Energy Bill [Lords]
3:45 pm
Mr Nigel Griffiths (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Edinburgh South, Labour)
I shall reply to questions on the clause in the order that they were asked. The hon. Member for Vale of York asked about decommissioning policy and consultation. The review is under way, but it has not yet been concluded. The NDA needs to take account of it as the relevant Government policy.
It is unlikely that the NDA would have a role in MOD sites while there is still a defence interest, but as and when MOD interest in a sites ceases, it would make sense for the clean-up to be secured by the MOD itself. In Scotland and the UK, Ministers must agree that the Secretary of State acts on behalf of Her Majesty's Government in this matter, but the dialogue is very open and healthy between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government.
The hon. Lady almost got on to my Christmas card list with her mention of Morningside, which has a keen interest in the nuclear industry. We are grateful for the work being done in Morningside, through which waste from Torness is transported to Sellafield. It passes within a couple of hundred yards of my back door at Newington, and I am pleased that the freight line is kept up to passenger standard to secure safety there.
Unusually, the hon. Lady blotted her copybook when she called for more regulations, and for the designated directions to be discussed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The documents are technical; they specify what the NDA is being given designated responsibility for, and we do not intend
that they should be over-bureaucratised and debated in the way that the hon. Lady suggested. I am keen to have fewer regulations, not more.
My hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Dr. Turner) raised an important issue. I shall ensure that he receives a reply, and that copies are sent to other members of the Committee.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.