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Planning and Energy Bill

Probably the latter. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend's point. The problem is that for huge buildings that may also be old—perhaps dating from the 1930s or 1940s—the cost of insulation, reflecting the scale of the buildings, may be astronomical. My hon. Friend may well be right about making energy savings, but my point related to those working in the building, who have no personal incentive to carry this out. The building owners and the commercial company operating within the building certainly would have an incentive, which is why the new clause gives local authorities the power to make requirements for better insulation in respect of commercial as well as domestic buildings. I wanted to spell it out that I was talking about not only homes but both sides of the equation. That is why I framed new clause 1 as I did—precisely to answer my hon. Friend's point and to ensure that commercial buildings are covered as well. When I looked at the website of my own local authority, Barnet council, I found that it was rather thin on this aspect. It says that the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995"““places a duty on local authorities to improve the level of energy efficiency in all of their houses by 30 per cent. over 10 years. Since then, energy action areas have been introduced in Barnet to help improve the energy efficiency in the borough's housing in line with the Act””." I suspect that most of that is being provided for through the decent homes grants from the Government. I am afraid that Barnet's local authority does not have a very good record or reputation for attributing where resources come from. The most important aspect here is regeneration, which has been attempted in respect of three big housing estates in my constituency. The regenerations have been talked about for seven years, but very little has been done. Even if the work on one were to start tomorrow, it would probably take, including those seven years, 25 years to complete, yet these homes are woefully energy-inefficient. Bearing in mind the large number of properties on the estates requiring regeneration, I suspect that Barnet council will not meet this particular target. The building regulations, which we have already discussed, are relevant, as is the standard assessment procedure for the energy rating of dwellings. In Barnet, the national home energy rating is relevant and a minimum standard of eight will be sought. As regards the standard assessment procedure, a minimum rating of 81 or a B rating will be required for new homes. Why it is a B rating, I do not know. Perhaps it is a matter of Barnet doing a bit of backsliding. To conclude my remarks on this group of amending provisions, I hope that I have set out why I believe insulation is an important part of the equation when we are thinking about local authorities having new powers to deal with energy issues and climate change. We all want measures to be taken to reduce the impact of climate change. The Bill goes a long way towards achieving that, but I think that the hon. Member for Sevenoaks left half the equation out. I hope that my new clause will find favour with him and with the Government. We can then move forward with an improved Bill that deals with both sides of the coin.