The E&CCC published its report on its pre-appointment hearing with Lord Deben today. It contains the oral evidence given by the former Conservative environment secretary detailing his business interests, including tidal energy company Corlan Hafren and the consortium aiming to develop the largest round 3 offshore wind zone at Dogger Bank, Forewind.
Lord Deben has given up his roles with those companies but does not propose to give up his role with Veolia Water. After a blog site last week drew attention to potential conflicts of interest, citing Veolia Water’s connections business, Lord Deben gave further evidence to the Committee, explaining that the firm’s activities were mostly water services and that any connections work was “energy source neutral, they merely make the connection”.
Lord Deben said it was “difficult to see how a conflict of interest might arise but were it to, I would obviously stand aside from any involvement.”
The Committee said it did not plan to change its opinion of Lord Deben’s suitability for the position, and said his additional statements regarding Veolia Water had been passed to the department of energy and climate change, which is set to rubber stamp his appointment imminently.