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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase subsidies for (a) wind, (b) solar and (c) wave/tidal power under the Levy Control Framework.

The Government is committed to keeping energy costs as low as possible. The Levy Control Framework will not be renewed (as a budgetary framework) after it expires in 2020/21. It will be replaced by the Control for Low Carbon Levies (“the Control”), which was announced at the Autumn Budget in 2017. The Control covers all existing and new low carbon electricity levies and will monitor the total cost of these schemes. In order to protect consumers, the government will not introduce new low carbon electricity levies until the burden of such costs is falling. On the basis of the current forecast, this means that there will be no new low carbon electricity levies until 2025. All existing contracts and commitments will be respected, including up to £557 million for further Contracts for Difference. The Control does not rule out future support for any technology.