Clause 49
Energy Bill
4:43 pm
Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)
Before I turn to the amendment, perhaps I could give a late answer to the question asked by the hon. Member for Wealden. Essentially, he was asking why we needed to request information. The answer is that the Secretary of State’s powers to refuse to approve a proposed funded decommissioning programme would act as a strong incentive for any operator to provide information on request. However, where the Secretary of State is considering a modification and does not have information to help him to decide, this same strong incentive would not exist. Such a power, therefore, ensures that the Secretary of State can get the information that he requires. I apologise to the hon. Gentleman for not answering in a more timely way.