Written question asked by Alex Cunningham (Labour) on Thursday, 10 November 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 November 2011. It was answered by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Monday, 21 November 2011 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what legal advice he received prior to taking the decision to implement changes to the solar PV tariffs before the statutory consultation was completed.

Answer: No decision has been taken to implement changes to feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaics (PV) before consultation is completed. The proposal on which the Government are consulting is to bring new tariffs into force on 1 April 2012, which will apply from that date to all new PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 12 December 2011. Responses to the consultation will be carefully considered before any final decision is taken.Legal advice obtained by the Department is confidential and the subject of legal professional privilege.

Secondary information