Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Huhne and Greg Mulholland

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

T4. Leeds has a strong case to be considered for the green investment bank, and I look forward to discussing it next week with the Minister, but may I ask for some cross-departmental working? The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announcement, which appeared to suggest that Leeds was no longer in the running, was not helpful, so can the Minister assure me that it is not a foregone conclusion that the bank will be in London ?

[Chris Huhne]

I can assure my hon. Friend that no decisions on the matter have been taken. He is absolutely right that BIS is the lead Department on it, but decisions are some way off and we have some work to do on scoping and on getting right the detail of the proposals before siting becomes salient.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Huhne and Greg Mulholland

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

Given the Government’s commitment to both a low-carbon future and localism, do Ministers agree that everything should be done to encourage local carbon budgets, which can clearly play an important part in achieving our national targets?

[Chris Huhne]

I agree that local carbon budgets are important, which is one reason why we have continued with the pilots of databases that allow local authorities to know what their carbon emissions are and to continue to set targets. I do not want to impose those on local authorities, because they are a matter for localism, but it is right that they should have the information on which they can base informed decisions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Huhne and Greg Mulholland

Thursday 1st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

The hon. Gentleman knows very well that my line on new nuclear has always been based on scepticism about the economics. As he knows, no nuclear power station has been built on commercial terms anywhere in the world since Three Mile Island. That may be about to change because of the framework of prospective oil and gas prices and carbon prices. It is up to investors to take those decisions.

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

13. What his Department’s priorities are for the implementation of the EU’s carbon emissions reduction target of 30% by 2020.