John Grady
Main Page: John Grady (Labour - Glasgow East)Department Debates - View all John Grady's debates with the Scotland Office
(1 day, 20 hours ago)
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Melanie Ward
The hon. Lady makes an excellent point about this Government’s record on building new homes in England. My officials regularly engage with the Scottish Government on a range of matters to exchange learning. As she knows, housing and planning are devolved matters, so house building responsibility rests with the Scottish Government. Of particular concern are the increasing numbers of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland and the increasing numbers of people sleeping rough. While our Prime Minister is determined to end rough sleeping, in Scotland it is on the rise, and that is not good enough.
John Grady (Glasgow East) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Melanie Ward)
The clean energy transition is a generational economic opportunity to reindustrialise Scotland, from the islands to the borders. Scotland is already a clean energy powerhouse, with the industry supporting 105,000 jobs and adding £10 billion to the Scottish economy. Last week, the Chancellor announced a new £2 billion energy wealth fund to further support the UK’s transition to low-carbon power. Berwick Bank is on course to be one of the largest windfarms in the world and is off the coast of Scotland.
John Grady
Large clean energy projects and transmission project lines need planning consent from the Scottish Government. Delays mean that Scottish electricity consumers pay more. In a recent report, CBI Scotland says:
“Planning is the concern business leaders across Scotland raise with us most consistently, and the frustrations they describe are…too much inconsistency, not enough speed”
and a growing sense that planning has become a barrier to investment and growth—a responsibility of the Scottish Government. Does the Minister agree that the Scottish Government need to get a grip on the planning system?
Melanie Ward
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we have worked with the Scottish Government to make approving energy infrastructure in Scotland simpler. Those reforms are intended to help Scotland to realise our clean power ambitions while providing investors with greater confidence, yet we continue to hear from industry that the Scottish planning system is holding back growth. Planning is also the mechanism that the SNP uses to block new nuclear energy projects in Scotland, costing us up to 5,000 skilled jobs in the last decade alone.