Speeches by Esterson.

“Even with the levies?”

“The NAO Report says that when the Government changed their plans for the use of CCUS and significantly increased the contribution to get to net zero, there should have been changes to the programme design, but that did not happen. Do you accept that criticism and could you explain why they did not happen?”

“Okay. Your estimates are that the eight projects currently under negotiation, or beyond negotiation as of this week, will capture and store a maximum of 4.9 million tonnes per annum. That is less than a quarter of the total target by 2030. What is your response? How would you intend to make up for the shortfall?”

“BECCS is not included in your current plans, which means there are no dedicated BECCS or greenhouse gas-removal projects in track 1. Is that a problem for the 2030 target?”

“There was a lot of controversy about Drax in particular, which is a significant part of our energy generation. How are you assessing projects’ lifecycle emissions to make sure they are carbon-neutral for their full life?”

“I want to pick up on this point about hard to abate. You mentioned cement and lime. There is a proposal for Peak cluster, which would involve a pipeline from the Peak district. You also mentioned south Wales and the use of shipping. Those are not track 1 or track 2 at the moment, but where are you with your thinking on…”

“Sure, but I feel we are struggling to pin you down on a whole host of things here. That is in the nature of the fact that this is first-of-a-kind technology, I think, but there has been so much uncertainty all the way through the discussions we have had this morning. How can you give confidence to our constituents that…”

“I am glad you said that. I asked earlier about 20 million tonnes in 28 years, but we need to do 20 million tonnes a year. It is a completely different scale.”

“That is helpful. Is there a plan B, if this does not work? Because 2030 is not very far away—2050 is not very far away, actually.”

“Unfortunately, I feel like we are going to get the same answer every time to every question.”

“I am grateful for the further clarification on that point. I would like to ask you about staffing risks. There is a lot of risk in everything involved in this discussion. You have identified capability and capacity issues for the Department and for regulators. I think that, as of April 2024, you said you needed 31 extr…”

“Sorry to interrupt, but you said you have 300. Great, but you are saying you need half as many again. That is materially—”

“It was just months ago.”

“Yes, and if you did have significant gaps in your resourcing and in your staffing, what would be the implication for progress in the programme?”

“One final question from me. Yes, it is a hypothetical question—I think that has been the nature of this morning's discussion, frankly. Is it fair to say that it is a significant risk if you do not fill those gaps?”

“We got an answer.”

“The last Government promised to give more contracts through procurement to small businesses, but failed to do so for 14 years. Instead, they chose to use Government contracting to support their mates through covid. Will the Minister confirm that this Government will use the power of Government spending to contract dire…”

“11. What steps he is taking to reform public procurement.”

“The shadow Chancellor was touring the TV studios this morning to say that the Conservative party did nothing wrong in government. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the reason for the changes to national insurance is precisely to plug the £22 billion gap that the Conservatives caused and to ensure that our constituents c…”

“Thanks very much, Chair, for asking me to take part as the Chair of the Energy, Security and Net Zero Committee. We are following up on our previous Committee’s inquiry into home heating and we have a session next week, so this is very timely. You were talking about other countries. Why are they doing so much better th…”