Energy and climate change minister Lord Bourne has confirmed the UK government will set out the future of the Levy Control Framework beyond 2020/21 in November’s Autumn Statement.
In last week’s Budget, the Treasury said the government would “continue to control costs on consumer bills” without specifying the LCF.
Addressing the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee’s fifth carbon budget inquiry, Lord Bourne said: “There’s a statement coming in November on the LCF.”
“The LCF has done a valuable job and we haven’t ruled out it being extended,” he added.
DECC’s deputy director for strategy Jerome Glass suggested the department would be coming forward with proposals for the future direction of the LCF.
“We’re going to come back in the autumn with proposals for that, we’re looking at how that works. We haven’t ruled out extending it,” he said.
Lord Bourne refused to be drawn on whether the government would adopt the Committee on Climate Change’s advice on the fifth carbon budget.
“Their advice is being poured over by more than one department,” he said. “We also have to consider factors such as social, fiscal and international.”
Lord Bourne defended the government’s record on renewables, stating that the level of deployment was increasing year-on-year with LCF spending forecast to reach £8.7bn by 2020.
Image: Lord Bourne (DECC)
Bourne: LCF update in November
Government ‘hasn't ruled out' extension to Levy Framework Control
By EBS