The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) (Lab)

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to open the debate on the Great British Energy Bill and to welcome the interest shown by so many noble Lords. I particularly welcome the maiden speech of my noble friend Lady Beckett. It is almost impossible to do justice to her remarkable career and her service to the country and my own party. It is a long time ago, but I particularly valued the discussions I had with her when she was shadow Health Secretary. I wish her a long and happy membership of your Lordships’ House. I welcome too the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay; he comes to this House with considerable experience in the other place. He earned the admiration of so many people in the country and in Parliament for his brave battle following sepsis. He is very welcome to your Lordships’ House and we look forward to what he has to say. Our country faces huge challenges, more than two years on from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as families continue to pay the price for Britain’s energy insecurity. At the same time, we are confronted by the impacts of the climate crisis all around us, not as a future threat but as a present reality. On climate change, human activity has already resulted in warming of 1.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, leading to widespread impacts on people and nature. Professor Penny Endersby, chief executive of the Met Office, has made it clear that if we do not limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we will see many more weather and climate extremes, including loss of food, water and energy security, leading to increased global conflict, so we have to act fast to reduce emissions to get to net zero. The pace of that reduction is as important as the eventual date when net zero is achieved, because it is cumulative emissions which determine global temperature rises. As the Climate Change Committee has said: “The faster we get off fossil fuels, the more secure we become”. That is why the Government’s mission is to make Britain a clean energy superpower, delivering a decarbonised power sector by 2030 as part of an acceleration to net zero. In the first four and a half months of the new Government, we have: lifted the ban on onshore wind; consented some major solar farm developments; agreed major developments in carbon capture, usage and storage; signalled our support for the role of nuclear power as an essential baseload for our electricity generation; conducted a hugely successful allocation round, which delivered a record number of new clean energy projects; announced funding of carbon capture, utilisation and storage; signalled reforms to the planning system and the grid to speed up consent connections; and launched Great British Energy. We see Great British Energy as a new way of doing things at the heart of our clean power mission. It is a new, publicly owned and operationally independent clean energy company, designed to drive clean energy deployment to create jobs, boost energy independence and ensure that UK taxpayers, bill payers and communities reap the benefit of clean, secure homegrown energy. Headquartered in Aberdeen, with branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, it will own, manage and operate clean energy projects across the country, generating abundant homegrown electricity and accelerating the energy transition. Backed by a capitalisation of £8.3 billion of new money over this Parliament, Great British Energy will work in partnership with the private sector, local authorities and communities to spread skilled jobs and investment across the country. We have published Great British Energy’s founding statement and announced its first major partnership, with the Crown Estate, to exploit our offshore wind asset. Progressing the Great British Energy Bill to Royal Assent is the next stage of GBE’s journey, giving it the statutory footing needed to deliver on our ambitions. The Bill itself draws on best practice from previous legislation, including the Great British Nuclear provisions in the Energy Act 2023, and the UK Infrastructure Bank Act, which have set up successful government companies. The Bill is drafted deliberately to give GBE the flexibility and independence that it needs to carry out its functions and achieve its objectives over time, giving it space to develop and grow. It is focused solely on making the necessary provisions to support the company, provide the finance and set the appropriate guardrails to ensure that it delivers on the Government’s ambitions. The Bill underpins the wider programme needed to deliver both Great British Energy and our wider mission to establish the UK as a clean energy superpower. The founding statement for GBE confirms that the company will have five key functions to support this: first, project investment and ownership, by investing in energy projects alongside the private sector, helping to get them off the ground; secondly, project development, by leading projects through development stages to speed up their delivery while capturing more value for the British public; thirdly, local power plans that support local renewable energy generation projects through working with local authorities, combined authorities and communities across the UK; fourthly, building supply chains across the UK, boosting energy independence and creating jobs; and, fifthly, exploring how GBE and Great British Nuclear will work together. Great British Energy will be accountable to Parliament. It will be overseen by an independent board and benefit from industry-leading expertise and experience. The appointment of Jürgen Maier, the former CEO of Siemens UK, as start-up chair exemplifies this; he brings a wealth of experience to the GBE board. His background, in a variety of roles across sectors, positions him to drive GBE’s mission to innovate and to expand the UK’s clean energy capabilities. The case for GBE is simple: it will speed up the delivery of the clean energy we urgently need. The only way to protect families from the risk of future price shocks is to accelerate the transition away from volatile fossil fuels and towards clean energy. GBE will mobilise and crowd in investment from the private sector, and it will invest in technologies such as wind, solar, tidal, hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon capture. In the October spending review, the Chancellor announced £25 million to establish the company, with a further £100 million of capital funding to spend in 2025-26 so that GBE can get to work. By backing clean energy projects up and down the country, GBE will help to build a new era of energy independence, firmly establishing us as a clean energy superpower. GBE will ensure investment in clean energy and create good jobs across the country. We have made progress on the rollout of renewables over the last two decades, but the reality is that we have underdelivered on the jobs that should have come with it. GBE will help to support our plan to create the next generation of good jobs, with strong trade unions and decent wages, by joining forces with our national wealth fund and the British jobs bonus, and working hand in hand with industry to build supply chains up and down the country and driving the reindustrialisation of Britain. Great British Energy will generate a return for the taxpayer and will own, manage and operate clean energy projects around the country. I will briefly go through the details of the Bill. Clause 1 allows the Secretary of State to designate a company as Great British Energy, provided that it is “limited by shares” and “wholly owned” by the Crown. A company has already been incorporated for that purpose, so it can be designated as soon as the Bill receives Royal Assent. Clause 2 ensures that Great British Energy is not regarded as a “servant or agent” of the Crown and will be subject to the law in the same way as any other company. Clause 3 restricts the objects of Great British Energy, providing the framework for it to carry out the functions I mentioned, which are “facilitating, encouraging and participating in … the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy … the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy produced from fossil fuels … improvements in energy efficiency, and … measures for ensuring the security of the supply of energy”. Clause 4 enables the Secretary of State to provide financial assistance to GBE, which is key to unlocking the £8.3 billion committed. Financial assistance to GBE will occur in line with its agreed financial framework and His Majesty’s Treasury’s delegations. Financial assistance may be provided in any form, including grants, loans, guarantees and indemnities, as well as through acquisitions and contracts. Clause 5 requires the Secretary of State to provide Great British Energy with more detail on where it should prioritise and focus its activities, via a “statement of strategic priorities”. The clause also requires GBE to secure that its articles of association provide for the company to “publish and act in accordance with strategic plans”— which must reflect the Secretary of State’s strategic statement—and for it to update those plans whenever the Secretary of State’s strategic statement is revised or replaced. Clause 6 allows the Secretary of State to direct GBE; for example, in the interests of national security. The Secretary of State is not able to do so until they have consulted GBE and such other persons as they consider appropriate. Any directions given must be published and laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State. Clause 7 ensures that GBE is subject to parliamentary and public transparency by requiring its annual reports and accounts to be laid before Parliament. Clause 8 sets the territorial extent of the Act and the date on which it will come into force, which is immediately once passed to enable GBE to start delivering benefit for the people of this country. The Bill will help ensure that every part of the UK has a role to play in delivering energy independence for our country. With GBE, we will harness the UK’s clean energy potential and ensure we are never again at the mercy of volatile global fossil fuel markets. It will speed up delivery and drive investment. It will create good jobs and build supply chains. It will protect family finances and ensure energy security, reaping the benefits for all. I commend the Bill to the House. I beg to move.