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Finance Bill

We have had an interesting debate, marked by passion and commitment across the House. We have had debates of a similar tenor on such matters previously. Let me remind the House of the purpose of clauses 20 and 21. They aim to remove a barrier, or hurdle, which has discouraged householders from investing in microgeneration. As we have heard, microgeneration is defined in section 4 of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006. That Act requires the Secretary of Sate to consider by next year whether the introduction of targets for microgeneration is appropriate, and to report annually on measures taken to meet that target. We will return to that in relation to the amendment about reporting. The list of eligible technologies is set out in that Act. The low-carbon buildings programme has been discussed this afternoon. Between 2002 and 2006, we provided £11.6 million of funding for householder microgeneration installations. The low-carbon buildings programme will provide householders with £18.7 million over two years, including the additional moneys announced in the Budget—a significantly improved level of funding. We are aiming, however, for a sustainable UK industry that is not dependent on subsidy. Grant funding for householders has certainly played its part, but we need to look to longer-term measures that will support the industry in future, such as the energy efficiency commitment, the removal of planning barriers and the zero-carbon homes commitments, including the removal of stamp duty, which we debated earlier.