Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, claims the prime minister is failing to clear red tape holding up a deal Barnsley-based Solar Europa has agreed with the Turkish government. The deal that was secured with Turkey is supposedly being delayed due to “red tape” in Whitehall, claimed Jarvis.
The MP told local paper The Star, that depsite intervention from “the highest level” there had been no progress.
When asked about the current status of the deal between Solar Europa and Tukey, the office of MP Dan Jarvis who had been pioneering the effort for his constituency failed to comment. Similarly, the company itself also failed to provide a statement to Solar Power Portal. The press office at Number 10, referred Solar Power Portal to UK Trade & Investment. Two spokespeople were unaware of their current involvement with Solar Europa and therefore were unable to answer any questions.
During prime minister’s questions earlier this month, Jarvis asked: “Billions of pounds of investment depend upon him keeping his word, but delays in Whitehall mean that the deal is now at risk. Will the Prime Minister do what he said he would do: intervene to make sure that we can bring hundreds of good, skilled jobs to this country?”
The prime minister, having referenced the various departments that have supposedly been working to secure the deal including the UK Trade & Investment, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the Foreign Office, went on to respond: “We want to promote all projects that can create jobs in the UK and benefit relations with international partners. So I will look to see if there is anything that can be done in the Whitehall system that is getting in the way of this company…”
The £4.5 billion deal, announced in 2014, is for a 3-4GW project in Turkey that would be the world’s biggest.
The company hopes that the signing of the contract will then create hundreds of jobs and a larger international market. Jarvis believes that failure to secure this deal quickly will reflect badly on the UK as a whole. “Failure runs the risk of damage to our international credibility,” he said.