Clause 41 - Nuclear transfer schemes
Energy Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Mr Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 133, in
clause 41, page 37, line 14, at end insert
'the details of, and reasons for, which must be clearly set out.'.
Mr Bill O'Brien (Normanton, Labour)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 134, in
clause 41, page 37, line 15, at end insert
'and lay his proposals before Parliament at least one month before making the proposed transfer, except in the case where the transfer is considered urgent.'.
No. 135, in
clause 41, page 37, line 20, at end insert
'and lay his proposals before Parliament at least one month before making the proposed transfer, except in the case where the transfer is considered urgent.'.
No. 136, in
clause 41, page 37, line 25, at end insert
'and lay his proposals before Parliament at least one month before making the proposed transfer, except in the case where the transfer is considered urgent.'.
No. 139, in
clause 43, page 39, line 14, at end add—
'(5) The Secretary of State must lay any proposals to transfer property, rights and liabilities before Parliament at least one month before that transfer takes place, other than in cases where the transfer could be considered urgent.'.
Mr Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
Amendment No. 133 asks for the details of, and reasons for, any nuclear transfer to be set out. The other amendments in the group would require the proposals for such transfers to be laid before Parliament. I presume that given our earlier discussions, the Minister will not agree to the amendments but I felt that it was worth tabling them.
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is right that my response to these amendments is similar to my response to his earlier ones.
Amendments Nos. 134, 135 and 136 would require transfer schemes to be laid before Parliament one month before they came into effect. That would cause difficulty, because transfer schemes may contain commercially confidential information. Although there are statutory provisions to exclude commercially sensitive information from the NDA's strategy in paragraph 6(5) to schedule 2, there are no such provisions for transfer schemes. A document laid before Parliament clearly becomes public, so there would be particular difficulties.
The hon. Gentleman will be familiar with the arguments on amendments Nos. 133 and 139. I hope that, like last time, I am able to persuade him that they are unnecessary.
Mr Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 41 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 5 agreed to.
Clause 42 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 6 agreed to.