Press release

Government to appeal high court solar ruling

3 January 2012

Friends of the Earth is urging Ministers to focus on putting the solar industry back on a stable footing after Energy Minister Greg Barker confirmed via Twitter today (Tuesday 3 January 2012) that the Government has decided to try to appeal a ruling that its solar cuts are illegal - at a potentially huge cost to taxpayers.

The green campaigning charity said the Government must introduce a clear plan to reduce solar power payments in line with falling installation costs, rather than prolonging industry uncertainty and jeopardising jobs by pursuing an expensive legal appeal.

Following a legal challenge by Friends of the Earth and two solar firms Solarcentury and HomeSun just before Christmas, the High Court ruled that the Government's plans to rush through sudden cuts to solar payments - before its own consultation had ended - were illegal.

The court refused permission for an appeal on the basis that the Government has no realistic prospect of winning. The deadline for lodging an appeal is 4pm tomorrow, 4 January 2012.

Friends of the Earth is also calling on Ministers to reduce tariff rates in a planned way from February 2012 to protect jobs, and to increase the overall budget for the feed-in tariff to allow more people - including poorer households and community groups - to benefit from solar power.  The group says this is possible without any additional cost to bill payers because of the increased tax revenue the scheme is generating.

Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton said:

"The Government's illegal cuts to solar tariff rates have near-crippled an industry and threatened thousands of jobs.

"Trying to appeal the High Court's ruling is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money - the court says the Government has no realistic chance of winning, and it will prolong uncertainty among solar companies just when they need reassurance.

"Ministers should accept the High Court's decision and end business uncertainty and protect jobs with a clear plan to reduce payments from February, in line with falling installation costs.

"The Government must expand the scheme overall - with all the tax revenue the scheme generates, this can be done at no extra cost to bill payers."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The High Court said that proposals to cut payments for any solar scheme completed after 12 December - 11 days before the official consultation closed - were unlawful. A working transcript of the court proceedings is available from Friends of the Earth's press office - 020 7566 1649.

2. Photographs of Friends of the Earth's action outside the High Court are available for free at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwwfoecouk/sets/72157628428618941/.

3. At the High Court the judge refused permission to appeal, given that it would have no realistic prospect of success. For more information see http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/govt_appeal_lost_solar_court_case_22122011.html.

4. On Monday 31 October 2011 the Government launched a public consultation that would see the amount of solar panels installed each year fall by between 50 and 95 per cent: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn11_091/pn11_091.aspx.

5. The Government's proposals have already had a devastating impact. Countless planned clean energy schemes have been abandoned and thousands of jobs are under threat. In December construction firm Carillion warned 4,500 workers their jobs were at risk because of the Government's proposals. The Government's decision to slash solar funding was described by the CBI as an 'own goal' in November: http://www.cbi.org.uk/media-centre/speeches/2011/11/john-cridlands-speech-to-cbi-east-midlands-annual-dinner/. Examples of solar energy projects that have either been scrapped or are in jeopardy are available from Friends of the Earth's press office - please call 020 7566 1649/ 07712 843 209 for more information.

6. In November last year research by Element Energy, commissioned by Friends of the Earth and the solar industry, showed that the premature cuts could threaten 29,000 jobs and lose the Treasury up to £230 million a year in tax income. It showed that additional costs to lift the cap off the scheme will be more than equalled by extra tax receipts to the exchequer and saving on unemployment benefit that would have been paid to sacked solar fitters http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/element_energy_summary.pdf.

7. Calculations by Friends of the Earth and Element Energy suggest that the Treasury receives from the solar industry at least £330m per year in income taxes, corporation tax, and VAT. Friends of the Earth's calculations also reveal that any additional costs over budget that result from restoring the cut-off date to April, as well as allowing for moderate growth in the solar industry over the next three years at lower tariff rates, could be paid for by using this tax income - not increasing the costs to consumers.

8. Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to:

• Establish a system which enables feed-in tariff payments to fall from February 2012, in line with the falling cost of solar technology, in a way that supports the continued growth of the industry and jobs
• Increase the overall budget for feed-in tariffs using tax revenues generated by jobs created by the scheme - this will enable more households to benefit from solar power
• Exclude housing association, school, council and other community projects from the damaging proposal to give multi-building projects even lower financial support
• Only require solar projects on homes to install loft and cavity wall insulation where possible - rather than imposing much tougher energy efficiency conditions which would make 9 out of 10 householders ineligible for the scheme

9. The feed-in tariff scheme has led to the installation of more than 100,000 solar panel projects since its introduction in April 2010 and created around 27,000 new jobs, the majority of which are now under threat.

10. Friends of the Earth's legal challenge to cuts in solar incentives is part of its Final Demand campaign, which calls for energy we can all afford and a public inquiry into the power and influence of the Big Six energy companies. Find out more at www.foe.co.uk/finaldemand.

11. Almost 20,000 people have asked the Government to keep supporting clean British energy - join them now at www.foe.co.uk/finaldemand.  

12. More than 200 organisations, including community groups, councils, business organisations, solar companies and NGOs have signed a statement calling on the Government to re-think its plans. http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/fd_joint_statement1.pdf

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust