Lewis Macdonald: Mark Ruskell is absolutely right to make that point—that is what the Oil & Gas Technology Centre is. I am sure that, when he visits, he will find that it is doing many good and innovative things in offshore renewable energy. I am glad that he mentioned that, because although it is not on my list, it is a critical part of energy transition. Other big steps have already been taken. Aberdeen...
Margaret Ewing: ...issue is extremely important. My memory goes back far enough for me to remember the days when Tony Benn was the Secretary of State for Energy in the 1970s. Those of you who read what I sometimes find to be his very tedious diaries, will know that he ruled in favour of nuclear energy rather than Salter's duck and claimed that he had been misled by civil servants. The SNP's record is...
Glyn Davies: ...west, and I did not intend to speak when I came to the debate. I came because I have a great love for the south-west. I spend much of my holiday time there. St Ives and Padstow are beautiful, and I find the Isles of Scilly irresistible. We spend a great deal of time in the south-west, so I travel through it. Inevitably one notices the impact of the development of onshore wind turbines...
Rhona Brankin: ...of CORWM's recommendations, including site selection criteria. I wish to be clear about that: no sites have been chosen. Since the 2001 consultation, the Executive has been committed to finding a solution to the waste problem. We have supported the extensive public and stakeholder engagement undertaken by CORWM, the lack of which in the past has contributed to a failure to find solutions....
Baroness Hayman: ...the DfID programmes for health, women and education that are so important. The Statement refers to offshore wind. Does the Minister accept that we are missing a trick in our reluctance to pursue onshore wind opportunities? Internationally, COP26 is a huge opportunity for action, but we also have the CHOGM meeting in Kigali next year. Are there plans to involve the Commonwealth in corporate...
Matthew Hancock: ...to the levy. As punters increasingly go online, that avoidance is set to grow. Offshore bookmakers also fall outside UK consumer protection rules and stifle competition from those who remain onshore. Smaller independent bookies lose out, as do responsible bookmakers who remain onshore, such as Bet365 and Coral. In their correspondence with me, independents despair that there is no level...
Hugo Swire: ...of the deliberations that they have at school on energy conservation, climate change and so on. You are looking at me in a forbidding way, Mr. Amess, so I shall not stray too far on this. They will find it very strange that we are introducing an Energy Bill that covers so many aspects of energy, but does not address how we use that energy and how we can establish where we are expending our...
Alex Salmond: ...comments on the Diageo task force that he made yesterday. He recognised that it was a cross-party, cross-agency workforce in which everybody worked as hard as they possibly could to try to find an alternative to the Diageo proposals. I defend Government intervention for the public purpose. Tavish Scott recognises, as I do, the difficulties that arise from the recession: rising unemployment...
Dean Lockhart: ...and small, across Scotland to move their businesses online. It would involve digital teams from universities, colleges, the private sector and digital graduates who may not otherwise be able to find employment at this time. The need for Scotland to rapidly increase the level of online trade and e-commerce was apparent even before the crisis. According to Nora Senior, the chair of the...
Glyn Davies: ..., and in the neighbouring constituencies of the hon. Members for Ceredigion (Mr Williams) and for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams), who are not present today. I am sceptical about onshore wind, and have been for a long time, and an increasing number of MPs have been contacting me since the Westminster Hall debate to tell me that they agree. I do not want merely to repeat the points...
Lord Wallace of Tankerness: ..., it would have been the responsibility of the local authority. If the local authority had refused it in England and Ministers had called it in, the grace period that the Government proposed for onshore wind farm consents would have kicked in. However, that does not cover the situation in Scotland given that it is already subject to ministerial fiat there, so there is a mismatch in...
Kirsty Blackman: ...and the benefits in that respect. I represent Aberdeen, where we have been feeling the effects of the oil crash for much longer than a few weeks or months. For the past year, contractors have been finding it very difficult to get jobs and redundancies have been being made. In terms of the supply chain and supporting jobs in the UK, particularly in manufacturing around the supply chain,...
Linda Gilroy: ...interest as a vice-president of the Society of Maritime Industries. The United Kingdom, and in particular London, is a world centre for maritime activities, and to maintain that position we need to find ways to value seafarers. That is important in its own right but also because we need to recognise the strong links between offshore work and the experience that people gain as seafarers,...
Martin Vickers: ...contracts for difference that were agreed before the recent changes. It is fair to say that many people have been sceptical about the benefits of wind power—that comes, in part, from opponents of onshore wind turbines—and my constituents are no different: the majority of them oppose onshore wind turbines. They have a positive view of the offshore sector, however, partly because of the...
Gregory Barker: ...Department of Trade and Industry (ETSU W/13/00392/REP) found no evidence that ground transmitted low frequency noise from wind turbines is at a sufficient level to be harmful to human health. These findings were confirmed by a study published in 2005 by the Applied and Environmental Geophysics Group of the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences at Keele university titled...
Mr Brian Wilson: ...To Market Efficiency", which considers the various concerns made about the gas market. The document also considers the wider benefits to the gas market of increased information flows between the onshore and the offshore. This builds on a joint workshop with the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association held on 10 September. The intention behind the document is to stimulate debate and...
Anne McIntosh: We heard a little from the Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services this morning about public inquiries and the procedures that will be used on land. I find the amendments quite interesting, as presumably they are probing the terms of a public inquiry for offshore installations. We know that those who contest planning applications, and particularly those who press for public...
Steven Agnew: ...mentioned choice, and he said that we should not have a single supply; we need to have a mix, and we need to have choice. I agree with him, and there is plenty of mix and choice in offshore wind, onshore wind, tidal, wave, biomass, air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal. There is plenty of diversity within the renewable sector, and...
Glyn Davies: ...percentage of cases would be allowed, and there would be a database, so that when that percentage was crossed, there would be an element of dishonesty. Finally, I want to say a brief word about onshore wind, although not in the same sense that I have sometimes contributed to that debate. In my constituency—I speak about mid-Wales—there is massive disengagement with the Government. By...
Lord Bates: .... I will try to put some points on the record and address the specific technical points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Bowles, and the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe. What we are doing here is onshoring the regulations that already exist, which have gone through a scrutiny process involving the European Commission and regulators in the EU, the European Parliament and our own House. We...
