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Energy Bill

I almost have some sympathy with this amendment. We have to guard against overselling smart meters, particularly in relation to fuel poverty. Many people who find it hard to pay their bills find it hard to do many things, and putting them in charge of a mini-power station in their house might be a little more than some of them are capable of. The majority of people in fuel poverty are there because they do not have enough money, but there are some who just have difficulty managing their affairs. When we start to be too specific and use ““must””, we are getting into dangerous waters. We need to be able to help people who have difficulty. It is like us trying to work things like video recorders without children or grandchildren about—I hasten to add that I do not have any grandchildren. Such things can be rather difficult. I can imagine the smart meter in the kitchen cupboard assuming the proportions of the remote control of the video recorder, or whatever. We have to be a wee bit careful about imposing too many ““musts””. There has to be a bit of conditionality in this. That is not to say that we should not move quickly or that we should not make this as comprehensive as possible, but we have to take account of the difficulties that some of our fellow citizens might incur.