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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to progress the development of tidal energy generation; and if he will take steps to ensure that representatives of the fishing industry are consulted as part of that work.

The Government has a long and continuing history of supporting the development of tidal power, with over £175m invested in marine energy innovation to date. Last week the Government announced that the UK's 4^th Allocation Round of the Contracts for Difference auction scheme has secured 40MW of new tidal power.

All users of the sea have had the opportunity to engage with Government on offshore renewable energy consenting as part of the Government's ongoing work on the Energy National Policy Statements.