Clause 93 - Competitive tenders for offshore transmission licences
Energy Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
I understand the strength of the hon. Lady's concerns, as reflected in the Transport Committee's report. I make the point to her again that the Department for Transport has been party to all discussions leading up to the Bill, including those on the White Paper and, specifically, the responses to the ''Future Offshore'' consultation. We received more than 100 responses to that document, including many from the shipping industry, so I do not accept her characterisation of the exercise.
The amendment is difficult to tie to the concern that the hon. Lady expressed. It would require Ofgem to have regard to navigational, maritime and shipping interests when drawing up the regulations needed to run the competitive tender for an offshore transmission licence. Subsection (2) of new section 6C, which is inserted by the clause, sets out the kinds of things that the regulations may cover, including
''provision for the inclusion in such a proposal of an invitation to apply for such a licence''
''provision restricting the making of applications for offshore transmission licences and imposing requirements as to the period within which they must be made''.
Those are narrow procedural matters, and it would be difficult to imagine the circumstances in which the navigational, maritime and shipping interests would come into play in drawing up the regulations.
Subsection (4) of new section 6C states:
''The approval of the Secretary of State is required for the making of regulations'',
so there is a safeguard so that matters within the competence of the Department for Transport, including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, can be addressed in the regulations. A further point is that any transmission licence holder must obtain a consent under the Coast Protection Act 1949 before any cabling may be placed in the water to make sure that it is not likely to be an obstruction or danger to navigation. That aspect of the exercise is covered separately in that way.
I say simply to the hon. Member for Lewes that a competitive process will not solely be about price. It will mean that the tender will be open to everybody, and it is in all our interests that there is a good range of offers and proposals from different organisations and that it is competitive in that sense. However, the decision will take into account all the considerations that should apply.