Lord Teverson: My Lords, I have to admit, although I should not, that when I saw the Bill appear on Forthcoming Business I thought that it had received Royal Assent about a year ago, that it had gone and that everyone was happy. Clearly, the other place was not quite happy, so we are debating the Bill today. I am delighted to see the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, here because this morning I was at a...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit released a report last week that stated that, when it comes to green steel, the EU has some 38 projects, while the United Kingdom has one—and eight of those in Europe are already functioning. Does that mean, for the country that invented the Industrial Revolution, that we are about to see the extinction of our steel industry?
Lord Teverson: My Lords, actually, I think we were second after New Zealand; we were the first in the G20. The Financial Conduct Authority recently surveyed TCFD returns and found weaknesses in two areas: data or metrics, and targets. These are key areas. How will the Government try to put that right? Secondly, will the Government move forward, as I think they have said they will, with external...
Lord Teverson: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the environmental provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act 2022 in the United States of America, and (2) the Green Deal Industrial Plan announced by the European Union in January; and what plans they have to prevent any resulting leakage of future green investment from the United Kingdom.
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I ask to give leave to ask my Question standing on the Order Paper to the Minister.
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I will try to be a little more fluent in my follow-up question. This is very serious. Industry and many people see the Inflation Reduction Act and the EU response as a real threat to us—piggy in the middle—as an economy and on where we need to go on green investment. I do not get the impression that the Government have a plan here. It looks like we are a rabbit frozen in the...
Lord Teverson: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to amend the terms of the Electricity Generator Levy to make it comparable with the equivalent regime relating to fossil fuels, including in the area of investment relief; and if so, when.
Lord Teverson: My Lords, the overwhelming evidence is that hydrogen will never work in domestic heating. Will the Government stop their trials of hydrogen villages and concentrate their efforts where hydrogen really can make a difference?
Lord Teverson: My Lords, the Minister mentioned the word “urgency”, yet if we look at the North Sea, we are emitting three times the amount of methane compared with the equivalent extraction by Norway. On our side, the Government, through the North Sea Transition Authority, are just saying that there should be an end to the regular venting and flaring of methane by 2030. Should we not be performing as...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, those consumers who are not on direct debit get their £67 a month back through vouchers. We know that some 18% of those are not claimed, so who keeps the money? Is it the energy retailer or the taxpayer?
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on his appointment to the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. I personally was very pleased to hear of the establishment of that department, because energy security comes about by net zero, renewables and all those technologies. If that is the case, how come the Government have approved a coal mine—fossil fuels—in Cumbria? That clearly...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I will be very brief. Exactly as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, said, the images of this incident are quite something. Given its importance, I would be very interested to understand from the Minister why Professor Gideon Henderson, the main scientific adviser to Defra, was not involved at the beginning to make sure that the first inquiry was well managed and actually dealt with...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, one reason we have very high energy prices, obviously apart from Putin himself, is that we are still very reliant on gas for heating and the generation of electricity. Should not one of the tasks of Ofgem be to persuade the Government to make sure that they have as one of their prime objectives the decarbonisation of our electricity system, not least to make sure that we have...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, there is an irony here when it comes to prepayments, in that those who are worst off have to pay more because prepayment customers pay heavier tariffs than those on direct debit or other means of payment. Surely, this is a fundamental unfairness and one that creates even greater fuel poverty. Should there not be regulations to equalise the costs to consumers?
Lord Teverson: To ask His Majesty's Government what support they will provide to residents of areas covered by the hydrogen heating pilot who decide to opt out of the programme and operate on electric power.
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I congratulate Defra on the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme, which has worked extremely well. But the fact is that biodiversity in AONBs and national parks is no better than in the rest of the UK as an average, which is extremely poor compared with international examples. What is Defra going to do to improve the situation beyond that scheme to ensure that there really is a...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, I have to admit that I was quite favourable to the White Paper that came out about a year ago. I thought it was absolutely honest: when you read it through, you looked at all the objectives, missions and everything else, and thought, “Yeah, absolutely—these are the sorts of things that need to be done and, frankly, it will take at least two decades to get back to where we needed...
Lord Teverson: My Lords, given that Defra has an issue about being on time with legislative requirements, what chance is there, if any, that it will be able to replace all the European legislation that is supposed to be repealed by the end of this year under the Bill repealing EU legislation? I suggest there is no chance whatever of replacing those 2,000 or 4,000 pieces of legislation.
Lord Teverson: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken (1) to prepare for the introduction of mandatory recycling labelling on packaging, and (2) to ensure business is able to implement these reforms effectively and at a reasonable cost.
