Members of Energy UK are “angry” about recent changes in energy policy made by the government.

Lawrence Slade, CEO of the trade body, which represents the Big Six companies among others, told ELN energy policy should be independent from political parties and continue through different parliamentary terms.

The government recently announced it will scrap subsidies for onshore wind projects and proposed to cut support for solar and biomass.

Mr Slade said: “I think is really important that we actually say and start getting a message across which says ‘okay this is what industry can do, this is what we are willing to do, this is the commitment we are willing to do’.

“We go out into the global markets, we raise the capital, we put the technology in but government’s part of this covenant is to support that with a stable policy framework that isn’t party political and actually lives beyond one parliamentary term into multiple parliamentary terms.”

He believes recent changes in energy policy are concerning people that want to invest in the industry.

Mr Slade added: “It is undoubtedly concerning and as you’d expect we speak to people across the scene inside the energy sector and outside in terms of investment. We saw the EY report a couple of weeks ago that saw the UK drop out of the top 10 in terms of favourable areas. I think anything like that has got to be sending a message to government that ‘hang on a moment this is concerning and you are actually scaring investors away from a market that needs £10-£15 billion investment year after year after year for well over a decade’ so that’s a worrying issue.”

The sector doesn’t aim to live on subsidies forever but needs them to drive efficiency and innovation, according to Mr Slade.

Watch the full interview here.