HC Deb 08 February 1999 vol 325 cc48-9W
Mr. Gummer

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the impact on emissions of Government policies which have protected the market for coal. [69566]

Mr. Battle

The White Paper of October 1998, "Conclusions of The Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government responses to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee" (Cm 4071), set out the Government's programme of reform in the electricity market and introduced a stricter policy on consents for gas-fired stations to protect diversity and security of supply while the programme of reform was under way. The White Paper discussed the environmental aspects of the Government's policy in Chapter 9 (Achieving sustainable energy supplies). An environmental appraisal was provided as Annexe H.