Results 1-20 of 6,156 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord for their welcome for the general thrust of the policy statements published today. I do not accept the noble Baroness's analysis of the Government's approach to energy policy, nor her rather alarmist statement about potential blackouts later in this decade. The Government have taken a strong strategic role. The fact that we are here today with the...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, it was not that long ago. If the party opposite is going to make criticism of this Government's decision on nuclear, it needs to look at its own record as well. On whether we have enough electricity generation, as the Statement said, great progress is being made. Two gigawatts of capacity has been constructed this year; another eight gigawatts is under construction; another 10.5...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I welcome my noble friend's comments and obviously the work that he has been doing over the years. I believe that nuclear generation has a great contribution to make to this country in the future, and I am delighted that we can see a renaissance in the nuclear industry as a result of the decision to give the green light to new nuclear. As far as consultation is concerned, in a sense...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I am a long-standing admirer of the noble Lord, and he put his points with his usual forthrightness. I do not agree with his analysis or the implication that the Government have delayed making key decisions on energy. However, he knows that I share his view of the importance of nuclear energy. We now have a great opportunity to go forward with a great deal of confidence and look...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, clearly the noble Baroness is absolutely right that in a new planning system that makes much of the need for members of the public to have a proper input into decisions, we should have a good consultation on the national policy statements, and we certainly seek to do that. There will be parliamentary scrutiny. I mentioned the word "debate";. it is entirely a matter for the House to...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I well understand the frustration of many in the industry about the length of time that it has taken to produce the national policy statements. He is right: we have to make sure that they are correct. It is better producing them now than in the summer. On the question of how much nuclear generation there should be, the noble Lord will know that the Government do not believe that...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his interesting intervention. We seem to have a collection of trousers down and gin and tonics. Where is the noble Lord, Lord Rix, when you need him? The noble Lord makes an interesting point about nuclear power. We have reflected in the Statement what my right honourable friend the Secretary of State refers to as the trinity of nuclear, renewables and...
- Energy: National Policy Statements — Statement (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall repeat a Statement about the energy national policy statements and our proposals on clean coal. "In the summer, we published the low-carbon transition plan, which explained how we would meet our commitments to carbon reduction for 2020 and beyond. New infrastructure is being provided for the coming years, with 20 gigawatts under construction or...
- Burma — Question (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, self-regulation does rely on noble Lords being prepared to give way. Could we hear the noble Baroness first, and then perhaps my noble and learned friend?
- Internet: Broadband — Question (9 Nov 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, if noble Lords asked shorter questions and gave shorter responses, we would have time for more questions. We are in the 24th minute.
- Darfur: Lord's Resistance Army — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I am sorry, but we did hit the 30 minutes.
- Darfur: Lord's Resistance Army — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Yes, my Lords, we did.
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, National Grid's winter energy outlook indicates that forecast gas demand will be 2.5 per cent lower than the weather-corrected demand for winter 2008-09. Overall, gas supplies will be comparable to last winter. Peak electricity demand is forecast to be down by about 1 per cent. The Government do not forecast energy prices.
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord on his energy and consistency of purpose in this area. On the second point about prices, he will know that a recent quarterly report by Ofgem identified that margins have increased. We hope that we will see further price reductions. The Government are very active in relation to fuel poverty programmes. On the first point, it is true that as North Sea...
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, the Government have shown themselves to be consistently active on fuel poverty. We have spent £20 billion on benefits and programmes, and we have a strong package of measures. We estimate that, without that package of measures, there would have been around 400,000 to 800,000 more fuel-poor households. We have a fuel poverty review, and we intend through legislation to make the...
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I can assure the House on the latter point. We can depend on the world's scientists to take great care and note of what the noble Lord has suggested. On shale gas, he is right to suggest, as I think he does, that the availability of gas supplies has changed and is much more liquid as a result of activities in the US. In a sense, this country is in a good position because of the...
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, it is clear that there will be rises in energy prices, and that there are elements of cost in moving to a low-carbon energy supply. Global investment in energy is down at the moment, and there are worries that, as the world moves out of recession in a few years' time, the lack of investment now may have an impact on availability and price in the next few years. However, I agree that...
- Energy: Security and Prices — Question (28 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, this is a matter of great concern to many people. The noble Lord is right to suggest that the reduction in domestic retail prices is much less than the reduction in forward wholesale prices. He will know that these matters have been reported on by Ofgem. It has said that margins in electricity have risen, although they are still within historical average, while margins in gas and...
- Aviation: Air Quality — Question (27 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, to be fair to the next Question, we ought to move on.
- EU: Budget — Question (27 Oct 2009)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, it is the turn of the Cross Benches.