This Library Note provides background reading in advance of the second reading of the Energy Bill [HL] in the House of Lords, on 22 July 2015.
Energy Bill [HL] (HL Bill 56 of 2015–16) (295 KB , PDF)
This Library Note provides background information to the Energy Bill and a brief summary of its main provisions.
The Bill implements a number of the recommendations of the Wood Review into maximising the economic recovery of petroleum from the UK’s continental shelf. In so doing it would establish the Oil and Gas Authority as an independent regulator and transfer a number of additional functions to it from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Additionally, the Bill would implement the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to alter the planning law on onshore windfarms and to end any new subsidies for them under the Renewables Obligation.
Energy Bill [HL] (HL Bill 56 of 2015–16) (295 KB , PDF)
This briefing is the fifth of a series on the post-war history of the UK economy. The series proceeds decade-by-decade from the 1950s onwards, providing an overview of the key macroeconomic developments of each decade. This fifth briefing looks at the 1990s. In this decade the UK economy settled into a period of low inflation and steady growth; however, living standards growth was lower and more regionally concentrated than in previous decades.
The Budget Responsibility Bill would require ministers to request an assessment from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for every major fiscal announcement and give the OBR the power to decide to publish one if the minister failed to request it. This follows the September 2022 ‘mini-budget’. The statement included plans that would have resulted in a projected £45bn reduction in tax income. It did not have an accompanying OBR assessment.
The new Labour government has committed to the expansion of offshore wind energy. This commitment has been welcomed by the offshore energy industry and by environmental organisations. However, concerns remain about how these plans might be achieved in practice while maintaining and improving the marine environment. This briefing considers some of the potential obstacles to achieving the expansion in offshore wind.
