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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Annex on a Comprehensive Franco-British Partnership on Civil Nuclear Energy, Franco-British Summit, dated 3 March 2016, if she will set out the evidential basis for the statement that civil nuclear energy helps to guarantee the UK's long-term energy independence and contributes to economic growth and the competitiveness of industries.

New nuclear power is a vital part of our work to build a secure, affordable and clean energy system to keep the lights on in the decades ahead. Nuclear is the only proven low-carbon technology that can be deployed on a large scale in the UK and provides continuous supply. Building Hinkley Point C would have significant economic benefits compared to the most likely low-carbon technologies that could replace it, such as offshore wind or carbon capture & storage. EDF expect more than 60% of the £18bn value of construction work to go to UK based businesses, with future developers also seeking to at least match this.