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Energy Bill

Does the Minister not accept that the cautious, steady approach of which he has tried to convince us today would be more credible if the Government had not in the mean time committed themselves to a European deadline of 2020? To delay another year or more in mobilising this sector of the market would greatly diminish our chances of meeting what is already an almost impossible target. It is clear that the Government’s previous target of generating 10 per cent of energy from renewables by 2010 will not be met. Our fuel poverty target will not be met. If we reject the noble Baroness’s amendment on the grounds that we need more time, the Government should not commit themselves to objectives which are coming ever closer. Without pre-empting the outcome of the Select Committee’s report, I say that it is clear that this will be a problem. The longer we delay in enhancing our policy in relation to mobilising renewables, the more difficult, if not impossible, will those targets become.