10:58 John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)

I come to the issue of solar panels and residential properties. Solar is now, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk) highlighted, an accepted and established form of renewable energy. Indeed, I believe that somewhere in the region of 850,000 houses up and down the country have solar panels on their roofs. The UK turnover for the solar industry was estimated at £3.2 billion in 2015. The number of full-time employees involved in the industry is estimated at more than 16,000, and the amount of energy created by solar was around 15% of that created by renewables generally. The industry has enormous potential to grow much further and become a far greater part of the energy mix in this country.

We, as a society and a country, want clean energy. We want sustainable energy, and of course we want that energy at an affordable price. To date, we have had mixed success with regard to renewables, and in particular solar panels. For example, they have been heavily subsidised. I accept the point that kick-starting the industry was a requirement, but perhaps we have reached the point where it has become unnecessary.

There would be no need for Government subsidy. I accept that initially there may be a slightly higher price for properties, but the time to put in solar panels is when the property is being built, the scaffolding is up and workmen are on site. That drives down costs and, more importantly, in the long run there will be a saving in electricity bills. Changing building regulations would create and achieve many worthwhile objectives: sustainable energy, help with battery technology, lower energy prices for households, a contribution to the national grid and an undoubted boost for UK industry through jobs, research and development. We could create a market in this country and I would like to see British industry and British business at the forefront of this technology.

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11:13 The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Alok Sharma)

It is clear that all of us in the Chamber share the common goals of wanting new homes to be energy efficient and their occupants to have low energy bills. I recognise that there is a desire among homeowners and the wider public to contribute to sustainable development and to generate their own green energy. As my hon. Friend will be aware, the Government have just helped to secure new investment in solar panels to produce electricity for affordable homes across England and Wales.

I will address my hon. Friend’s point about whether we should mandate a particular technology, but in an announcement last weekend, the Minister for Trade Policy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Greg Hands), welcomed £160 million of capital investment in UK renewable energy, backed by Dutch investors. This first step is a £1 billion programme to give 800,000 lower-income households access to cheaper solar electricity.

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