§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how much the climate change levy will cost British industry in the first year of its operation. [9567]
§ Mr. BoatengThe climate change levy will raise an estimated £1 billion a year, all of which will be recycled back to business through cuts in the employers' rate of national insurance contributions and support for energy efficiency. While the levy is broadly revenue neutral across manufacturing and service sectors, its exact effect on any specific sector or industry will depend on a number of factors including: the future energy consumption of firms in the sector and employment levels in those firms; the number of energy intensive firms in that sector that are eligible to receive a discount on the main rates of the levy by signing up to an energy efficiency agreement; and what use firms in that sector make of electricity generated from levy exempt 'new' renewable sources of energy and combined heat and power.