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Energy Bill

Yes, there is. It is not all that helpful because when there is a crisis the country just about runs out. The only time that high storage levels—levels such as those in the United States—are any use is when petrol prices are so high that stores are raided to moderate the price levels. My point is that this is guesstimating. Government guesstimates dressed up as ““the assessment of the appropriate volume””, no matter how pompous the language, are not necessarily more accurate. We may get nothing worth while. I have long argued that we have not given sufficient weight to the need for gas storage in this country. For many years it was unnecessary; you only needed to turn the tap that much harder so that more gas could come from the North Sea. We no longer have that luxury, which means that we must be more inventive in addressing the issue referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin. We might have to look at something like capacity payments, as we have in the past, or for coal-fired power stations to be used at specific times of the year, for example. However, that is a rather different issue, an issue of such complexity and seriousness that it will not be resolved by a tuppence ha'penny report coming out once a year and bearing the imprimatur of BERR or whatever government department has the unfortunate responsibility of trying to get the information together. I hope the Government will oppose the amendment.