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Energy Bill

We support the amendment on the basis that local communities will be involved through the local authority. One of the problems with the privatisation of many of the companies with which we are concerned is that there do not seem to be many access points to long-term decisions, and we cannot get a great deal more long term than nuclear waste because it will be with us for generations to come. Therefore, I hope that the Government will add local authorities to the Bill, because it may make the process much more acceptable to local communities. Sellafield is very popular locally because of the jobs associated with it, but if storage was to take place in other places, one would have to make sure that the local population was happy with the situation. One of most important aspects of that is ensuring that decision-making is inclusive and that information is spread through local authorities.