Sir Keir Starmer pledges to look at report on legality of Drax power station subsidies

Money for the subsidies comes from energy bill payers, because the electricity produced from burning wood pellets is classified as renewable.

Biomass as a clean energy source has long been under dispute and the Government has faced calls to end financial support for companies such as Drax.

Last year, Drax agreed to pay £25m after a probe by energy industry regulator Ofgem found that the company had failed to properly report data on the types of wood it uses for its biomass pellets.

In the Commons yesterday, Independent MP Rosie Duffield urged Sir Keir Starmer to look at a report by financial services company KPMG “before giving another £1 of taxpayers’ money to Drax”.

In November, Baroness Boycott told the House of Lords that Drax had commissioned KPMG to conduct an internal investigation following the Ofgem probe, which she said found “there was evidence of ‘material financial misstatement”.

Drax has denied the report said this and claimed it was seen by Ofgem during its investigation.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Duffield, who represents Canterbury, said: “Since 2012, the Drax power station has been given £7bn of green subsidies by the Government for burning 27 million trees per year. That’s enough money for five years of pensioners’ winter fuel payments.

“While Ofgem has been asleep at the wheel, a recent KPMG report has concluded that Drax claimed those subsidies illegally.

“Will the Prime Minister today demand to see that KPMG report before giving another £1 of taxpayers’ money to Drax?”

Sir Keir replied: “It is an important issue, of course we will look at the report, but I don’t join in her description, we will look at the report.”

A Drax spokesperson said: “Ofgem found no evidence that our biomass failed to meet the sustainability criteria of the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme, nor that the ROCs we received for the renewable power we produced had been provided incorrectly.

“The KMPG report referenced by Rosie Duffield did not come to that conclusion and was seen by Ofgem during their investigation.”