Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
The complete record
Every one of 3,625 lines we hold for Simon Hamilton, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 73.
“That is reflected in the Committee's report, where the importance of using the right metrics to assess teaching quality and assessing them appropriately is underlined. Additionally, it is suggested that a Northern Ireland teaching excellence framework panel might be set up. <BR /> <BR />It is important to remember that participation in the teaching excellence framework is entirely voluntary. It goes without saying that published differential results of universities will be of interest to potential students, and our institutions have a genuine and well-founded concern that they will suffer adversely if they do not appear on a UK-wide list of quality on teaching excellence, regardless of the teaching excellence framework's inherent qualities as a means of measuring it.”
“The teaching excellence framework has enjoyed a high profile across the education sector, and I have approved participation in year 2 of the framework, which is being delivered by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. That is in response to concerns raised by our higher education institutions; I have recognised their argument that, should they be prevented from taking part, they may suffer a negative impact to their reputations. That is of particular concern to those institutions actively pursuing international students. <BR /> <BR />Giving evidence to the Committee, the National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland and the University and College Union raised concerns regarding our institutions' participation in the teaching excellence framework.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the research side of higher education, UK Research and Innovation will be an umbrella organisation for the seven research councils and Innovate UK and the research funding element of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The dual support system will be specified in legislation for the first time, thereby protecting that critical facet of the UK's research infrastructure. <BR /> <BR />I now turn to the areas of the Bill that require the legislative consent of this Assembly. I mentioned powers for the new Office for Students, once it has been established, to assess applications to the teaching excellence framework from eligible Northern Ireland institutions, subject to my explicit approval.”
“Whilst I understand those concerns and have some sympathy for them, they relate to provisions in the Bill that are beyond the scope of this legislative consent motion and outside the Assembly's competence. I am, however, aware that new amendments to the Bill have been proposed by the UK Department of Education to allow for a person to be a member of a board if he or she has experience of representing or promoting students' interests. Similarly, while the membership of the board of UK Research and Innovation is a reserved matter, an amendment to the Bill has been tabled to ensure that the Secretary of State has regard for the desirability of at least one of the board members having relevant experience in relation to a devolved Administration.”
“It will assume the functions of the Office for Fair Access and the non-research functions formerly carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. It will be funded jointly by government and subscriptions by regulated organisations, and it will allocate teaching grants to publicly funded providers. <BR /> <BR />Giving evidence to the Committee, the National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland raised concerns regarding the lack of student or staff representation on the board of the Office for Students.”
“The Bill therefore provides a mechanism for the Office for Students to accept and review teaching excellence framework submissions from higher education providers in Northern Ireland, subject to my approval. <BR /> <BR />Finally, the Bill will set in place structural reforms to the organisation of how the higher education sector in England is regulated. It provides for the closure of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Office for Fair Access, their functions being split between two newly created bodies: United Kingdom Research and Innovation and the Office for Students. The Office for Students will explicitly regulate the higher education market and promote the interests of all higher education students in England.”
“It is important to point out that those provisions apply only to England and have no direct implications for Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />Secondly, the Bill aims to promote transparency and choice for students, primarily through the introduction of the teaching excellence framework (TEF). The framework seeks to drive up the quality of teaching in the higher education sector by measuring, benchmarking and reporting data drawn from existing sources. While it is designed to assist the teaching quality of English higher education institutions, and to reward reported performance by linking outcomes to English tuition fee caps, institutions in Northern Ireland have also expressed a desire to apply for a teaching excellence framework rating solely for the purpose of avoiding any potential adverse reputational impact if they do not take part.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill falls into three broad headings that were set out in the White Paper published by the then Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. I have also noted the submissions made to the Assembly Committee for the Economy as part of its consideration of this matter, and I hope that I can deal with any issues raised through these introductory remarks. The first broad set of reforms concerns the operation of the higher education market in England. The Bill will introduce a register for all higher education providers, make reforms to the process for institutions receiving degree-awarding powers and university title, and introduce a single gateway to the higher education sector for all providers in England.”
“The Higher Education and Research Bill was introduced in Westminster on 19 May 2016 by the Westminster Department of Education. The overall purpose of the Bill is to underpin a number of changes to the operation of the higher education system in England. When the Bill was introduced in May, it had no direct impact on the higher education system in Northern Ireland. However, amendments introduced during Committee Stage in the House of Commons will have an impact here, and, as higher education is a devolved matter, they will require a legislative consent motion to be passed. Before outlining the specific changes that have an impact on Northern Ireland, I want to give a very brief outline of the Bill.”
“That is what I intend to deal with in a new energy strategy, and I look forward to the support of the whole House as we grapple with these considerable challenges, which are of such importance to our economy and to our wider society.”
“I am increasingly aware that not only is energy policy a complex and often technical area but it is massively interlinked. As I consider the issues raised in the motion, I am mindful that movement on one will in all likelihood impact on another. It is for that reason that I intend to address all the issues relating to affordability, sustainability and security of supply in a comprehensive and long-sighted new energy strategy for Northern Ireland that I intend to move forward on in the near future. <BR /> <BR />Energy policy must take account of the range of complex issues that have been highlighted today: energy costs, the grid, the link between energy infrastructure and the economy, electricity generation and security of supply, and the decarbonisation of the energy sector.”
“<BR /> <BR />The World Energy Council states that addressing the three goals of the energy trilemma entail:”
“I assure the Assembly that I am working closely with the Utility Regulator and SONI, the system operator, to consider how best to ensure our security of supply after 2020. If it is considered necessary, I will agree further actions to safeguard our electricity supply. <BR /> <BR />The motion calls for energy security to be given greater priority in the new Programme for Government. I wish to point out to Members — some Members have already done so — that the draft Programme for Government includes an indicator on a secure, sustainable and cost-efficient energy supply, with the measure being a percentage change in the security of energy supply margin. I believe that that emphasises the importance that the Executive attach to the security of our energy supply.”
“Clearly, the interconnector must proceed through the planning process, but I once again wish to put on record my view that it is a critical piece of energy infrastructure for our energy future. As Mr Frew emphasised in his short but important contribution that, coupled with other plans, such as the proposals by Evermore Energy for a new gas-fired power station in Belfast, battery storage by AES, small-scale wind storage options, the Gaelectric compressed air energy storage project, which is a project of common interest status and has the potential to attract huge investment, and the Islandmagee gas storage project, there is a range of ways in which our security of supply could be enhanced in the years ahead.”
“As I said at Question Time yesterday, with the existing generation capacity at our three conventional power stations at Balylumford, Kilroot and Coolkeeragh, as well as existing interconnection, including the Moyle interconnector being restored to 450 MW transfer capacity, and the additional 250 MW capacity provided by the SONI AES reserve services contract from January, there are no concerns about meeting our electricity demand to 2020. I acknowledge that emissions legislation could further impact on the Kilroot coal-fired plant in particular from 2020. <BR /> <BR />A key element of securing future electricity supply and creating a more efficient market via the integrated single electricity market will be the second North/South interconnector, which was much mentioned in the debate.”
“Lessons are being learnt, and I am carefully considering how we can address the cost that the scheme has for the public purse. The RHI suffered from systemic failures on the part of officials. The important thing now is that decisive action has been taken and a long-term plan is being developed to deal with the problem. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I turn to the third element of the energy trilemma: security of supply.”
“I am sure that, when penning the motion, the proposers were aware of the impact that a new scheme like the NIRO would have on the large non-domestic electricity customers that the motion also wants me to help reduce prices for. <BR /> <BR />As regards the renewable heat incentive, which was raised by several Members, I am acutely aware of the enormity of that issue. Members will appreciate not just that the matter is under investigation by the PAC but that, very soon after taking up post, I commenced an independent investigation of the allegations of fraud and abuse of the scheme. I neither want to cut across the PAC's important work nor go into detail about the independent investigation, which is ongoing. What I want to make clear is that I am giving the issue my fullest attention.”
“I will come to that in a moment. What I was going to say was that, in short, the NIRO has successfully helped Northern Ireland to make huge strides forward in generating increasing amounts of electricity from renewables. As I consider the future of renewables policy, I have to contemplate a range of factors. They include the potential of the scarce and precious resource that is the grid — that is how we should view the grid; it is a scarce and precious resource — and its capacity to accommodate more renewables, the absence of significant storage options and the cost of a new support scheme. The motion implicitly, I think, calls for new subsidy arrangements.”
“I will come to that later. I thank the Member for his acknowledgement of the success so far, which is highlighted by that jump from 3% to over 25% in a very short period. I am also confident that, when all the renewable projects with offers for connection or those that will receive offers are eventually connected, Northern Ireland will have the capacity to meet 100% of peak electricity demand of around 1,800 MW from renewable sources. In short —”
“With a further 700 MW of committed projects with accepted grid connection offers, plus around 200 MW of offers still to be made, I am confident that the Executive's 2020 target of 40% can be achieved over the next few years. Furthermore —”
“The latest official figures published by NISRA show that, during the 12-month period between April 2015 and March 2016, 25·4% of our electricity consumption was from renewable sources such as wind, solar photovoltaic, combined heat and power, and hydro.”
“Perhaps it will be useful to recap the impact that the Executive's policy of generating electricity from renewable sources has had. The motion points out that the Northern Ireland renewables obligation is now closed to new onshore wind projects and will close to all other technologies on 31 March next year. It is important to note, however, that projects accredited to the NIRO will continue to be supported by Northern Ireland electricity consumers until 2037. When the NIRO was introduced in 2005, electricity consumption from renewable sources stood at just 3%. Since then, over 900 MW of potential renewable electricity generation has been connected.”
“The group was also tasked with offering advice and recommendations on energy cost reduction measures, and I am looking very closely at those recommendations; indeed, I am using them to inform my thinking. <BR /> <BR />I am committed to doing all that I can. Some Members have acknowledged the limited capacity of any Minister to affect many aspects of electricity prices. Even though the tools at my disposal are limited, I want to ensure that the House is aware of my commitment to keep a downward pressure on electricity prices for business customers. I have been giving careful consideration to any and all options that are presented to me to remove cost from business customers' bills, and I look forward to the support of Members in doing so. <BR /> <BR />The motion talks about an absence of a renewables policy.”
“This represents a 32% decrease and is the lowest in 10 years. <BR /> <BR />Even for large and very large industrial and commercial customers, electricity prices have dropped considerably in recent years. I am not for a second trying to take away from the genuine concerns that exist, especially amongst some of our biggest energy-consuming businesses. Whilst competitiveness is affected by a range of costs, including property and wages, I accept that, for some of our key companies, electricity costs affect their competitiveness. <BR /> <BR />Members will recall that the Electricity and Manufacturing Advisory Group was established by my predecessor specifically to review the effect of energy costs on the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />The issue, as the motion acknowledges, is for large and very large electricity users. The amount that the remaining approximately 34% of all business customers pay for electricity is amongst the highest in the European Union. I am not arguing that that is not an issue, but is worth noting that the prices remain lower than the UK average, lower than places such as Italy and comparable with the Republic of Ireland and Germany. Furthermore, for July to December last year, unit prices on a per kilowatt hour basis were 7·9p in Northern Ireland compared with an EU average of 5·4p, a difference closer to 30% than the 60% more referenced in the motion. It is also worth remembering that the average annual domestic bill in 2016 is approximately £475 compared with nearly £700 in 2008.”
“<BR /> <BR />The motion notes the high cost of electricity for large business users, and I agree that a perception certainly exists that electricity prices in Northern Ireland across the board are high. That, of course, is not the case for everyone. Earlier this month, the Utility Regulator published a report titled 'Electricity Prices in NI: A Factual Analysis'. The regulator found that Northern Ireland's approximately 800,000 domestic customers pay just below the EU average for electricity and considerably less than their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, Germany and Denmark. The price paid by our smallest industrial and commercial customers, who account for around two thirds of all the roughly 80,000 business customers, is slightly higher than the EU average.”
“Mr Frew followed that old lesson of leaving them wanting more. <BR /> <BR />Shortly after taking up post as Minister for the Economy in May, I was introduced to a new phrase, "the energy trilemma". The World Energy Council's definition of energy sustainability is based on three core dimensions: energy security; energy equity, in other words accessibility and affordability; and environmental sustainability. The motion, whilst not using the awful phrase "energy trilemma" does, perhaps unwittingly, touch on each of the issues of affordability, security and sustainability, and it is on each of these three important elements of energy policy that I want to focus my remarks this evening.”
“It is growing across Northern Ireland, in the north-west, in Belfast, in Newry and in all parts in between.”
“The pilot scheme for the new Coleraine enterprise zone was formally designated by Her Majesty's Treasury in August 2016, just a few months ago. It offers enhanced capital allowances and is the only enterprise zone in Northern Ireland that offers 100% enhanced capital allowances for qualifying expenditure in the first year. A company called 5Nines, which operates and develops data centres, already has planning permission for the site. That planning permission goes back to 2013. As a Department, we will put in place a monitoring and evaluation plan to identify emerging benefits that could be derived from the enterprise zone. I see it as an important part of the growing tech sector in Northern Ireland which is employing around 30,000 people.”
“The differentiator as to why they are coming to Northern Ireland over other locations is the skilled workforce that we have.”
“I know that there are issues with a range of companies in the Member's constituency operating in very different sectors. As I have said today and previously, I am acutely aware of the importance of skills to Northern Ireland's proposition not just for inward investment but for the expansion of indigenous companies. So, I absolutely want to ensure that, as we look to a future where we have a reduced rate of corporation tax, that is not the only thing that we are going out to the world to offer. We also have to offer a strong pipeline of skilled workers. That will include helping companies in the Member's constituency as well as those prospective inward investors who, if the evidence to me is anything to go by, are increasingly coming to Northern Ireland.”
“So, a range of support has been made available and will continue to be made available for manufacturers like Almac and others who are growing their businesses, selling outside Northern Ireland, and looking to expand.”
“<BR /> <BR />The manufacturing sector, in spite of what some in the House, and some outside it, will want to say, is a strong sector in spite of some recent notable setbacks: employment in the sector has increased by over 4% in the last year. Support offered between 2011 and September of this year by Invest Northern Ireland (INI) has accounted for nearly £300 million of assistance; that is 7% more than the assistance that has gone to the services sector. Sometimes, there is a perception that the services sector does better from INI support. That is not the case. That investment of nearly £300 million has promoted 14,000 new jobs over the last five years and has had a total contribution of around £1·9 billion of investment in the local economy.”
“I join the Member in congratulating Almac on its growth. Here is an example of a firm that is part of a growing life and health science cluster in Northern Ireland, which is outward-looking, is selling more, and had a 50% increase in its exports over the last year. Almac is a core element of that growing and important sector to our economy, so I congratulate it on its success. We want to see local firms growing in Northern Ireland, but we also want to see them expand their reach internationally. Even though this investment is in the US, it will solidify and support jobs in Northern Ireland and, importantly, in the Member's Upper Bann constituency.”
“In fact, the state that had the highest per capita spend of the predecessor of Horizon 2020 — FP7 — was Israel. So, there are opportunities, even after UK exit from the EU, for us to avail ourselves of funds like Horizon 2020.”
“There is a range of European funds that our universities and colleges have accessed down through the years. This issue will be part of the negotiations that will begin at some stage next year. I understand the Member's concerns, however I point out the guarantees that the Chancellor has given, particularly in respect of Horizon 2020 funding. So, anything that is approved whilst the UK is still a member of the European Union will be guaranteed beyond our exit. <BR /> <BR />I have said before in the House, and I will repeat it, that Horizon 2020 is a project that is not limited to European Union member states. There are about a dozen states outside the European Union — Turkey, Norway, Israel and others — that have availed of Horizon 2020 funding in the past.”
“That will build on our success that was demonstrated in figures published last week on research and development that showed a 24% increase in R&D expenditure in Northern Ireland. That took us up to around £750 million worth of expenditure by businesses, the public sector and universities. Universities accounted for around a quarter of that total increase, which was around about a 9% increase. If there is money coming from the autumn statement for research and development, I hope that our universities will be able to benefit directly from it.”
“The Member is asking me to prejudge two things. He is asking me to prejudge an autumn statement that is to be made tomorrow, although I accept that, if you have read every newspaper that has been published today and listened to every news bulletin, you will probably have much of what is in the autumn statement in your hands or in front of you on the television screen. He is also asking me to prejudge the discussions and deliberations that will take place in the Northern Ireland Executive. <BR /> <BR />I note from what the Prime Minister has said today that she intends to see an increase of £2 billion in research and development expenditure. That will be a good thing for universities right across the United Kingdom, and, hopefully, for Northern Ireland.”
“It is expanding its business to here, which will create around 50 new jobs. It looked at opportunities in the US but decided to come to Belfast and Northern Ireland because of the skills of the talented people here. It is a much wider issue than tax, and, whilst we hope to reduce our rate of corporation tax to get us into other markets, we have to keep an emphasis on the importance of skills in our economy.”
“The president-elect has said many things, but he is not in post yet and has not taken his agenda to Congress. I wish him every success in his job and think that we should give him a chance, because we all need America to succeed. Northern Ireland has benefited from America's success in the past, and we want to benefit from its success in the future. <BR /> <BR />The Member and the House will understand that, even if the new president reduces corporation tax, as he has indicated, it is not just for tax reasons that many companies from the US invest in Northern Ireland. It is about skills, and I am increasingly aware of the importance of skills in attracting companies from all around the world. Take, for example, a cybersecurity firm called Black Duck. It is a Massachusetts-based company that has invested in Northern Ireland.”
“The Member is right to note that there has been change in the US, with the surprising and unexpected win of Donald Trump. These are very early stages in Mr Trump's Administration. In fact, he is not in post yet, so he does not even have an Administration in place. <BR /> <BR />The Member is right: the US is an incredibly important trading partner for Northern Ireland. It is our second biggest export destination, and we sold around £1·5 billion worth of goods to the US in the year ending June 2016. That was a staggering 74% increase year-on-year and a really tremendous achievement by Northern Ireland exporters. It is also an incredibly important source of inward investment, with around 175 US-owned companies operating in Northern Ireland, employing around 24,000 people.”
“We are also undertaking a whole range of different endeavours to try to capitalise on the growth that we have and, indeed, the huge opportunities that will exist in the years ahead.”
“It also has the aim of encouraging more exporters to get into selling their goods and services outside the region for the first time. Even though we have had that 9·5%, increase, it has been on the back of a decrease in the number of exporters. There has been really good performance, but we want to see more people selling their goods and services outside Northern Ireland, and the trade accelerator plan is aimed at doing that. It is providing more support for exhibitions, market study visits and trade missions. <BR /> <BR />We are also in the process of developing an international trade plan, which is entirely about making Northern Ireland an outward-looking trading nation, getting an increased Invest NI presence in key markets and setting up a trade advisory board to assist me in developing new export strategies.”
“The Member will be aware of two things that I have announced in recent times to try to enhance trade. We are starting from a very strong base already. We had a 9·5% increase in exports from Northern Ireland in the last year, and we are the only UK region to post an increase. New figures are due out very soon. That was backed up by the Ulster Bank's purchasing managers' index (PMI). It talked about a "surge" — I think that is the word used — in exports in the last number of months. Not wishing to prejudge those statistics in any way, shape or form, not least because I do not want egg on my face, there has been some good anecdotal evidence on the progress made over the last number of months in respect of exports. <BR /> <BR />I have put in place a trade accelerator plan that is looking at building on that success.”
“I want to ensure that Queen's University, Ulster University and the Open University, which are doing a good job in Northern Ireland, particularly in their research and how that is aligning better with our economic needs, have the finances now and into the future to allow them to continue to do the good job that they have done already.”
“I think that I counted about four, but I will do my best. I think that the teaching excellence framework is a good thing in and of itself, and I do not think that we should get it into a situation where it is mired in other debates. I want to see the sector sustainably financed. We need a good, strong university sector in Northern Ireland. I am very mindful and cognisant of the concerns expressed by that sector and how it believes that it is falling behind its counterparts in the rest of the United Kingdom and, indeed, elsewhere.”
“What I want to see is the sector, which, as I mentioned previously, is a very important sector not just to education but the wider economy in Northern Ireland, put on a sustainable footing for the future. That is obviously at the forefront of my mind as I consider the issue of financing our universities.”
“The teaching excellence framework, as I understand it, does what it says on the tin. It is about raising the standards of teaching in our universities. One criticism that I can recall from even before taking up this post is that, whilst universities rightly and understandably continue to focus on research — we want to see our universities continue to do that, and there is some promising progress in that regard — there is a view that there has perhaps been less focus on teaching standards. We all want to see the very good balance between teaching and research remain. I say to the Member that, in terms of future sustainable financing of the sector, the teaching excellence framework is not one of the things that has been considered in that context.”
“In many respects, it has been a successful policy. It has, in reflecting on what future policy might be, had an impact on the grid, which is a scare and precious resource. At present, there are no storage options, although I mentioned some possible storage options in my original answer. Of course, as with everything, we need to consider the cost of a replacement for the NIRO. Previously, NIRO costs were spread right across all UK consumers, so Northern Ireland got a reasonably good deal out of that. Any replacement will be across just Northern Ireland consumers, and that will, of course, have an impact on the affordability of electricity in Northern Ireland. I obviously have to carefully consider that in the future development of renewables policy.”
“There is already a considerable amount of renewable energy on the grid. There is also a considerable amount with offers, and some more will receive offers. I believe that we will not only meet our 40% target but, when all those offers are met and are on grid, have the ability to generate 100% of peak demand electricity from renewable sources, which is around 1,800 MW per year.”