Concerns have been raised in Parliament about contracts for British offshore wind farms being awarded to companies in Germany and Holland rather than in Britain.
Alex Cunningham, the Member of Parliament for Stockton North, used the final Business, Innovation and Skills Question Time before Christmas to ask the Secretary of State, Vince Cable MP, whether he had considered amending the Energy Bill to prevent British firms from losing valuable contracts to overseas competitors.
The Business Secretary declined to press for an amendment to the Bill, but did say the Government were working with the developers forum to improve the amount of UK firms involved in offshore supply chain work.
Alex MP said:
“I was disappointed that the Business Secretary didn’t see the merit in my suggestion. Currently, too much work that could be done in Teesside and across Britain is going to companies overseas.
“There is almost unlimited potential to grow the offshore industry in the North East and on Teesside, and while it is encouraging that the Government is pushing for a greater amount of supply chain work to be done in this country, I still think that putting it into law that this work has to stay here at home is the best route forward.”
