---

As amended in the Standing Committee, further considered.

Let me continue by saying that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been conducting a review of householder development consents. The review was set up to address the problem that the planning legislation governing minor consents is unnecessarily complex, possibly too constricting and may be interpreted in different ways by local planning authorities across the country. The ODPM proposes to look at ways of simplifying the relevant sections of the secondary legislation, known as the general permitted development order, to make it easier for households to install microgeneration technology without the need for a planning application. 12 noon The Government continue to support clause 9, as we want to make it easier for householders to install microgeneration equipment. That is its purpose. There is clearly some confusion, but this clause is about facilitating small-scale microgeneration, a kilowatt or two. We are not talking about a provision that would allow one of those 50kW jobs to be installed in a suburban back garden. We thought that was obvious, but I am happy to suggest that my colleague, the Minister for Housing and Planning, the hon. Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), will write to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) setting out clearly the terms of the review so that there are no misconceptions.