Energy Profits Levy

Tuesday 9th May 2023 Lords Chamber

Question

15:05

Asked by

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Energy Profits Levy on energy companies.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury (Baroness Penn) (Con)]

The energy profits levy was introduced to respond to extraordinary profits in the oil and gas sector and includes an investment allowance to encourage companies to reinvest their profits in the UK. It has raised £2.8 billion to date and is expected to raise almost £26 billion by March 2028, in addition to around £25 billion from the permanent regime over the same period.

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her response. We have all seen the eye-watering profits of the oil and gas companies. The energy profits levy does not treat all companies the same. Many of the largest companies pay considerably less, with their profits and extraction being largely outside the UK. This is not the same for many of the smaller domestic UK producers. Moreso, the EPL has a more favourable capital relief than the electricity generator levy. How can the Government justify a levy that gives favourable treatment to oil and gas companies over renewable developers?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

On the noble Lord’s first point, he is right that the energy profits levy is applied to profits made in the UK or on the UK continental shelf. That is in line with other profit-based taxes on companies that operate in the UK and overseas. On the difference between the energy profits levy and the electricity generator levy, they are structured in completely different ways. The headline rates of those two taxes are also completely different. We have different programmes in place to ensure that we incentivise continuing investment in our renewables, which is why we have such a great track record on delivering renewable energy in the UK.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, one of the peculiarities between the energy profits levy and the electricity generator levy is the huge difference in tax relief—80% and 0% respectively, as the noble Lord, Lord McNicol, alluded to. So why this preferential treatment for the oil and gas sector? It is not as though we need new sources of fossil fuels for domestic use—or are the IEA, the IPCC, the vast bulk of UK scientists and the Government’s own net zero tsar, Chris Skidmore, wrong on this?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I disagree with the noble Baroness that there is preferential treatment for the oil and gas sector, which faces a far higher tax rate based on the extraordinary profits it is benefiting from. That is entirely appropriate. On the investment incentive, we will continue to need oil and gas as we transition to net zero. We need to encourage investment into UK oil and gas fields to help meet that demand, and that is something the Government will continue to do.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, in November 2022 the current Chancellor estimated that the levy would raise £40 billion over six years. Six months later, the Treasury’s estimate seems to have gone down to £28 billion. What is responsible for that? Is it by any chance the OBR’s estimate of the increase in oil and gas expenditure by these oil and gas companies, rather than renewables expenditure, which they released alongside the Spring Budget, and the consequential forecast increase in tax relief on those sectors’ windfall tax bills?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, a number of factors affect predicted revenues from the EPL, not least the high degree of volatility that we have seen in commodity prices. I say to the noble Lord that, if we do not have investment allowances in place and if we do not invest in the future of this industry in the UK, there will be less revenue in future coming from UK oil and gas fields to contribute to the Exchequer and our priorities in future.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, following that answer by the Minister, I completely agree that we still need oil and gas as we transition to net zero. We cannot have a modern digital economy with high-speed electric rail running on solar and wind only, as the technology stands. However, the issue with the levy is that there are companies that are now saying they will pull investment from the North Sea. So how do we encourage that investment, given that we need it in the transition to net zero?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend is right. That is why the Government have always sought to deliver a balance between a fair return for the UK from the use of its resources and providing the right conditions to attract investment in the North Sea. That is why we have the investment allowance in the EPL that provides an additional incentive for companies to reinvest profits in the UK. On the point about environmental impact, the level of tax relief available for upstream decarbonisation expenditure was increased from January this year to incentivise companies for the cleaner production of oil and gas.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government’s energy levy leaves billions in excess profits on the table while many households struggle through an unprecedented cost of living crisis. Only last week BP announced quarterly profits of over £6 billion while Shell recorded a quarterly profit increase of 22%, handing a further £5 billion to shareholders and now allocating more to dividend payments alone than to its entire investment in renewables. Given that, and with households and small businesses facing sky-high energy bills, how well does the Minister think the current levy is working?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I welcome the noble Lord to the Front Bench. He referred to figures that are the global profits of companies. As I have said to his noble friend, the UK applies its windfall tax to UK profits, and I think that is the Labour proposal also. Abolishing the investment allowance would be counter-productive. As I have said, the UK is still reliant on gas for its energy supply. Reducing incentives to invest would lead to investors pulling out of the UK, damaging the economy, causing job losses and leading to lower future tax revenue—tax revenue that we have used to put in place unprecedented cost of living support to families, which is still going out to households at the moment, so that those who are worried about their bills who are on low incomes and means-tested benefits can look forward to more support coming from the Government over the next year.

[Lord Woodley (Lab)]

My Lords, while I am delighted that the Government took Labour’s advice to introduce the windfall tax that has been mentioned, there is no doubt that what is happening now, with the profiteering coming from these energy giants, is insufficient and is just not working. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it is almost peanuts when you look at the profits that were announced last week. So when will the Government fight back against “greedflation” and bring in a windfall tax with real teeth in it—something similar to what is happening across the rest of Europe at the moment?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I do not know whether referring to over £50 billion of tax take as “peanuts” reflects the broader Labour Party’s attitude towards public finances, but the Government consider that the measures we have put in place are working well. We need to balance the rightful approach of taxing the unexpected profits of these companies while ensuring that we have investment incentives in place that protect UK jobs and UK energy security.

[Lord McLoughlin (Con)]

Does my noble friend have any figures for the amount of money when profits are made that goes into pension funds and therefore to people who are earning pensions?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point. Investors in these companies can come from all sources, including pension funds. It is right and proper that they think about the return they get from their investments when making those decisions.

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests. May I take the Minister back to her fundamental argument that the electricity generator levy, which applies to renewable energy, is completely different from the energy profits levy? She has argued strongly that the latter needs the additional investment allowance to encourage investment in oil and gas, but somehow the electricity generator levy does not need that additional investment incentive. Is she absolutely sure that that is true and is she in any way concerned about the report that we may lose some offshore wind projects because of it?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The electricity generator levy reflects a historic approach to how we pay for our electricity. New electricity contracts are often done, for example, under the contracts for difference process, which is not subject to this levy. We have also put in place a wide range of other measures to support investment in renewables. That is why we have such a great track record and why I have every faith that we will meet our stretching targets on decarbonisation in future.