Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MARCH 2023 | 17 Regulation The ve priorities identi ed for the new department provide a "very clear mandate", says Buckland, highlighting electricity mar- ket reform and accelerating infrastructure delivery, particularly grid connections. "It can't be detrimental because they're so complex, di• cult and long term. Having a dedicated department that is able to focus on them a little bit more will be bene cial." Right call to focus on bills Sunak's rst-year priority for the new depart- ment to tackle energy bills is also right, says Buckland. "You've got to start making these decisions or thinking and consulting on the options relatively quickly because the time will tick down to April 2024 (the current cut- o† for government support on energy bills). "If they're going to do something more structured like the introduction of social tar- i† , that will take time and we can't just do that overnight." But Sandys is worried that even within a slimmed down department, net zero will get less attention than it deserves. "It's called energy security and net zero but when you look at all the press statements, net zero seems to have less of an emphasis." Advocates of BEIS also argue that it was a good idea to have energy policy integrated with business in the same department. Ed Matthew says: "Being amalgamated with business and industrial strategy was good in that everything was being brought together. If you split business and industrial policy from energy, then you're fragmenting the ability to have the joined-up policy that you need to get to net zero." Breaking up BEIS also risks reawakening tensions between the business and energy departments that sometimes emerged pre- viously, says Bell: "There was a time under the old arrangement when BIS (the Busi- ness, Innovation and Skills department) was actively brie ng against Decc. "That might make a comeback, especially given that [new business and trade secretary of state] Kemi Badenoch was the last of the leadership candidates to commit to net zero during the Tory race." Another lesson for many from Decc's demise was that the department was a min- now in the Whitehall jungle. However, the way both energy and net zero have risen up the agenda means there is less risk that the new department will lack clout, says Buckland. "Now that net zero is a core government priority across the board and there is a really consistent focus on it, it feels less of a risk than it was in the past. It will be something that has to be navigated but feels manageable." The new secretary of state will add to the new department's clout, Bell says: "Grant Shapps is one of the few big beasts le— in the Tory government." Sandys agrees: "It's now politically more important and Grant is quite a big voice in government so I don't think he's going to get marginalised." Taking on the Treasury There is, though, a risk that splitting up BEIS will make it easier for the Treasury to handle the successor departments, says Matthew. "It makes the secretary state for each one of those departments weaker than the original secretary state for BEIS so it's not such a big beast and as a result strengthens the hand of the Treasury," he says. The ˜ ip-side of this is the potential to cre- ate a strong and dedicated champion for net zero within government, he adds. Having a minister with net zero in their job title at the cabinet table should also make it easier to coordinate action in this area across departments, says Buckland. Despite the shake-up, concerns linger that climate change is not a top priority for Sunak, says Matthew: "When he laid out his people's priorities at the beginning this year, it didn't involve taking climate action and building a net-zero economy: it's not top of his mind." But Richards, who is heartened to hear that chancellor Jeremy Hunt is looking at moves to speed up planning for o† shore wind and nuclear ahead of next month's Budget, says: "Fundamentally, what really matters is if you've got the centre rmly behind getting something done." Delivering on policies like these will ulti- mately be more important than the exact make-up of Whitehall departments. He says: "If you've got a prime minister who's willing to spend political capital on it and a chancel- lor willing to spend political capital, but ide- ally actual capital, then that really is what's fundamental rather than the names of the doors on di† erent departments." David Blackman, policy correspondent "It makes the secretary state for each one of those departments weaker than the original secretary state for BEIS so it's not such a big beast and as a result strengthens the hand of the Treasury." Ed Matthew, campaigns director, E3G "It makes the secretary state for each one of those departments weaker than the original secretary state for BEIS so it's not such a big beast and as a result strengthens the hand of the Treasury."

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