Speeches by Reader.

“Why should consumers pay it? As a function of businesses, should it not be absorbed into the business operations rather than passed on to consumers?”

“Was the current system designed under the assumption of where the Government currently is in terms of the large-scale investment in transmission? Is the current system fit for purpose, given that we are seeing so much more money going into the transmission network under the Clean Power 2030 programme?”

“Do you think reformed national pricing will put a downward pressure on transmission network use of system and costs?”

“Coming to my final question, we have heard that the previous transmission network use of system charges levied a lot of money on generators in the past towards building a network that was never built. Is that true?”

“You would say the current system gives the consumer best value.”

“Have you made any recommendations to DESNZ to reduce transmission costs and costs to the consumer that DESNZ has not yet adopted?”

“Is being economically efficient different from being best value for the consumer?”

“Are there any pieces of advice you have given to DESNZ that it has not yet adopted that could reduce the cost, if you do give advice?”

“Do you think the current system delivers best value for the consumer?”

“The same thing to Ofgem: is there anything that you have said to DESNZ—“We should do this to reduce transmission costs”—that it has not yet done? Perhaps it is politically unattractive to it, but it technically is correct. Is there anything that you have proposed that would reduce those transmission costs, that DESNZ h…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the collection of, setting of standards relating to, and secure sharing of geotechnical data derived from ground and site investigations; to require the integration of such data into the National Underground Asset Register; to confer duties o…”

“My colleague from the Environmental Audit Committee recognised that grid connections are one of the biggest challenges. Developers in my constituency also tell me that. We have had some not great feedback on the performance of NESO, in terms of connections. When they came in front of our Committee, they assured us that…”

“I have feedback that the industry feels that NESO gives one message to the Department and another to those on the ground. Do you think that NESO is completely honest with the Department on its performance and the issues?”

“I will lose my time, Secretary of State. There is a lot to cover. You mentioned rooftop solar. People in my constituency are not actually that worried about housing; they are worried about rooftop solar on warehousing. Why can’t we unlock that? It feels to my constituents like such an easy win, and they don’t see the D…”

“This is my final question. I raised it with colleagues that, as well as the focus on generation, we need focus on storage. Again, it is perhaps not the sexiest part of the Department’s role, but the feedback I have had is that they do not feel there is the same emphasis on storage from the Department as there is on gen…”

“Secretary of State, like all good Labour Back Benchers, I wake up in the morning and read through my well-thumbed version of the Labour manifesto. In preparing for today, I looked at what you said to the nation 18 months ago and where we are at now. I think it is fair to say that there have been a lot of brilliant anno…”

“The network is probably not the sexiest part of what you talk about at the Dispatch Box, but it is pretty critical. As someone put it to me, we pay to build the network, use the network, maintain the network and decommission the network, but we do not own the network. Is that right?”

“Secretary of State, I want to pick up on a couple of things you have said. You have used some very careful wording around matters relating to your Department where, ultimately, the decision comes from the Treasury. In response to Torcuil, you talked about the Chancellor’s decision on windfall, and when you talked about…”

“We had this in the previous session. A friend put it to me that you are doing exactly what the Opposition said you should do: you are cutting the green crap. You are cutting levies and putting it to cut people’s bills. That is an interesting way of putting the £150, but do you see that the argument could be made that y…”

“Does the consumer debt mountain worry you? Is your Department doing enough to tackle the billions and billions of pounds of consumer debt within our energy system?”