Lord Moynihan (Con)

My Lords, I declare my interest as the chairman of Acteon, a global specialist subsea services company that operates worldwide in offshore wind and oil and gas. It is good that the Government are investing in UK supply chains. However, whether it is cables, batteries, inverters or critical minerals, the Government’s rush to meet their unrealistic clean power targets will make the UK more dependent on imports, particularly Chinese ones. With all the energy security risks that brings us, the world becomes more dangerous; I will concentrate on that in a moment. The clean industry bonus provides additional CfD financial reward for offshore wind developers, provided they prioritise investment in regions that are most in demand or in cleaner supply chains—for example, traditional oil and gas. I assume that this also includes ex-industrial areas, ports and coastal towns. Ana Musat, the executive director of policy at RenewableUK, stated: “The Clean Industry Bonus is a good starting point as part of a wider industrial strategy which the Government is due to unveil in full this summer, and which we hope will be complemented by new policies to support the expansion of UK ports. With larger ports, we could secure even more investment in offshore wind manufacturing and turbine assembly”. We have already debated ports, particularly in the context of Northern Ireland, over three and a half hours in the Chamber. The reality is that most developments in ports are not going to take place for many years: in Belfast, electrification—the ability to charge—will not happen until 2035, and there is little sign of investment in ports across the United Kingdom. Can the Minister give the Committee greater clarity on exactly what he sees on the time of the rollout to support ports, modernisation and the level of investment? On my reading, although it is good that the Government are investing in UK supply chains, the current timeline is too onerous on UK supplies; it is that timeline on which we really need to concentrate in the Minister’s response. Take NESO, which has observed that Clean Power 2030 will require more than £60 billion of private investment. It says that “meeting the target would require the deployment of more supply-side technologies, such as onshore and offshore wind, solar energy and battery storage, on average each year to 2030 than there ever has been in a single year before”, with “nearly 1,000 km of onshore” electricity network infrastructure “and over 4,500 km of offshore network”. It goes on to say: “That is more than double over five years what has been built in total in the last ten”. This is an issue: the question of timing and the headlong rush towards the target of 2030 are of major concern to my colleagues. Two other aspects that cause concern have been raised; I hope the Minister will respond to them. The first is the supply chain and the offshore wind fair work charter, which has slipped in via the back door somewhat. In another place, the Minister stated that “clean industry bonus applicants will need to sign up to the offshore wind fair work charter … The charter builds on forthcoming commitments in the Employment Rights Act 2025, in particular by asking that the offshore wind sector proactively implement voluntary access agreements for trade unions”.—[Official Report, Commons, Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee, 17/3/26; col. 4.] We cannot see the final fair work charter that is intended. The draft charter and the draft code of practice for trade union access are still subject to government consultation so, as I understand it, are not final yet. I have certainly not seen the final drafts. It seems the wrong process to have this very important commitment at the centre of the SI without the opportunity for parliamentarians to review what is intended in detail. We know that the draft code leans towards giving unions practical workplace facilities. It says that, “where practicable”, the employer should “provide a notice board” in a “prominent location”, allowing union material to be displayed without employer veto. Even if the employer or the employees do not want it, that is what is required. When needed, the employer should allow a union official on to the site to display it. It also points to meetings, surgeries and the use of workplace facilities. It even suggests joint meetings and joint notice boards as ways to deliver information. It limits the employer’s ability to manage around union meetings. The employer should “avoid the scheduling of other conflicting … events which would draw workers away from the union’s meeting. Unless reasonable in the circumstances, the employer should not offer inducements to workers not to attend”. The example given is that employers should not tell workers that they can go home early instead of attending the union meeting. The employer is expected to respond incredibly fast during that negotiation. If it rejects the union proposals, the code says that “it should offer alternative arrangements … at the earliest opportunity, preferably within three working days of receiving the union’s initial proposals”. This is probably the closest thing in the draft to the burden of very short notice that people are talking about. Many other aspects of this code are really concerning. The central point I am making to the Minister is that it is vital to have sight of the final code and for us to be able to debate it. If that code is too onerous on the supply chain, we risk losing good-quality companies in the United Kingdom that could add value to the supply chain and to what the Government are seeking to achieve. We live in a highly competitive global market and, unless there is a reasonable approach towards what employers should and can do, we risk losing investment. I emphasise to the Minister that the draft code of practice for trade union access is insufficient and, because it is still subject to government consultation, is not in final form yet. It really should have been presented to the House before these regulations were agreed. My second point is about the security of our energy supplies and suppliers. Recent reports suggest that the Treasury may allow Ming Yang Smart Energy to supply turbines for the Green Volt North Sea wind farm. As I understand it—I look forward to the Minister’s confirmation—Ming Yang is planning £1.5 billion of investment to build the largest offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility, at Ardersier near Inverness. That this is a Chinese firm has led to considerable questioning from UK government officials who, I understand, are currently evaluating the proposal amid warnings from experts of potential security vulnerabilities—such as Chinese-manufactured sensors and potential kill switches in critical energy infrastructure. This comes on top of a series of initiatives that the Government have taken to engage with the Chinese, not least in our civil nuclear programme. It concerns me that in wind and solar we now have the potential for our supply chain to be significantly impacted by Chinese manufacturers. We know that close to 90% of our solar panels come from China; all include polycrystalline. Of these imports, 45% are understood to come from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where slave labour is known to have been used in the manufacture of solar panels. Despite the requirements introduced by the Secretary of State in the Great British Energy Act to take full responsibility for the ethical sourcing of solar panels, the Minister’s department has consistently been unable to assure parents, teachers and children alike that their newly installed solar panels have not been made by slave labour. As I say, the secrecy surrounding the UK-China MoU aroused yet further suspicion on this, since co-operation with China has now been extended to the supply chains to include civil nuclear; charging infrastructure; battery storage; offshore wind; carbon capture, usage and storage; and renewable hydrogen. They are all identified in that MoU. Where are the resilience and security in our own energy sector to be found if we are opening wide the door to the Chinese, who are now setting up a wind turbine business in Ardersier? I hope the Minister can respond to both those points. The fair work charter is a significant concern, as is the growing prominence of Chinese suppliers to meet the clean energy objectives that the Minister and the Government have set out.