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UK Government's Energy Policy

I will not because I want to address the hon. Gentleman’s points, and I am sure that he is more interested in that than knockabout. The right hon. Member for Neath also mentioned fuel duty. I have to remind the Committee that the fuel duty escalator is Labour’s escalator. It was imposed by the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown). Hon. Members will also know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is currently looking at the issue of whether the escalator should be implemented in April. We will have to wait for the Budget for that. The right hon. Member for Neath also mentioned VAT, criticising the Government for the 2.5% increase. Whenever Opposition Members mention the issue of VAT, they should ask themselves why we need to increase taxes. We need to increase taxes to reduce the deficit, and that deficit is Labour’s deficit. It is interesting to note that although Opposition Members are quick to criticise any measures aimed at deficit reduction, they are always totally unwilling to say how they would achieve that themselves. Deficit denial is endemic on the Opposition Benches. Unless they can be sufficiently courageous to acknowledge that the deficit exists and needs to be reduced, and come up with credible plans of their own as to how that should be done, they are in no position to criticise any of the necessary fiscal measures that this Government have put into place. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned—as did the hon. Member for Pontypridd—the Severn barrage, and I will commend him for the fact that, on this issue, if none other in his career, he has shown huge consistency. He is a supporter of the Severn barrage and indeed there is much to recommend it. However, the Government do not consider that the potential merits of the project are sufficient to commit any public money to it. Notwithstanding what the right hon. Gentleman had to say, there is nothing whatever to prevent the private consortium he mentioned from making its application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission to gain consent for the project under the single consent regime. The Government have not ruled that out. If the right hon. Gentleman would wish to encourage potential developers to make such an application, it will be dealt with by the IPC in accordance with the usual procedure. The right hon. Gentleman also mentioned, as did several other Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy, the energy island concept. This is a concept that the Government recognise and welcome. Wylfa, as we know, has been identified as one of the eight potential sites for nuclear new build. I agree with my hon. Friend that the economic benefit of Wylfa B would be felt not only on the Isle of Anglesey, but across north Wales as a whole. It is a huge pity that the previous Government set their face against nuclear power. The 2003 energy White Paper concluded that nuclear was an unattractive option. It was not until 2007 that Labour recognised that nuclear had the potential to provide reliable carbon-free generation. For some 10 years after the 1997 election, this country was without any coherent policy on nuclear generation. The consequence is that the power stations are closing with nothing to replace them. That is the legacy that Labour left on nuclear. The hon. Member for Arfon raised the issue of the cost of LPG, the so-called off-grid energy. I fully agree with him that that is a significant problem and it is experienced by many of my rural constituents. There is a huge challenge in supplying heating oil and LPG to rural communities. He will wish to know that the Office of Fair Trading is currently consulting on its annual plan to help to determine its work programme from 2011 to 2012. I am glad to tell him that that includes proposals to prioritise markets affected by high-rising and volatile commodity prices and the off-grid energy market is certainly one of those. The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden has written to the OFT asking it to bring forward its competition and consumer studies into off-grid energy. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome that. He raised a number of other issues but because there is insufficient time I hope he will allow me to write to him on those. I want to deal with the points on PV energy raised by the right hon. Member for Delyn and the hon. Member for Wrexham. They are both sensible Members whose views I respect greatly. I have no problem in raising the issues with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. I look forward to visiting the Kingspan factory with the right hon. Gentleman, without photographers, to hear what the people there have to say. I understand that colleagues in DECC are working closely with Kingspan on the review. There was a meeting last week to attempt to find a way forward. I hope that that is of some consolation to him. The Government are very supportive of the PV industry in Wales as a whole and in north Wales in particular. It is a huge asset to the economy of Wales. We will do as much as we possibly can to support it. I was encouraged to hear that Sharp recently issued a press notice saying that the extra 300 jobs created at the factory are safe. I hope that that is of some reassurance to the hon. Member for Wrexham. There is an issue, and it is one that I am happy to address and to discuss further to see whether we can find a way forward. My hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy raised the issue of community benefits of wind farms. He is absolutely right. This is an important issue. To quote the hon. Member for Pontypridd, it always seems to be jam tomorrow. I believe that it is right that communities hosting renewable energy projects should be rewarded for the contribution that they make to wider society. Many wind farm operators are already providing generous benefit packages to local communities, but planning applications for projects over 50 MW in England and Wales must provide a statement of community engagement. We propose to introduce a similar measure for smaller projects in England through the Localism Bill. It is a huge shame that the Welsh Assembly Government decided not to adopt this aspect of the Localism Bill, which I believe would have been a huge advantage to the people of Wales. This has been an interesting debate, expertly chaired, with some excellent contributions. I believe that it has made an important contribution to the debate on energy in Wales, which is of such enormous importance to the Welsh economy—