I want to speak to Amendment 18, which is in our name, but also to respond to Amendment 7, in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Fox and Teverson, and the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, on the Liberal Democrat Benches. Amendment 7 would specify in new Section 76A(9) further consultees the Secretary of State must consult before making any regulations and add the requirement to lay before Parliament a Written Statement on the resourcing and preparedness of the ONR. In conjunction with the other amendments taken last week on Euratom and the UK’s levels of standards, we agree that this would be most useful. However, it may not go far enough, in that it would be the Secretary of State doing the interpretation of any evidence received and judging its sufficiency. Notwithstanding the comments of the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, and the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, these matters were debated last week and it would be the Government making the declaration. The Committee was not inclined to take at face value many of the Government’s assurances last week. Unfortunately, I have not seen the recent letter to the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, nor the letter from the noble Baroness to the noble Lord, Lord Teverson. I request that in future the whole Committee be copied in to the letters, so that we can keep abreast. Many thanks.
Noon
Amendment 18 does not mention staffing levels or the independence of the ONR, however this last important matter is the subject of a further amendment, in my name and those of my noble friend Lord Hunt and the
noble Lord, Lord Warner, which is about funding the ONR appropriately and goes further than seeking government assurances. Prospect, the trade union for nuclear engineers and specialists, has stated that the Government have already cut the ONR’s budget in recent years and that now more than 90% is funded by industry, a figure the Government confirmed in that letter to Peers dated 20 February. Are the Government going to play fair by this industry? Are they committed to the industry?
In the letter of 20 February, the Government say they will allocate to the ONR the funding necessary to establish the new domestic civil nuclear safeguards regime. In the Written Ministerial Statement of 2 February, the Government state that they have secured £2.275 million for this purpose ahead of UK withdrawal from Euratom. Is this enough? Will the Government confirm that it is the full figure that will be needed to cover the list claimed in the letter of 20 February; namely, establishing and running a project team, procuring an IT system, recruiting and training inspectors, drafting the regulatory framework, providing technical support to the department’s international negotiations, as well as the asset purchases of existing Euratom equipment in UK facilities? Prospect believes that a figure nearer to £10 million would be more realistic, especially to complete the necessary asset purchases, and is concerned that this would not fund the decommissioning costs inherent in the equipment being purchased. Will the Minister clarify the full amount of the investment inventory needed for the UK’s safeguarding regime, the commensurate full cost and that all of it will be funded?
Then there is the ongoing running cost of operating the monitoring and inspections that are presently funded by EU budgetary contributions of £9.5 million a year. The industry is very concerned that the Government will require it to self-fund the safeguarding amount in addition to funding already passed to it for safety and security. The costs of Brexit should be disclosed in full and the Government should play fair by the industry. The Minister agrees, in his letter of 20 February, that they will carry out a full consultation, including close engagement with industry and key stakeholders. Are the Government willing to show their commitment? In answering these questions, will the Minister clarify the position of ownership and retained rights of EU customers to UK operations, such as uranic material at URENCO in Cheshire, that EU customers have the right to use? This could cause operational difficulties of physical segregation. I would be quite happy if the Minister were to write to me on this last, technical note.