Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Chris Huhne

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

I will happily come back to my hon. Friend on wind turbines, but just because someone falls off a ladder does not mean that the House jumps to abolish ladders. In a similar sense, the operation of wind turbines, particularly those that are onshore, which are most economic, provides an increasingly important contribution to our energy needs, which is home-grown and not likely to be buffeted by events in the middle east.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

T7. Four thousand five hundred employees of Carillion, headquartered in my constituency, went into Christmas on notice of redundancy due to the arbitrary and clearly illegal changes to the solar feed-in tariffs. We all agree that tariffs need to be reviewed, but will the Minister not help to end the terrible uncertainty in which Carillion employees are living by accepting the High Court decision and taking the time to review the policy properly?

[Chris Huhne]

I have already referred to the substantial costs and the fact that the industry would face a substantial reduction in the number of potential installations were we to accept those costs. I merely point out as well that going forwards we have attempted to provide that certainty, precisely because we laid the order, making sure that the new rate will be available from the beginning of March.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Chris Huhne

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) said, many of our constituents face unemployment as a direct consequence of the inept and unfair way this Government have introduced the changes to the feed-in tariffs. What are the Government doing to give them security in their jobs and to give some certainty to the industry?

[Chris Huhne]

None of us wants to see anybody facing uncertainty about their employment prospects. The reality is that we must ensure a sustainable future for the solar industry that is based on a budget that will last rather than one that runs out so quickly that the industry comes to a grinding halt. The key thing for us is to ensure that we are on-track to deliver our goals for the low-carbon economy, including all the employment opportunities, and we will do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Chris Huhne

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question about the siting of the bank, but that is a little premature given where we are at the moment. I am afraid that quite a long list of hon. Friends and others are advocating the benefits of that to their constituencies.

Capital endowment of £1 billion for a green investment bank was allocated in the comprehensive spending review in 2013-14. I have made it clear that we are continuing to look for asset sales. In our Department, we are looking for asset sales from URENCO, for example, but there are other asset sales across Government that could also be used. We will attempt to use that process to ensure that the institution has the proper endowment of capital necessary for its task.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

T2. The green deal is based on loans, which many of my constituents cannot afford, and it places the responsibility for tackling fuel poverty in the hands of the energy companies that have created a national rise in fuel bills of 139% since 2003. Will the Secretary of State explain how the green deal will help the poorest and most vulnerable in my constituency?

[Chris Huhne]

I am happy to answer the hon. Lady, because her question is based on a misunderstanding of the green deal. There is no requirement for anybody to take out personal finance to fund the green deal. The whole point is that finance will be provided for the householder. The company that provides the finance will recoup its return from the householder’s savings on their energy bills. In addition, we will reshape the carbon emissions reduction target and community energy saving programme obligations on energy suppliers into an eco-obligation, one of the key objectives of which will be to provide additional support to those in fuel poverty. Such people will therefore be able to go ahead with the green deal, even if the anticipated savings on their bills are not adequate to pay for the installation.