Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the evidential basis is for his proposal to ban new onshore wind farms.

The UK Government has not proposed to ban new onshore wind farms.

We were elected with a manifesto commitment to support the development of wind projects on the remote islands of Scotland, where they will directly benefit local communities. A consultation on this and other issues has recently closed and we are currently considering the responses we have received.

We do not believe that more large-scale onshore wind is right for England. The previous Government introduced new planning tests to ensure that new onshore wind farms are only granted planning permission where local people support them.