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Energy Bill

Of course not. I understand that. It was a potential major supplier. I was talking about what investors are looking for. We intend to consult on the new guidance, which will set out the Government’s expectation of the contribution that Ofgem should make. It will, as industry has requested, provide Ofgem with a clear steer on priorities such as facilitating the faster deployment of new generation such as renewables, both onshore and offshore, and the development of distributed energy. I have already said what we expect on the social side. There are strong arguments for retaining Ofgem’s primary focus on consumers and competition. Our Select Committee concluded that there is a clear case for economic regulators. Their role should be economic, not political, and they should have clarity of focus. We have no evidence to suggest that changing Ofgem’s duties will increase the deployment of renewables. Investors tell us that the key to hitting our renewables targets lies not in reforming Ofgem but in reforming the planning regime—we are tackling that through the Planning Bill, which we hope will have the support of all parties in this House, too—and in timely access to the grid, which, as I have said, we are addressing with Ofgem through the transmission access review. The consultation over the summer will also help us to clarify and develop solutions to some of the other practical problems that the renewables sector is facing. Rather than overhauling Ofgem’s duties, investors want to see us tackling the issues that they have identified, including updating Ofgem’s guidance to reflect the latest government policy. I have a paper here that states what Ofgem is doing on sustainability. There is no need for me to quote from it now. As I say, we are extremely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, and very much respect his independence of mind, his expertise and his courtesy in letting me know before I got to my feet that he would have to go before the end of the Committee. I am sure that we will return to this issue in due course. If noble Lords want to add anything, I ask them to do so before I sit down.