Clause 12 - General duties when carrying out functions
Energy Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
Good morning, Mr. Sayeed. I listened carefully to what the Minister said in discussing amendment No. 17, but I am not entirely persuaded that we should accept amendment No. 16 without a vote. The amendments differ slightly. Clause 13(5), which amendment No. 16 would delete, goes a little further as it talks about grants and loans and is much more targeted on helping the areas that need a lot of help.
I visited Sellafield a short while ago. I am sure that the Minister is aware of the strong concern in the area about the potential loss of jobs. That cuts across the Labour and Conservative parties, although I am not sure what the Liberal Democrat approach in that area is. Trade unionists, Labour party supporters and Conservative party supporters are concerned about what will happen to Sellafield. They predict that there could be a threat to as many as 8,000 jobs in an area that already suffers high deprivation.