Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Net Zero: Businesses and Investors

Tuesday 21 May 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial team meets regularly with industry through various councils and taskforces.
  • Honourable member questioned if importing cheaper Chinese vehicles would aid UK car industry.
  • Minister discussed prioritizing shovel-ready schemes over speculative development for solar farms.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Justin Madders Lab Ellesmere Port and Bromborough
Climate Business & Trade
Context

The question arises from discussions with businesses and investors regarding the government's strategy on achieving net-zero emissions.

Question

What recent discussions has the Minister had with businesses and investors on the Government's net zero targets?

Answer from Justin Tomlinson

Our Department's ministerial team meet regularly with industry, for example through the hydrogen investor forum, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, the solar taskforce, the green jobs delivery group, and the cross-cutting Net Zero Council.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email
Q2 Justin Madders Lab Ellesmere Port and Bromborough
Economy Climate Brexit
Context

Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall car plant in Ellesmere Port, announced that it would import electric vehicles despite local production capabilities. This raises concerns about the impact on the UK car industry.

Question

Does the Minister think that reaching our net zero targets through the import of cheaper Chinese vehicles will be a good or bad thing for the UK car industry?

Answer from Justin Tomlinson

The hon. Member raises a very important point. One of the Opposition's main pledges, which is to fully decarbonise the grid by 2030, could be met only by opening the floodgates to cheap Chinese imports—the exact thing he is opposed to.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific impact on the UK car industry was not addressed.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email
Q3 James Gray Con
Climate Energy
Context

There are concerns about speculative investors funding large-scale solar farm developments, such as the Lime Down application in the constituency.

Question

What meetings has the Minister had with speculative investors to ensure that the people who build solar farms will be there in 40 years to make sure they are removed?

Answer from Justin Tomlinson

My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour raises an important point about speculative development. As part of speeding up the grid queue, in which we have somewhere in the region of 700 GW of power capacity coming forward, we wish to prioritise shovel-ready schemes, not speculative schemes.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific issue about long-term obligations was not addressed.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email