10:30 The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)

This Government remain committed to ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of decarbonising road transport and investing in electric vehicles. In the 21st century, good communications are not just about faster roads and high-speed railways, however; they are also about high-speed internet access. The Government have already committed £1.2 billion of public investment to fixed superfast broadband. I saw at first hand the impact that that investment is having on smaller communities when I visited Rothbury in Northumberland. It is crucial, if we want to rebalance our economy, that it is not just the biggest cities that have access to the fastest broadband.

Let me now turn to how we support the private sector to deliver our energy needs. Some Members will know that I was privileged to spend my early years on the Hebridean island of Colonsay. Then, the island had no mains electricity. Unreliable diesel generators powered the island, and regularly broke down. Until mains electricity arrived, we never quite knew when the lights would go out. We do not want any community in our country to face that problem in the future. Our existing power stations are closing, as they are too old or too dirty to continue. They must be replaced and added to as our need for electricity grows. Thanks to the hard work of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change—

As well as revolutionising the way in which we get our energy, we are transforming how we generate and supply it. As we face the challenge of climate change, we need to bring forward investment in low-carbon technologies. This country has massive potential in wind, wave and tidal. We need to harness it. We are putting in place a comprehensive energy policy through the Energy Bill that is in front of this House. This is an approach that we know will work for consumers and investors alike. Last year we made the unprecedented decision to set out funding plans for low-carbon generation all the way to 2020, providing up to £7.6 billion in real terms.

In addition, we need to guarantee that capacity will be available at short notice to meet spikes in demand, for instance through gas-fired stations. Today we can provide details on a new regime that will achieve this. The first auction for this new capacity market will run next year to provide certainty for the winter of 2018. But there is financial risk for construction, too. That is why we have set up a Green Investment Bank to back green energy projects. It has committed over £600 million already; for instance, it has invested in the Walney wind farms off the north-west coast of England, which are expected to provide energy to the equivalent to 300,000 households. We have already pledged to provide £3 billion for the bank and, today, I can announce that we will provide an additional £800 million so that it can expand further. Crucially this will include, for the first time, the power to borrow half a billion pounds in 2015-16 from Government. This is a real milestone in green investment, delivering a key promise we made in our election manifesto, unlocking over £100 billion of private investment into our energy networks, and supporting jobs, growth and prosperity for years to come. Our energy policy is a win for consumers, a win for investment and jobs and a win for our climate; the greenest Government ever.

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10:58 Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)

On energy and carbon reduction, is not the Renewable Energy Association right to describe the decision to undermine the feed-in tariff rates as “a horrendous strategic mistake”? On shale gas, would it not be sensible to be led by the evidence rather than by political antipathy to renewables? If the Chief Secretary really wants to encourage new investment in our energy infrastructure, should he not have a decarbonisation target to clean up our power supply by 2013?

It stands completely alongside that promise. First, I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s positive remarks about strike prices and he will see in the document we published today strike prices for all the other forms of renewable energy. Of course, in the case of nuclear, there is a detailed and ongoing commercial negotiation. I am sure that he would think it right for us to drive a hard bargain in those negotiations, because of course these prices will have to be paid by consumers for 50 years to come.

I genuinely welcome the announcement of a new prison in north Wales, for which I and many colleagues across the House have been campaigning. However, in the future—even after a projected Bill has been passed—can we expect all big energy announcements to be made by the Treasury? Is that not a further downgrading of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, where we have a part-time Minister from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with the Secretary of State? Is not the Chancellor doing this for self-serving Treasury purposes?

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments about the new prison. I think my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change welcomes the fact that he has full and wholehearted support from the Treasury for his policies to bring forward the low-carbon investment this country needs.

The hon. Lady and I share a passionate commitment to green energy, and I hope that the strike prices now complete the picture for energy companies looking to invest. My message to the energy companies is, “You have the certainty you need, now bring forth the investment that the country needs.”

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