If not, would it not be better, with a view to the future, to apply Chapter 1 of Part 3 to Scotland now? That is a serious question, which the Government should perhaps look at. If the Minister is able to answer now, that would be excellent; but if not could he perhaps write to me about it? It matters very much. To summarise, the French have shown what leadership can do in the difficult business of changing energy policy. It involves political parties taking responsibility courageously and together. In this country, that involves the devolved Administrations as well as Westminster. I hope that will soon be better understood in Scotland. For our part, I hope that this House, while improving the Bill where necessary, will give it a fair wind today.