Isra-Mart srl:Labour calls on green businesses to participate in policy review

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Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Meg Hillier has called upon green business leaders to contribute to Labour's current policy review and help shape the low carbon policies the opposition plans to take into the next election.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with BusinessGreen, Hillier said the party was at the early stage of policy development and was keen to "go out and talk to people between now and June" with a view to mapping out various policy proposals at the party's annual conference in the autumn.

"We genuinely want to hear what people want to say," she said, adding that the shadow energy and climate change team were keen to speak to green businesses on a wide range of issues. "We want to hear which two or three things people think government could and should be doing. Good regulation plays a part, but what other things do they need from government?"

With four years to go to the next election, Hillier was reluctant to set out firm policy proposals, but she hinted Labour was looking at measures to promote the roll-out of electric vehicle battery swap stations, as well as proposals to improve the government's Green Deal energy efficiency scheme, which she argued was too complex and unlikely to attract significant take-up.

She insisted Labour was keen to work with the coalition on its Electricity Market Reform package to help bolster investor confidence that the new regulatory and incentive regime will remain in place even if the government changes.

However, she warned the Localism Bill would have a "terrible" impact on the renewable energy industry and attacked the government for failing to deliver a coherent green growth strategy.

"We want to see jobs and growth and this is a huge potential area," she said. "But if we don't do it soon – if the government does not get cracking – we will not have much to inherit in this area because companies will have gone abroad. China will be catching us up and in some areas it already it is."