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DECC set to appeal FiT ruling

Despite being refused leave to appeal to the Supreme Court by three appeal judges this morning, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has confirmed the Government will still seek permission to go the Supreme Court.
The Government wants to overturn a High Court ruling that planned cuts to the Feed-in Tariff were unlawful.
In a statement, Cabinet Minister Huhne said: “The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FITs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
“We have already put before Parliament changes to the regulations that will bring a 21p rate into effect from April for solar pv installations from 3 March to help reduce the pressure on the budget and provide as much certainty as we can for consumers and industry.
“We want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry.”
John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said the further appeal was wrong, adding: “The judgement should be used to draw a line under this saga, which saw the Government scoring a spectacular own goal and confidence in the renewables sector undermined.
“We must bring certainty back to this high growth sector. Looking to the future, the Government should guarantee the rate applicants will receive earlier in the process, for all the technologies covered by the feed-in-tariff, to give buyers the confidence to proceed.”
Earlier today, fellow DECC Minister Greg Barker wrote on his Twitter account: “Win, lose or draw today, important we move forward together, drive down costs + step up deployment”.