Hansard

Labour will support the LCM at decision time. The Energy Bill that is currently progressing through the UK Parliament is the first piece of energy legislation of such scale to be considered since 2015, so it represents a huge opportunity to address all the key ambitions regarding the just transition and the shift to net zero. However, although commentators have described it as a “mammoth” bill, it still does not go far enough. There is much more that needs to be done.

We have just heard about where the Scottish National Party and the Conservative Party disagree, but what I will take from the debate is the fact that the Scottish Government has achieved some negotiating successes in relation to amendments to the bill. That is important.

It is important not only that the UK and Scottish Governments work together, but that our local authorities do so, too, because they are key players in delivering planning and the community heat and energy projects that we urgently need in our communities. It is important that we do not forget that.

Although the Energy Bill makes some progress, it will leave the UK falling behind in the global race for the jobs and industries of the future. The bill’s stated aims are to leverage private investment in clean technologies such as carbon capture and storage and hydrogen, and to reform the energy system so that it is fit for the future by, for example, facilitating the deployment of energy storage, appointing Ofgem as the regulator for heat networks and ensuring the safety, security and resilience of the UK’s energy system.

However, the bill could have done so much more. Although it deals with a lot of technical considerations, many of the measures that it proposes are actually quite piecemeal and timid, and they fall short of the action that is required.

I was pleased that some amendments that were tabled by my Labour colleagues in the House of Commons and the House of Lords were agreed to. I want to highlight two in particular. The amendment that removed the hydrogen levy from consumers’ bills will mean that although investment to increase use of hydrogen will still be put in place, it will not be done on the backs of consumers, who would have had to fork out huge amounts of money for high energy bills. I emphasise that it is important that we maintain a focus on the push for green hydrogen and that we support such developments across Scotland. It is a huge technological process that offers major opportunities to use our renewables—especially offshore renewables.

In addition, establishing a net zero duty for Ofgem ensures that net zero is at the heart of the regulator’s work, which is absolutely critical. There are a number of changes that need to be made, but net zero needs to hold them together.

Although the bill is a step forward, I believe that there is so much more that needs to be done in order to deliver the just transition that we urgently need. Labour supported amendments in the House of Lords that were subsequently removed from the final stage of the bill, such as on banning coal mines, which would be absolutely key to net zero.

The bill also fails to support energy efficiency standards for private sector housing in England, which would have saved tenants in England hundreds of pounds—one of the progressive policies that were cancelled in Rishi Sunak’s net zero speech. That is a huge disappointment, especially as we are discussing the bill during challenge poverty week.

Let us not kid ourselves: the bill is not perfect. We will vote for the motion at decision time, but our view is that the bill was a missed opportunity, as Renewables UK and other industry groups have commented.

If a Labour Government were to be elected in the near future, we would continue the co-operative approach of the UK and Scottish Governments working together, but we would be much bolder, because we need a sprint to achieve clean energy by 2030. We would establish “GB Energy”—a publicly owned energy generation company that would be headquartered in Scotland. We would invest in the skills that we need now in order to develop the jobs, supply chains and infrastructure to transition our energy supply. That need has come across from all the renewables industry representatives whom I have met, as well as all the companies that are involved in oil and gas that want to transition. It is critical and we need political support now. The Scottish Government needs to step up to the mark.

In addition, the development of community-owned energy projects is crucial. We are missing a huge opportunity right across the UK as well as in Scotland. That goes back to the point about having resources at the local level to get going on such projects.

Finally, Labour would establish a national wealth fund that would help to secure the private investment that would ensure that there is finance available now and in the future. That finance would support the aspirations of some of the provisions in the bill, as well as the aspirations that many of us have for a decarbonised clean power energy network in Scotland that would be affordable for households as well as businesses. That will not come from the bill. We need change, but we will support it because of the small steps forward that it will make.