Calais
Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Amber Rudd(7 years, 6 months ago)
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Amber Rudd
The hon. Gentleman is welcome to send me any information that he has. However, over the past few days there have been cases in which we have expected children to be available to board the bus to come to the UK, and sometimes non-governmental organisations themselves have been surprised not to have been able to find them. The position is not quite as straightforward as we wish it were; but I hope that, following the changes in the camp whereby all the children will be in one secure area, it will be more straightforward, when we have made a commitment to bring a child here, for us to do so without its being impossible to find them on the day.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement. Will she tell us how much money the Government have invested in reinforcing the border at Calais?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Amber Rudd
Amber Rudd
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. She is right to point out that some fantastic innovations are taking place through private sector business investment to make sure that innovations are delivered in this sector that will help to drive down bills. On zero-carbon homes, I can reassure her that a European Union directive, due to come in by 2020, calls for near-zero carbon emissions, which I believe will help to reduce people’s bills.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is important to give more power to price comparison websites to help consumers find the best deal possible? That was one suggestion put forward by the CMA.
Amber Rudd
I agree with my hon. Friend that we have to have as many choices as possible for people, and the CMA has made some proposals, but we also have to be careful to ensure that this is addressed fairly, that the cheapest tariff is available and that there is full disclosure. I tend to encourage people to go to the Ofgem website beanenergyshopper.com.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Amber Rudd(8 years, 2 months ago)
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Amber Rudd
I do not share the hon. Lady’s views. The whole purpose of the capacity market is to guarantee security three or four years out and that is exactly what we are delivering. As I said earlier, however, having had two capacity auctions so far, we will be reviewing how we can improve so that the third delivers even more certain security going forward.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
I am pleased to hear that the Secretary of State is willing to look again at the way the capacity market works to encourage cleaner forms of energy rather than a reliance on fuels such as diesel, which, sadly, was a large beneficiary of the latest round. Will she give us a timescale for when the new proposals will come forward?
Amber Rudd
I thank my hon. Friend for that question, which gives me the opportunity to point out that diesel was in fact 1.5% of the capacity market—a very small amount. However, it is absolutely essential to make sure that we have no risk at all to security, which is why diesel was included at that stage. I cannot give him an exact timeline, but I can say we are working on it intently at the moment and will be coming forward with proposals shortly.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew Stephenson and Amber Rudd(8 years, 3 months ago)
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Amber Rudd
The renewables industry, the solar industry and onshore and offshore wind are indeed a great British success story, and other countries wanted to talk to us about them. There is a great opportunity for exports for business. I am happy to say that a number of Ministers spoke to me about this in Paris and I think there will be great opportunities. As regards individual wind farms or proposals, I must ask the hon. Lady to write to me separately so that I can look at those, but I gently remind her that the Government are committed to making sure that we deliver on our renewables target while ensuring that we keep bills down. That will always drive us to make sure that we get that balance.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
8. What steps she has taken to support the anaerobic digestion and biogas sector.