House of Commons
Parliament

Another London MP, Conservative Bob Blackman, opposes adding a requirement for a public consultation before Transport for London can lease land for development.

An amendment proposed by Labour MP Andy Slaughter would introduce this requirement.

Mr Blackman says TfL is "subject to the normal legal requirements on the development of land", which include a requirement to consult.

This makes a further consultation unnecessary, he asserts.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers are now debating Commons amendments relating to "carbon accounting" in the Energy Bill. Carbon accounting refers to the ways in which carbon emissions are measured by the government.

The Climate Change Act sets a target for the UK to reduce emissions by 2050, and the government sets a number of intermediary targets called "carbon budgets".

The government favours counting carbon units created by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme towards the UK carbon budget.

Labour frontbench spokesman Lord Grantchester says that the opposition favours removing this addition to the UK's carbon budgets. Labour peer Baroness Worthington has also tabled amendments to review the government's calculations of the carbon budget.

"This is about how we measure progress," she says, adding that the government's method is "complicated and unclear".

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow transport minister Daniel Zeichner says the bill has had an "arduous journey through both Houses". Parliament has been considering it for over five years.

"I guess plenty of people have aged during the passing, some of us visibly," he jokes.

He says his Labour colleague Andy Slaughter's amendments seek to improve the bill.

Mr Zeichner also welcomes the withdrawal of a clause in the bill which, he argues, would have allowed Transport for London to enter into "opaque limited partnerships" with the private sector.

He thinks the bill "can now move forward" without this clause.

House of Commons
Parliament

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill says his department "supports TfL's commercial programme".

He believes "greater flexibility" will make Transport for London's business more efficient, which will benefit both taxpayers and fare-payers.

Mr Goodwill opposes the amendment from Labour's Andy Slaughter, which he thinks amounts to "watering down" the bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

Amendment 7AB has been accepted by 182 votes to 178, a razor thin majority of four.

The government is defeated despite large majorities in their favour in the two preceding divisions.

House of Lords
Parliament

Amendment 7AA is defeated by 78 votes to 181, a majority of 103.

Peers are clearly in a voting mood as they decide to stroll through the lobbies for the third time in a row on this group of amendments.

They are now voting on amendment 7AB which would add an exemption from the government's cut off date for new onshore wind developments, if planning permission was agreed before the government's cut off date of 18 June 2015.

The division result is expected at 7.55pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Andy Slaughter is speaking in support of a proposed new clause to the bill, concerning development on Transport for London land.

The new clause would prevent TfL leasing land to third parties if it has been used for "transport services" in the last ten years or has been deemed suitable for such a use.

Mr Slaughter's amendment would also require a public consultation before TfL "enters into a contract involving the development of land for other than the provision or maintenance of transport services for passengers".

House of Lords
Parliament

Several peers agree to withdraw their amendments in this group but Liberal Democrat Lord Wallace of Tankerness says that, as he has received "no assurances from the government", he wishes to test the opinion of the House on his amendment 7X.

This amendment seeks to clarify the grace period for ending subsidies for new onshore wind developments in certain circumstances.

Peers vote to reject amendment 7X by 88 votes to 192, a majority of 104.

Not deterred by this thumping defeat, Lord Wallace of Tankerness now pushes amendment 7AA to a vote.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Transport for London Bill causes consternation for London Labour MPs, including Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith.

He thinks TfL is taking some "very risky steps in the deals it is doing with property developers".

His colleague, Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas, says TfL does not have "any social housing providers sitting on its property development group".

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth is responding to the debate on this group of amendments on behalf of the government.

The energy minister says that the criticism that the government has picked an "arbitrary" date for the end of the grace period for new developments is flawed, as "it is only arbitrary in the sense that any date is arbitrary".

House of Commons
Parliament

The next business in the Commons is the Transport for London Bill, external.

This is a private bill, external, meaning that it only changes the law as it applies to a particular organisation, in this case London's transport body.

It would allow TfL to borrow money against its property and to "enter into limited partnerships".

The bill has had a tortuous journey through Parliament, having been first introduced in 2010.

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer the Earl of Lindsay is speaking in support of the amendments tabled by Lord Foulkes and Lord Wallace.

He says he has two concerns about what he calls the "unintended consequences" of the bill as it currently stands.

The earl explains to the House that planning regulations in Scotland require a statutory period of three months consultation which adds time to a planning application. Therefore the cut off date for new onshore wind projects would unfairly affect developments in Scotland.

The other concern he raises is that community based projects could be stopped "dead in their tracks", despite a significant local investment.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Diana Johnson says today's debate has revealed a "striking unanimity" of views across party lines about the proposals in the consultation.

MPs agree the motion, which is critical of the government's proposals and calls for improved support, without a vote.

House of Commons
Parliament

Minister Jane Ellison says the proposal to end discretionary payments was influenced by feedback that "the process of applying for them was demeaning".

She adds that she has heard the criticism from MPs about this proposal.

House of Commons
Parliament

Public Health Minister Jane Ellison declines to set out "any commitments or guarantees on scheme reform" until after the government's consultation has closed at the end of the week.

She stresses that no final decisions on reform will be made until after the consultation.

"This is a truly open consultation" she says, insisting that she wants to hear from those affected on what support they need.

But she argues that "scheme reform is necessary" to provide simplification and transparency.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Wallace of Tankerness is speaking against the Commons amendment that would re-insert the end of onshore wind subsidies into the bill.

Lord Wallace talks about "the amount of investment that has been made over a long period of time" in the sector that is now going to be "cut off".

He says that, as far as he can see, this is "fundamentally unfair" to those who have invested in the renewables sector in the UK.

House of Commons
Parliament

"The victims deserve some form of justice," says shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne, adding that the "removal of discretionary payments will make them worse off".

A number of MPs have criticised the potential removal of discretionary payments such as the winter fuel allowance for victims of contaminated blood and blood products.

Mr Gwynne asks the health minister to set out when a new support scheme will be implemented and calls for a debate in government time once the consultation on the proposals has ended.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

Peers now turn to an attempt by the Commons to re-insert a clause to end onshore wind subsidies.

The original Energy Bill would have ended the renewable obligation in March 2016, a year earlier than planned, but peers backed a Labour amendment deleting the clause at report stage.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth says this cut was a "manifesto commitment based on ideas we had floated long before the election".

To maintain investment in the sector a "grace period for organisations meeting certain conditions" will be introduced, to allow some schemes to have access to the subsidies as the industry transitions away from them.

House of Commons
Parliament

"This scandal has been going on for over 40 years and people have been dying and not been recognised and not been looked after all of that time," says SNP health spokeswoman Philippa Whitford.

"It really is a disgrace."

She says it happened because the UK imported "American coagulation products and American blood".

Donors included prisoners and people who had sold their blood, such as drug addicts and people living "on the streets", she adds.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers opt not to re-insert a clause to require the energy secretary to review the Oil and Gas Authority's performance each year.

Peers previously defeated the government to insert the requirement but the House of Commons reinstated a three year review period.

Energy Spokesman Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth argues a yearly review prevents the OGA from acting as an "independent regulator" and would make it "significantly out of step with other regulators".

The OGA will publish an annual report alongside its accounts to aid scrutiny, he adds.