Speeches by Murphy.

“We are not talking about what was committed to in the manifestos. My question was about what the hon. Member said a few minutes ago, that she is committed to removing all the levies on bills related to renewables. Could she repeat that pledge?”

“The Minister should be commended for ending the terrible deal negotiated by the previous Conservative Government, which led to higher bills, excess profits and poor sustainability standards, but it is worth saying again that there seems to be no end to the Conservatives’ rank hypocrisy on energy policy. In government, …”

“Under the previous Government, thousands upon thousands of jobs were lost in the North sea, energy bills hit record highs and the Government put Britain’s energy security in the hands of Vladimir Putin. Having made a patently unlawful decision on Rosebank, the Conservatives are lecturing us on energy policy. The truth …”

“Yet we have to deliver an enormous number of projects in the next two years. Can you deliver the level and scale that we need while also protecting nature and bringing people with us? That is an enormous task. It is not just about delivering the infrastructure; it is about bringing people with us and ensuring that that…”

“Do you worry that it is only capital-rich consumers who are going to be able to benefit—only those who can invest in an EV or a heat battery, etc, are going to be able to benefit from that system?”

“Just on flex, when we had Ofgem in front of us, we had a conversation about the fact that, when we think about switching, there is probably an upper limit on the number of people who really make use of switching, for example. Even some of the most energy-informed consumers are quite time poor. The more time poor you ar…”

“Very quickly, because I have already run out of time, do you have a view on zonal pricing?”

“If REMA does not come forward in sufficient time, is it possible that the auction round will be delayed?”

“Slightly changing tack, one thing that could delay decarbonising the grid or, indeed, potentially benefit consumers in terms of their bills is REMA. We heard from the previous panel a concern about it coming in too close to the next CfD round, round 7. If zonal pricing were to be introduced or committed to, for example…”

“Yet we have to deliver an enormous number of projects in the next two years. Can you deliver the level and scale that we need while also protecting nature and bringing people with us? That is an enormous task. It is not just about delivering the infrastructure; it is about bringing people with us and ensuring that that…”

“This is something that I asked the previous panel, but the clean power plan makes several proposals to strengthen nature protection. One of the advisers on the previous panel suggested that probably more needed to be done to get consent or at least consult with the public.”

“On that point about resources, since 2010 the part of government that has had the largest cuts or most reduced expenditure is local government. Planning departments have probably been the worst hit. I appreciate what you said about £46 million for the planning system, but is what has been committed already enough? I ha…”

“Problems in planning, storage and infrastructure are all delaying decarbonising the grid. We heard a lot about that from the previous panel. What levers will mission control use to speed up the delivery of essential energy infrastructure?”

“Thanks for appearing before the Committee. A key part of the clean power 2030 action plan is around maximising domestic opportunities for clean energy supply chains. I have heard from some industry sources that they do not necessarily feel as if the clean energy action plan and the industrial strategy are sufficiently …”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

“With regards to reforming judicial review, do you have any recommended options to reduce the delays that arise from legal challenges to nationally significant infrastructure projects?”

“Marcelle, you rightly mentioned the need to involve communities. The clean power plan also talks about proposals for strengthening nature protection, but many of these projects need to secure permission within the next two years. Can we do all of that? Can we get the planning necessary within two years for all the proj…”

“We have gone a bit over my time and I have taken time from the next questioner, but luckily that happens to be me, so on to planning. It takes four years to determine applications for development consent but we know that most projects needed for 2030 have to begin construction in the next six to 24 months. What are you…”

“Since you mention it, what is the panel’s view on what impact zonal pricing would have on investment and the clean energy 2030 target? I appreciate that any reforms would not come in until after 2030, but Ofgem, NESO and Citizens Advice—all quite independent organisations—are all leaning towards, recommending, or seein…”

“In order to address current delays in grid infrastructure, is there anything that the Government are not doing? We have Ofgem’s proposals to reform the connections. Is there anything that the Government are not doing that you would recommend that they should do in order to speed projects up?”