The Government has lodged an application with the Supreme Court seeking permission to appeal against two court decisions in December and January, which ruled that its plans to cut solar power subsidy payments were unlawful.
Speaking yesterday (21 February), a spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: 'We respectfully disagree with the Court of Appeal's decision on Feed-in Tariffs... We are now awaiting a decision of the Supreme Court on permission.'

'We want to see the available funding spread as far and wide as possible making FITs a scheme for the many and not a scheme for the few, supporting sustainable jobs in solar and a whole range of small scale renewables,' the spokesperson added.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) originally mounted the legal challenge against the Government, together with solar firms SolarCentury and HomeSun, in December last year.

FoE director, Andy Atkins, commented: 'A successful appeal will allow ministers to slash renewable energy subsidies at any time - even for solar panels and wind turbines that have been operating for years.'

'This misguided appeal will only add to the uncertainty hovering over the renewable clean energy industry and the tens of thousands of people it employs,' he said.

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