Speeches by Shanks.

“I was going to come to the right hon. Gentleman’s contribution later. He is also very likeable—he kindly said that of me and I appreciated it. He talked about “lunacy made flesh”; in the past, he has remarked that his own party’s policy of cancelling auctions for renewables has been lunacy. The truth is that we need bo…”

“First, obviously I cannot comment from the Dispatch Box on a live application process. I have met a number of MPs to talk about this issue, and we are looking at all the available information. Ofgem has a role in regulating the individual energy companies that are part of this mix. I am not sure what the hon. Lady’s fi…”

“This has been an interesting debate at times—at other times, perhaps it has not been—but it is a timely and important debate, as many people sitting at home will be watching the situation in the middle east concerned about the cost of living, our energy security and the impact that our energy policies have on their liv…”

“This is a matter for the Treasury, although we remain closely engaged. The UN framework convention is focused on improving effective and inclusive international tax co-operation, not on creating specific global taxes on oil and gas companies.”

“As I said, this is a matter for the Treasury, but we look closely at where we can co-operate around the world. This country’s windfall tax has raised £12 billion, funding public services and supporting the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and many others with the cost of living. We will continue to invest in bringing down…”

“We are taking a strategic approach to planning grid capacity and halving transmission build times through reforms to consenting, regulation and supply chains. We are working with the National Energy System Operator and Ofgem to deliver on radical connections reform, prioritising those projects that are ready to connect…”

“We are delivering the biggest upgrade to the grid since the 1960s, using strategic plans to identify where new capacity is needed and accelerating infrastructure build. In west London, network operators have used innovative measures to help new developments to connect, despite exceptionally high growth in electricity d…”

“I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend, so I will do that. She is right: we want to cover as many rooftops in the country as we can with solar panels. Just today we have announced that plug-in solar will be available in the UK in the summer, allowing renters and others across the world to go into a supermarket, buy s…”

“You are right to highlight debt in particular. It is a staggering figure: in the latest numbers, Ofgem estimates that every single consumer is paying around £52 a year managing the debt in the sector. It is bad for everybody, but it is also bad for those worrying about whether they can put their heating on. We are doin…”

“Maybe we do need to do more to explain it. It is a complicated picture, and there are different people working in different parts of the system who generate a profit as part of doing that work. We work with the system we have got. We want to make it much more efficient, which is why market reform is important. We will …”

“I absolutely enjoy it, and I appreciate all the questions. I will endeavour to be there.”

“In principle, yes, but I will have to look at my diary, because I am afraid that I am the last person who should comment on whether I am available at 4 pm next Wednesday.”

“I am not sure I would call the energy system a big lump of Jenga, but you are right to say that it is complicated, and it takes a lot longer to get things done than I would like—so maybe that is a metaphor that I will adopt. To be fair, it is a frustration within the industry as well. People want to move far faster to …”

“The profit lies across the system. We have a privatised system from top to bottom. That is not our design but what we inherited. Inevitably, there is a profit motivation. We have regulated monopolies that deliver much, particularly in the grid. There is a recognition that if we are going to have operators in this space…”

“We keep under constant review all the security of our infrastructure. That is not a one-off process when someone enters the market; it is a regular process. We are confident in the security of the infrastructure across the UK at the moment—that is a constant process—but we also recognise that it is important when anyon…”

“We have not set a target level because our aim is obviously to get it as low as we absolutely can. It will fluctuate given weather conditions, storage and a whole range of different demands in a particular area. It will change, and changes at the moment all the time. Our aim is obviously to get it as low as possible, a…”

“The big opportunity from what we are seeking to do is to get the industrial benefit that goes with it. To give you one example, the clean industry bonus that we launched alongside auction round 7 took £200 million of public investment and brought in more than £3 billion of private investment in supply chains. There is …”

“Different parts of it are funded in different ways. We have hydrogen projects that are funded through the National Wealth Fund or general taxation. Some of the costs of that on an ongoing basis are on bills, although it is worth saying that that is a very small amount. There is a mix depending on what we use it for. Th…”

“I see—sorry. I misunderstood your question; I thought you were talking about how we reduce the cost of the system. Much of it has been funded from general taxation. The sizable investment in CCUS, for example, came from taxation; it did not come from bills. On hydrogen, we have developed a refreshed hydrogen strategy, …”

“They will not drop to zero; we are clear about that. But they will reduce significantly.”