MP for Tunbridge Wells Greg Clark has been appointed by Theresa May to head the newly-formed Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy – confirming the two areas of policy are to be combined.
Mr Clark served as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in former Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet – but also holds previous experience as the shadow Energy Secretary from 2008 to 2010.
Policy
Proposals for the transfer of policy areas between DECC, BIS and Defra have been mooted in recent years.
In March 2016, then Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Environment Secretary Liz Truss agreed that policy surrounding waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and ELV tyres should be transferred from BIS to Defra (see letsrecycle.com story).
The new Prime Minister’s decision to merge BIS and DECC would suggest the Prime Minister hopes to see greater collaboration and cohesion between the two departments on future policy-making.
The move is significant for the renewable energy sector, including anaerobic digestion (AD) operators who have worked closely with DECC on incentive schemes such as feed-in tariffs.
REA
Commenting on Mr Clark’s appointment to oversee the new role, a spokesman for the Renewable Energy Association said: “We are delighted Greg Clark has been appointed the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He previously showed real vision as the Shadow Energy Secretary and we look forward to working with him once again in order to get things moving on the deployment of new renewable energy infrastructure.”
David Palmer-Jones, chief executive at Suez, added: “As a long term investor in UK energy and recycling infrastructure, Suez welcomes any rationalisation of government departments to ensure the creation of more joined up, long-term strategic policy planning at a national level to help us build the power stations, produce the resources and create opportunities for a skilled labour force the country needs.
“Businesses like ours need clear long term policy guidance from Whitehall so we can continue to plan and invest in infrastructure to help address the country’s rapidly impending energy supply gap as we wean ourselves off fossil fuels.”
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