On Monday I joined Anne Constantine, Principal of Cambridge Regional College, in greeting Greg Barker MP at the official opening of this fantastic new facility.

As well as helping to show the Minister around I chaired a question and answer session where guests had the opportunity to put questions to Greg. He took the opportunity to announce the changes in feed in tariffs for solar panels. They are going down as the current level was distorting the market away from other types of energy generation.

The SmartLife Centre is an excellent example of the County Council working together with a learning institution, like the CRC, to meet the educational needs of industry.

I am keen that skills developed here are used to support our new enterprise zone at Alconbury as well as being a springboard to retrofit our older properties.

It is good to see a balanced view on energy, with a number of different technologies being taught, rather than the old fashioned view that wind turbines solve everything.

Saving energy is good and breaking our reliance on carbon fuel this establishment will help to lead the way.