‘MyBEIS inquiry' – BEIS Committee to consider subjects for future inquiries

• Parliament TV: My BEIS inquiry meeting on 16 July 2020
• Transcript: My BEIS inquiry meeting on 16 July 2020
• Inquiry: MyBEIS
• Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee 

Chair's comment

Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, said:

“I'd like to again express my thanks to those who made pitches to the Committee and to congratulate them for the quality and expertise of their presentations. I hope participants found the process helpful and enjoyable.

The Committee is grateful for the more than 200 submissions we received during the MyBEIS inquiry and we really appreciate the engagement that we have seen throughout the process. As a Committee, we would now like to spend some time over the summer to further consider these proposals and to decide how we will take these ideas forward in our future work.”

'MyBEIS inquiry' proposals

All the proposals, and not just those heard by the BEIS Committee on Thursday, will be used to help shape the Committee's work over the Parliament and the Committee will be keeping an eye on the issues raised with a view to future Committee activity.

On the morning of Thursday 16th July, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee heard a series of pitches making the case for selected business, energy policy or climate change issue to be investigated by the BEIS Committee over the course of this Parliament. The ‘dragons-den' style session format followed a call (in March) for the public to submit their own ideas for future Committee inquiries.

The eleven proposals heard by the BEIS Committee were selected from in excess of 200 submissions from a wide range of individuals and organisations received by the BEIS Committee. Ahead of the session in public, the BEIS Committee has published a report [available via link] which includes the details of all the eligible submissions received.
The list of proposed inquiry subjects and participants at the public session on Thursday 16th July are included below (their full submissions outlining the case for their chosen inquiries can be found at Annex 1 of the report).

• The decarbonisation of heating: Dr Jan Rosenow, Principal and European Programme Director, Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)
• The future of hydrogen: Dr Luke Warren, CEO, Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA)
• Industrial decarbonisation and consumption emissions: Andrew Large, Chair, Energy Intensives Users Group (EIUG)
• The future of UK carbon pricing: Hannah Dillon, Head of Campaign, Zero Carbon Campaign
• Negative emissions technologies: Daniel Quiggin, Senior Research Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme, Chatham House [joint proposal from WWF, Ember and researchers from Chatham House's Energy, Environment and Resources Programme]
• Net Zero and a ‘Just Transition': Prof. Nick Robins, Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics (LSE)
• Fuel poverty strategy: Matthew Copeland, Policy Manager, National Energy Action (NEA)
• Net zero consumer protections: Dhara Vyas, Head of Future Energy Services, Citizens Advice
• Role of local government in supporting the development of the low carbon economy: Cllr Claire Holland, Chair of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, and Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council [presenting proposal from London Councils]
• Institutional arrangements to meet net zero: Professor Paul Ekins, Director; Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, University College London (UCL) Institute for Sustainable Resources
• Digitalising the economy: Signe Norberg, Public Affairs Manager, Aldersgate Group

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees

Image: Creative Commons/Christian Bortes