CBI director-general John Cridland said plans to cut the higher rate of cash subsidy had “evaporated” business leaders’ trust in the government because companies had heavily invested in the solar PV market.
“This is the latest in a string of government own goals,” Cridland told the CBI East Midlands annual dinner tonight. “Moving the goal posts doesn’t just destroy projects and jobs, it creates a mood of uncertainty that puts off investors and they wonder what’s coming next.”
Mr Cridland said the dramatic cut in the solar feed-in tariff for solar PV was the latest in a string of own goals by the government, which had already turned the carbon reduction commitment incentive scheme into “a pure revenue-raiser”.
He said: “Moving the goal posts doesn’t just destroy projects and jobs, it creates a mood of uncertainty that puts off investors and they wonder what’s coming next.
“Some companies have invested heavily in solar photovoltaic systems and in the supply chains needed to install them.
“That commitment has been undermined by the feed-in tariff decision – and so industry trust and confidence in the Government has evaporated. This bodes poorly for investment in future initiatives.
“A new industrial policy needs to recognise the real-time costs of these decisions, and should set out a clear path that investors understand and can believe in.”