Speeches by Osborne.

“I have a couple of questions about the current estimate. From press reports, the estimate last year was £1 billion and in the latest report it is £1.5 billion by 2028. Obviously, the estimates have changed and increased. The company has net liabilities of £788 million and intergroup debt of £736 million—that is the Chi…”

“Can we come back to the question I asked about liabilities? From your members’ perspective, pensions and other issues might be attributed to any transfer. Are you making representations on those? Have you had any feedback on that?”

“And your response to me was that the independent valuer might not come back with a significant increase, due to the marginality of the—”

“So it might be an additional cost to the £1.5 billion?”

“Sorry, it is in paragraph 3.18 in the NAO Report: “If spending continues at current rates, it could exceed £1.5 billion in 2028 depending on policy choices that may be taken in the future.””

“Yes.”

“I have two questions, one of which follows on from what you just said. The subsidy at the moment is £1.3 million a day. The Government have looked at alternative models—for instance, private equity investment very similar to Sizewell C, which has 49% private equity support. Do the unions have any comments on how this n…”

“I appreciate that you might not have known that it was £1.5 billion, but it has gone up by £500 million since last year. In 12 months, we have already seen a 33% increase in the costs; are we certain about that £1.5 billion, given that the independent valuer will also determine compensation? Can we be sure that this wi…”

“That is okay. Has the independent valuer been commissioned?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Sojan Joseph) for securing this debate, and I am also grateful for all the other debates that we have had across Parliament on this issue. In addition, I thank the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee fo…”

“On your website, szcworkstracker.co.uk, you have a series of projects. Can I confirm that none of those have been subject to any delays? For instance, you claim that the sea wall scheme will be finished within weeks. Is that still on course to be fully delivered in several weeks’ time?”

“By the end of the financial year? It says on your website that it will be done by the end of this month.”

“Thank you very much.”

“To follow up on that, the consumer remains heavily liable for this. Of course, the model gives financial incentives, but the private investors stand to gain around £4 billion to £4.5 billion. Within the note that you will send to this Committee, I would like to know the exact financing deal mechanism by which private b…”

“After Hinkley, Sizewell is really the major project; these are very expensive, so I can understand why we are only pursuing one. There are other countries, however, that are pursuing more modern solutions. I know that SMRs have been recognised, but some countries are looking at EPR2 reactors, which are based on a simil…”

“I have a concern that, between the two, the private sector has made the decision that it somehow is not willing to take that risk burden on, yet we are now saying that the state is. There is now a disconnect, isn’t there, between what the private sector was once willing to accept and what we are now having to step in a…”

“But there are scalabilities in EPR2, aren’t there?”

“We will probably go on to discuss the RAB, because that is a unique vehicle in and of itself. I certainly have some questions about the capex structure that you have introduced. My next question is about the CfD model. There are different types of CfD models that have different risk factors for the consumer. The one th…”

“Given that this is where we are now, you don’t foresee any situation in the future where the Government might come back and say, “EPR2 is just much more scalable and efficient, and is being used by other European nations.” I appreciate what you have said about the use of concrete and whatever, but from the evidence I h…”

“With the second Thames crossing, a specific body has been created within planning within the Department for Environment. Is that something you guys are using so that you can swiftly get through some of these planning hurdles?”