Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)

My Lords, I am grateful for the valuable contributions and the insightful questions. As I said, this is a technical issue, so it is only right that it be looked at technically and in detail. I say to the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, that a formal public consultation was not undertaken for this draft statutory instrument. The amendment is technical in nature and does not introduce new policy, which is why there was no public consultation. However, we have engaged extensively with international partners and key stakeholders throughout the development of the approach. We recognise that there will be many impacts resulting from the changes required by operators and insurers as a result of CSC accession—an issue raised by the noble Earls, Lord Russell and Lord Effingham—so we will work with them in advance of accession to the treaty. I will write to the noble Earls on this more technical point. I welcome the support of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for the SMR programme and the changes. We will keep support for our nuclear sector in view all the time. The CSC is important because it includes another 11 countries that can be part of this process and that can be confident in the UK. They will, therefore, help to enhance the supply chain going forward, which is one of the reasons for doing this—other than, obviously, looking after particular incidents that might happen. Many countries recognise the benefits that establishing a trading relationship can bring for industry, investors and potential victims of nuclear incidents. Contracting parties to the Paris convention are interested in the UK’s approach to CSC implementation as we are the first Paris convention country to seek to do this; we expect other states to be supportive of the UK’s accession to the CSC. Operators have discretion to cover their nuclear liabilities using a range of financial mechanisms. Officials are in regular contact with nuclear operators and insurers through an annual review process of operations arrangements. To drive forward new nuclear and deliver on our mission, the Government made a series of bold commitments in the recent spending review, including a commitment to Sizewell C and the delivery of SMRs. Key to supporting these projects and our wider ambitions is creating the best possible investment climate for nuclear. As I have set out, accession to the CSC will expand by 11 the number of countries with which the UK has NTPL treaty relations. This expansion will remove some potential barriers to inward investment and support UK exports in future. CSC accession will enhance the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for nuclear investment and support the successful delivery of future projects. It will also increase the amount of compensation available in the unlikely event of a nuclear incident. This instrument makes technical changes to the way the CSC will operate in the UK upon accession to the treaty. It aligns the compensation from operators available under the CSC to that of the Paris convention, to which the UK is already a party. This does not increase the liability burden for operators as claims made under the CSC will be met from their existing financial security. It simplifies the operation of the different conventions, ensures that shared international funds are used only once the operator’s liability limit has been exhausted, and continues to ensure that the international funds available under the Brussels supplementary convention and the CSC go only to those entitled to make a claim under those conventions.