Sir Robert Smith has been named as the temporary chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) after former chairman Tim Yeo stepped aside pending an investigation into claims that he breached the MPs’ code of conduct.

Yeo had been seen as a leading Conservative MP on promoting the climate change agenda and ‘decarbonising’ the electricity market. In December 2012, he announced that he would table an amendment to the Energy Bill to include a decarbonisation target for the electricity sector, although this was subsequently rejected.

However, a recent Sunday Times investigation has claimed that Yeo had offered to ‘coach’ John Smith, an executive of Eurotunnel subsidiary GB Railfreight, on what to say before giving evidence to the committee. Yeo has been a director and shareholder of Eurotunnel since 2007.

Undercover reporters posing as representatives of a fictitious company also recorded Yeo allegedly claiming to be able to use his influence to help commercial interests, leading some to label the scandal ‘Lobbygate’. In the recording, he states: “If you want to meet the right people, I can facilitate all those introductions and I can use the knowledge I get from what is quite an active network of connections."

Yeo “totally rejects” allegations

In a statement released on Sunday (9 June), Yeo stated that he “totally reject[s]” the allegations made against him, saying the Sunday Times had “chosen to quote very selectively” from the covert footage and refused to provide his lawyer with the full copy of the recording.

He added: “The whole recording would show the context of the conversation and demonstrate clearly that at no stage did I agree or offer to work for the fictitious company these undercover reporters claimed to be representing, still less did I commit to doing so for a day a month as the article claims.”

He further stated that he refused to establish an All Party Parliamentary Group to help the fictitious company, as well as refusing to provide names of MPs who would be interested in joining such a group.

Furthermore, the statement described John Smith as a ‘business colleague’ rather than a ‘paying customer’ and claimed that Yeo ‘spoke briefly to Mr Smith… to explain that because of the business connection between us I would not take part in questioning him’.

Yeo to ‘temporarily’ step down

However, Yeo announced that he would ‘temporarily stand aside’ from the role of Chairman of the ECCC until the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had completed her investigation against him. He had referred himself to the parliamentary watchdog.

A statement released by Yeo’s office on Monday (10 June) stated his reasons for stepping aside: ‘I am doing so solely to ensure the smooth running of the Committee during the next few weeks. I firmly believe that I have not breached the MPs’ Code of Conduct in any respect and therefore await the outcome of the Commissioner’s investigation with confidence…

‘I do not wish the Commissioner’s investigation to be a distraction from the Committee’s important work. I believe that during the past three years the Committee has been extremely effective and I want this to continue.’

The ECCC unanimously accepted his decision, adding that Yeo ‘will not be receiving a Chair’s salary during this time’.

He will temporarily be replaced by Sir Robert Smith, who will oversee ECCC work into the role of shale gas in the UK’s energy sector, the government's smart meter rollout, the UK oil refinery sector, work on the Green Deal, and the effectiveness of the Renewable Heat Incentive.