Main announcements for DECC from the Autumn Statement
Today (November 25th 2015), the Chancellor delivered his 2015 Spending Review and Autumn Statement to Parliament – full details are available here
Commenting on the Spending Review and Autumn Statement, Secretary of State Amber Rudd said:
“My priority is to deliver secure, affordable, clean energy supplies that hardworking families and businesses across the country can rely on, now and in the future. As we transition to a low-carbon economy as cost effectively as possible, finding new sources of energy that are cheap, reliable and clean is essential, which is why we are boosting our spending on innovation and backing the industries of the future.”
“We will continue taking action to keep consumer bills down. We will also double support for renewable heat and electricity over the next five years as we invest in new infrastructure fit for the 21st century to ensure our long-term energy security”.
The main announcements for DECC, from the Autumn Statement and the Spending Review, include:
Security
The government will provide over £11 billion for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to continue its vital work cleaning up historic nuclear sites. This includes making significant progress on the legacy ponds and silos at Sellafield, some of the most hazardous facilities in the UK.
Long term investment
The government’s doubling of investment in DECC’s innovation programme will help position the UK as an international leader in small modular nuclear reactors, and deliver commitments on seed funding for promising new renewable energy technologies and smart grids.
The government will provide £295 million over 5 years to improve the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public sector buildings.
Separately, over £300 million of funding for up to 200 heat networks will generate enough heat to support the equivalent of over 400,000 homes and leverage up to £2 billion of private capital investment.
Efficiency and Reform
The government will increase funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive to £1.15 billion in 2021 to ensure that the UK continues to make progress towards its climate goals while reforming the scheme to improve value for money, delivering savings of almost £700 million by 2020-21.
Between 2016-17 and 2019-20 the government will save over £1 billion by making efficiencies and savings in the NDA through; better value contracts; top class commercial procurement; delaying non-safety-critical projects; and cancelling a project that is no longer needed due to a world-first breakthrough in nuclear decommissioning research.
DECC will deliver £220 million of resource savings by 2019-20 through efficiencies from pooling back office and corporate services and reducing the costs of contracts to manage the country’s historic coal and nuclear liabilities.
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