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Miss McIntosh: I am grateful for that clarification. Will the Minister define ''in the locality'' further? Does that mean the locality of the place where the electricity is brought in to land? Also, will he confirm that people wishing to call for a public inquiry should apply to his Department? It is not clear in the Bill whether they should go there or directly to the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Timms: Let me give a little more clarification. In terms of what ''in the locality'' means, each local authority has a planning role in relation to anything that takes place in its area, so in the case of an onshore installation linked to an offshore wind farm or Column Number: 351 renewable energy generating device, the local authority for that area has planning jurisdiction in respect of that installation.Miss McIntosh: It is important that we know what the procedures are. The explanatory notes for clause 94 specifically refer to circumstances in which a public inquiry will be called for. Will the Minister tell us what the procedures would be? Mr. Timms: The clause has an important purpose in respect of the role of local planning authorities in relation to offshore generating stations. Schedule 8 to the Electricity Act requires that applications for consent to construct, extend or operate a generating station under section 36 must be served on the relevant local planning authority. Where that local planning authority maintains an objection to the application, the Secretary of State must hold a public inquiry. That schedule was drafted before offshore generating stations were a reality.
10.45 amThe purpose of clause 94(2) is to clarify the role of local planning authorities if the application for consent relates to a generating station that is offshore and therefore not in a local planning authority's jurisdiction. We propose that local planning authorities should not have the right to force a public inquiry in respect of those parts of a generating station that are outside their jurisdiction, so they could not force inquiries into developments that were wholly offshore. However, local planning authorities retain the right to require the Secretary of State to hold a public inquiry in respect of onshore developments associated with offshore works, if the onshore developments fall within their jurisdiction. Miss McIntosh: That is as clear as mud. My question remains; if someone wishes to call for a public inquiry into an offshore consent, as the Bill appears to suggest is possible, to whom do they apply? Do they apply to the Department of Trade and Industry or directly to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister? I am slightly more confused about the onshore situation after the Minister's eloquent explanation, but I am still concerned about public inquiries for offshore installations. Mr. Timms: People would apply to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. I hope that I made clear the circumstances in which a local authority could force a public inquiry. It can do so if there is something onshore in its area for which it has planning responsibility. Of course, local planning authorities might well have an interest in generating stations offshore, particularly if they are planned to be quite near to shore. We plan to make the local planning authority a statutory consultee in the section 36 process through regulations under schedule 8. There is no simple answer to the hon. Lady's question about the costs of connecting an offshore wind farm to the onshore grid. It will depend on where the offshore wind farm is and where it connects, which Column Number: 352 will vary from case to case. One benefit of identifying the three areas that we did in the round 2 exercise is that several wind farms in close proximity to one another will be able to link up for their onshore connection, substantially reducing the overall cabling costs. The hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire was right to draw attention to the interesting proposal to bring together gas generation and wind generation offshore. That highlights the big cost of connection onshore. The more that can be shared, the more economically viable it becomes.The hon. Member for Vale of York asked whether investment in renewable energy would increase costs. The way in which the renewables obligation works means that electricity costs will increase. We need substantial investment to bring about the scale of renewable electricity generation that all members of the Committee have said they want, and that investment must be paid for. The hon. Lady rightly mentioned the figure of £2.1 billion that has been identified for investment in the grid. Some of that money would be required anyway, because some grid assets are pretty old and need replacing. Some of it is entirely new and results from the more distributed pattern of electricity generation that we will see in future. However, there is no getting away from the fact that if we want investment, it must be paid for. The hon. Lady also asked about pylons. Miss McIntosh: Before the Minister leaves the point about costs, will he confirm that household bills will increase, because the bill for the £2.1 billion will be passed on to the customers of National Power, Scottish Power and all the other companies? That will increase the cost of electricity to householders and, presumably, businesses. Mr. Timms: Investment in the grid will have to be paid for by electricity consumers. Ofgem is undertaking a price review exercise looking at all the electricity companies' proposals for investment, all of which will need to be paid for. We cannot have investment without the means to fund it. Brian White: Does my hon. Friend not agree that the whole point of introducing NETA was to reduce retail electricity prices and have not consumers already benefited as a result of the Utilities Act 2000? Mr. Timms: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Electricity prices are close to a 30-year low. The Government have done a great deal to reduce prices. It remains our view that the operation of the competitive market will help to keep prices to the lowest level, but the necessary investment will have to be paid for. The hon. Member for Vale of York asked me about pylons. There is no such thing as a popular pylon; I have never seen one. We all accept that they are needed. Section 37 of the Electricity Act sets out the mechanism for obtaining consent and that consent is required for any overhead line. That applies onshore to all such lines, whatever the source of the electricity. I have no doubt that we will need some more pylons in future just as we have done in the past.
Column Number: 353 I hope that that covers the points that the hon. Lady made on clause stand part. My hon. Friend the Member for Waveney was concerned about there being a danger of too many public inquiries. I understand that concern. The Secretary of State has the discretion to hold a single inquiry or to hold two if she thinks that it is more appropriate. It is for her to judge the most appropriate way forward. The Bill allows some flexibility in how that can best be done. I can reassure my hon. Friend that we will do everything we can to ensure that this process and these consents are issued as expeditiously as possible.Mr. Blizzard: Will my hon. Friend deal with the other issue that I mentioned? Under what circumstances would he allow an inquiry following an objection by a planning authority to a development outside the land for which it is responsible? Mr. Timms: It is difficult to set down precisely what the criteria will be. It will be for the Secretary of State to consider the objection from the local authority and to make a judgment about whether that objection is of sufficient weight that a public inquiry is required. If objections have been made by others the Secretary of State may choose to widen the scope of the inquiry to consider them. Neighbouring authorities might be affected and the clause allows the inquiry to be rolled up to deal with both sets of objections. As in a number of instances a judgment will have to be made by the Secretary of State here. Local authorities will not be able require that a public inquiry be held as they can onshore, but the Secretary of State will be able to agree to a public inquiry if she feels that is right. Brian White: As the Minister outlined, we have seen the benefits of a strategic environmental assessment with the development of offshore wind and I welcome the fact that the process is underway. I am concerned that we might be taking too narrow a view because of bureaucratic convenience and I urge him to ensure that that is not the case. My hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown could have mentioned a number of projects, such as Ocean Power Delivery Ltd. in Scotland, La Rance tidal power station in France, or the prototype being developed by the IT Power consortium in west Devon and Cornwall with the help of an EU grant. They indicate the tremendous potential of alternative offshore renewable projects. In not pressing my new clause, I urge the Minister to ensure that there is no undue delay and that the Government's leadership maximises potential for renewable projects. Question put and agreed to. Clause 94 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 95 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
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