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Climate Change Bill [HL]

The noble Lord will recognise that I am obliged to respond to the amendment before the Committee. That is my obligation to the Committee—but it is also my obligation to the Bill. I have to respond to what the amendment would actually do to the Bill and it is on that basis that I am objecting to it. I understand what the noble Lord is saying in more specific terms, but it is not what his amendment would do. The problem that we have in terms of the immediate annual report is that the inventory requires collection of data from a wide variety of sources, including the department’s Digest of UK Energy Statistics, which is published annually seven months after the end of the reporting year in question—namely, in July. That is such a crucial set of statistics in relation to these issues, so tying down a position in which this report might have to be out in March, when we do not have the data that will become available later in the year, creates an obvious difficulty. That is why, while sticking firmly to the principle of proper reporting, we must take account of the fact that compiling this data—which have to be accurate and meet international standards, as that is absolutely crucial to the country’s position with regard to these issues—is a complex task. I hope that noble Lords opposite will recognise that that is why the Bill is drafted as it is with regard to the timetable.