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Energy Bill [HL]

This group of amendments provides a welcome opportunity to talk about one particular participant in the whole process, and that is the many firms which supply the products. There is an enormous range of them and they are hugely important if the objectives of the Bill are to be achieved. All I want to say in a very few remarks is that I hope that the department really will listen to those people who have had the experience of supplying products to the various participants under the Green Deal’s predecessors. The impression of the trade association that represents the builders’ merchants is that there was actually a great deal of malpractice under the CERT programme, which it describes as operating as a closed shop and distorting the market with unfair subsidies. In my Second Reading speech, I warmly welcomed the new approach set out in the Green Deal and the energy companies’ obligation as it represents a considerable improvement on the previous system. I am delighted that it has been so widely welcomed around the House. The participation of the supply chain is very important to this process. Suppliers have a great deal of experience and provide a wide range of products including loft and solid wall insulation, replacement windows and doors, heating, hot water systems and associated insulation, draft proofing and all the rest. It seems to me that those suppliers have a great deal of wisdom to convey to those who are trying to draw up the regulations and the code under Clause 7. This is an opportunity to stress the importance of the supply chain. I believe that the department is listening to the trade association concerned and therefore I wish only to say firmly that it would do well to listen hard. Its representatives have experience and are deeply involved in the whole process, and they totally support both the concept and the practice of the Green Deal. Just as we do, they want it to be as successful as possible. I hope that my noble friend will be able to give me an assurance that this will indeed be something that the department will do.