Clause 4
Energy Bill
1:15 pm
Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)
The hon. Member for Wealden raised the question of an appropriate duration for the licence. I imagine that that could vary to an extent, but I am advised that we are talking about quite a long time scale. Licences might possibly typically last for 40 years, or something of that kind. There will be different issues perhaps for carbon capture and storage, which we shall come to. I am hoping to give the hon. Member for Cheltenham some advice on the question that he raised this morning.
I was asked who would monitor the regime, and the answer is that it would be one of our departmental inspectors.