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Energy Bill

moved Amendment No. 15: 15: Clause 80, page 73, line 15, at end insert— ““( ) in subsection (1) after paragraph (d) insert— ““(e) investigating how much energy could be saved through the adoption of a daylight saving scheme.”””” The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this Bill is undoubtedly a very important measure, covering different aspects of power generation, but it makes no mention of energy saving, which is equally important. Many of our energy requirements in this country depend on imported supplies, which impinge on the balance of payments. That is why in World War II we had GMT plus one hour in winter and GMT plus two hours in summer. We have just put the clocks back and very shortly it will be dark outside. There are also road traffic accident reduction advantages and numerous economic reasons why the Government should consider this seriously. Indeed, many attempts have been made over many years by Back-Bench Members in both Houses to adopt daylight saving, so far without success. Clearly, it cannot be achieved in this Bill, which needs a quite separate measure. However, the Government will now be considering the Queen’s Speech, and this is an opportunity to include something along these lines, which would be a useful and popular measure. In the mean time, all that the amendment seeks is that the Government should record the amount of energy that could be saved and that the energy should be given the serious consideration that it surely deserves. I beg to move.