Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 14TH - 20TH FEBRUARY 2020 | 17 Policy & Regulation Analysis I t is hard to recall a time when a prime minister had as much political leeway as Boris Johnson possesses now. Having already dispatched his internal Conservative critics before the election by stripping the whip from those who de ed him, the prime minister's parliamentary opposition has been emasculated by December's poll. And unlike the days of even Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher, it is hard to see any rival sources of power within the government, including the Treasury, which tradition- ally forms the main counterweight to No 10 Downing Street. "There's never been a chancellor who has been owned to this degree politically," says Giles Wilkes, former special adviser to prime minister Theresa May on business and energy issues. "The bodies of his enemies are strewn across the battle eld." He was speaking at an event at Energy UK's headquarters exploring the implica- tions for the energy sector of this new politi- cal landscape. Dominic Cummings, Johnson's most sen- ior adviser, would clearly like to use Decem- ber's thumping election victory to carry out the wide-ranging overhaul of government he has dreamt about for years. Post-Christmas Whitehall brie ngs sug- gested this would involve a reorganisation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which could see energy and climate split o' once again into its own ministry. The prospect of a reborn Decc clearly excites its former secretary of state, Sir Ed Davey. Keeping BEIS intact runs the risk of decarbonisation being underplayed by its own sponsoring department if and when con" icts around shorter-term business issues crop up during the upcoming EU trade deal negotiations, he says. "This year will be all about the battles and trade-o' s within BEIS because BEIS will be worried about getting the trade deal over the line, so the trade-o' s will be within a government department and will not be transparent." An advantage of creating a dedicated net zero department – as Davey advocates – would be that it could take over responsi- bilities for climate change adaptation, such as " ood defences, currently with the Depart- ment for Environment, Food and Rural A' airs (Defra). "It would have more credibility if the department also had some he˜ y delivery and change responsibilities itself," says Moira Wallace, who was the rst permanent secre- tary at Decc. But Guy Newey, who advised both Sir Ed's successor, Amber Rudd, and ex-BEIS secretary of state Greg Clark, disagrees with reviving Decc. He says the disturbance of a departmental shake-up risks "handicap- ping" the drive to tackle climate change just at the time when the political circumstances for delivering it have never been better. "There is a risk that it gets worse by chang- ing the nameplates and focus," he says. Angela Hepworth, lead on energy policy and regulation at EDF Energy, says bring- ing energy and industrial strategy together has resulted in bene ts. While previously the transition to a lower carbon was largely viewed in terms of cost, it is now increasingly seen as a source of business opportunities. "Too o˜ en people only talked about the costs of climate change. We saw with BEIS a new narrative, which is something we need to preserve," she says. And the need for strong coordination from the centre of government on those issues that sit outside BEIS, like transport and housing, mustn't be ignored, according to Hepworth. "Tackling climate change is an economy-wide issue. You need something with a strong driv- ing force in the centre of government holding other departments to account and sorting out some of the tricky issues that straddle depart- mental boundaries." The enormity of the change required to deal with climate change means some form of cross-government working is required, acknowledges Wilkes, who has become a spe- cialist partner with consultancy Flint. "Let's hope they nd ways of working together." Once the mooted reshuž e is over, Is Boris serious about net zero? A revolution is promised, but will it include decarbonisation? David Blackman reports. attention will swi˜ ly turn to next month's Budget, the rst since the government adopted its 2050 net zero target last summer. Initial signs are not hopeful. Decarbonisa- tion was not included on the list of spending priorities in a letter circulated around gov- ernment by chancellor Sajid Javid last week, in which he asked departments for ideas on how they could make 5 per cent savings. The key will be for spending to match the new government's priorities, such as science and infrastructure investment to "level up" the divides between the South and the less economically buoyant parts of the UK, Mo Hussein, director of public a' airs at agency PLMR told the Energy UK event. "The spending taps have been turned on but only if you are a new MP north of Birmingham. 2050 is a long way away. The focus will be the next four years and it is infrastructure that will take the priority." Positive signs However, e' orts to cut emissions can be aligned with the government's regional development agenda. Johnson personally trumpeted wind turbine manufacturing tak- ing place on the Humber in his speech at this week's launch event for the COP26 summit. Investment in regional transport improve- ments could also tick boxes for the net zero agenda, insists Sam Hall, director of the Con- servative Environment Network. "Provided transport improvements are made with net zero in mind, that is a big opportunity as well," he says. He argues that climate change policies can be tailored to appeal to those new and less až uent Tory voters who tend to be more worried about the cost of living than saving the planet. And the opportunity exists in the run-up to the COP26 climate conference to hopefully deal with some "long running gaps" in pol- icy, Hall says: "The government recognises that its record on climate is under signi cant scrutiny." David Blackman, policy correspondent, Utility Week

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