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UK Government's Energy Policy

I associate myself with those comments, and indeed, inasmuch as my constituents can travel down the A55 to Anglesey for employment opportunities, there are literally tens of people who travel down to Broughton, for example, to gain employment. Therefore the economic impact of large-scale projects in north Wales benefits the whole region. I accept that completely. I have one concern. I believe that we have to make the best of this investment. We must put the past behind us, accept that that development is happening and concentrate on the economic opportunities it brings. However, time and again we have been told that where there are large sustainable energy developments in Wales, a community benefits package will be afforded to the local community. I have raised my concern several times since being elected. The development of Gwynt y Môr was controversial—I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister would attest to that. However, we were promised a community benefits package, which included a tourism benefits package, in the arguments for trying to persuade the local authority to provide support for the development. My concern is that the amounts of money debated and bandied around pre planning permission were significantly different from those that were discussed post planning permission. It has created a real feeling of betrayal in parts of my constituency, because the figures that were presented as part of the arguments in favour of the development have certainly not materialised. The question I would ask my hon. Friend the Minister to raise on my behalf relates to the need for certainty on community benefits packages. I represent a constituency where there are great opportunities for renewable energy, whether hydro or wind power. The opportunities exist, but if local communities are to be persuaded of the merits of the arguments, they should be able to be confident that when a community benefits package is promised, it turns into reality when the planning permission is granted. I have raised the issue on two occasions, and I have had two different answers. In a parliamentary answer from the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) I received a positive response to my complaint about compensation packages changing between pre and post-planning. It said: ““There are no plans to enable local authorities to secure and enforce the provision of such financial community benefits compensation.””— [Official Report, 11 October 2010; Vol. 516, c. 109W.] I was obviously fairly disappointed with that response. After that, I took part in a Westminster Hall debate and raised the same issue. I am beginning to sound like a record, repeating myself. In that debate the response came from the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), who stated that the Government want to spell out with rather more precision exactly how local communities may benefit from the approval of wind farm development and, where appropriate, enforce those rights. There is a difference between the two responses, and my final plea today is for the Secretary of State and the Minister to raise the issue with their colleagues. There is great good will in my constituency for energy to be developed from alternative sources. Of course, as my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth said, we cannot depend entirely on energy from renewable sources, which is why I am such a supporter of the nuclear power station at Wylfa, but it is important that when communities are persuaded to welcome wind farms and other alternative forms of energy they should have some certainty that the funds promised to them prior to planning consent being given are the same sums that will be provided after the event.