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As amended in the Standing Committee, further considered.

The final group contains an interesting range of amendments. My right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth) made sensible points, as usual. I share his concerns about the need for community consultation and participation in local decision making. He is right that the Secretary of State should pay due regard to those issues in drawing up his report. However, I take great comfort from and, indeed, endorse the Minister’s comments and do not believe that my right hon. Friend’s amendments need to be incorporated into the Bill. I thank the Minister for tabling Government amendments Nos. 47 to 49. As he rightly said, an issue was raised not only by me but other members of the Committee. If my right hon. Friend had read the reports of our Committee proceedings, he would have known about the extensive and useful discussion of the subject that we held Upstairs. Much has been said about microgeneration but the measure is about a great deal more than domestic appliances. It is about decentralisation of energy. Although it constitutes only a modest step, I hope that it is the first step in a significant direction for the country’s energy policy, which will encourage much greater decentralised energy. If we are to move towards a decentralised model, that will require more community schemes. In many, although not all cases, especially in rural areas, the most effective, efficient and cost-effective way of embracing the new model will not be individual householders adopting their own kit but an efficient, small community form of domestic heat and power generation. I do not mean windmills or even solar or photovoltaic technology but gas-fired, combined heat and power or biomass fuel technology. Those work best, economically and efficiently, if they are adopted by several householders coming together on a relatively small scale. They are especially applicable to rural areas. Surely it is best for those schemes to be brought together in a democratic forum, where everyone in a village could have a voice, feel that their concerns were incorporated and the result was a genuine community plan. It is important to have a facility—it is only a facility—so that, in some circumstances, there is an opportunity to give some sort of financial encouragement when there is community consent. I am mindful of the time and I do not want to hold matters up. I thank the Government for their amendments and support them.