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Energy Bill [Lords]

With so many households struggling under the weight of increased energy bills and fuel poverty at record levels, improving the energy efficiency of our nation's building stock and reducing our energy use has never been more important. A successful green deal scheme would offer protection to worried consumers hit by unfair gas and electricity price rises and reduce our country's damaging carbon emissions. As they stand, however, the Government's proposals lack detail, fail to provide clarity to businesses and risk being inadequate. The new clauses and amendments that we have tabled for debate today seek to rectify the Bill's weaknesses. Since the Bill was first published last December, we have endeavoured to work constructively with Ministers to improve the proposals, not just because the green deal was born out of pilots begun under Labour in government, but because we recognise the urgent need to improve energy efficiency across our country. We are disappointed that the Bill did not receive Royal Assent before the summer recess, as the Government promised it would. Meeting that deadline was used by Ministers as a justification for expediting debate during the Bill's previous stages. In addition, the large volume of secondary legislation involved calls into question whether the green deal will be up and running by October next year, which has been set as the Government's deadline. We offered a raft of proposals in Committee to increase consumer protection, boost small businesses and provide extra support for those struggling to heat their homes. Our vision of the green deal is one where co-operatives, small businesses, charities and social enterprises can compete equally alongside large companies that want to take part in the scheme. Our vision is of a scheme that supports Britain's 2 million small businesses, rather than simply leaving them with warm words and empty order books, which is what the Government risk doing. The Government voted against our vision, although I am delighted that Ministers did not oppose our proposal for a green deal apprenticeship scheme. I assure the Minister that all of us on the Labour Benches will be joining him at the next general election to champion the Government's policy—Labour's green deal apprenticeship scheme. Despite that victory, we still have huge concerns that the Bill will not be as effective as it should be. As a result, we have tabled the new clauses and amendments in this group, which, if passed, would define the scale and purpose of the green deal. They would incentivise councils and engage local communities in the fight against climate change, give businesses the confidence to invest by linking the scheme to the UK's statutory carbon reduction targets, and end the misery for the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are left freezing, shivering under their blankets because they live in cold homes that are not fit for the 21st century. Labour's new clauses 1 and 2 would address the lack of clarity in the Bill, better define the purpose of the green deal and ensure that businesses have the clarity and confidence they need in the green deal scheme. Together with amendment 1, our new clauses would explicitly link the green deal to meeting the UK's targets in our carbon budgets and our fuel poverty targets. New clauses 1 and 2 would place a duty on the Secretary of State to produce a plan for improving energy efficiency and a duty on the Government to report to Parliament on the green deal's progress towards achieving carbon reductions. We have heard many soundbites from Ministers about the green deal, such as their description of it as ““the biggest home improvement programme since the second world war””, but the Bill contains no strategy for delivering it. We have heard today about the 14 million homes to be improved by 2020, yet we have seen no way to measure whether the green deal is delivering the refit of 4,800 properties a day, or 145,000 a month. None of that is in the Bill. As it stands, there is a danger that the green deal will not live up to the hype. I do not relish saying that: the Opposition want the Bill to be better, not worse, and we want the green deal to succeed, not fail. That is why we believe the Government must go further. We are not the only ones voicing legitimate concern. After Committee, 51 organisations, including the World Wildlife Fund, Asda and the Federation of Small Businesses, sent a letter to the Secretary of State setting out the concerns that they still had about the Bill. They wrote:"““the debate during the Committee Stage of the Energy Bill has left us concerned that the energy saving programme is not yet guaranteed to be a coherent and ambitious programme, and that the Bill requires further significant improvements. We believe there needs to be an over-arching energy saving plan from the Government to ensure clarity of what is needed to be delivered by the market…Business will find it difficult to be in a position to deliver towards the Government's aspirations on the Green Deal without this further clarity and certainty.””" The letter concluded:"““It is our view that the Government amendments need to go significantly further and currently do not deliver on the principles reflected in the Warm Homes Amendment. They do not deliver a policy ambition equivalent to the Government's aspirations or ensure the provision of a plan to cut carbon emissions from buildings and contribute to eliminating fuel poverty.””" The letter proposes three ways to improve the Bill. The first is that"““an aim must be clarified in the Energy Bill that is tied to meeting the target set under…the Climate Change Act 2008, and importantly the individual carbon budgets. The aim must also be tied to the elimination of fuel poverty.””" The second is that an"““amendment to prepare and publish a plan to deliver these aims must be included in the Energy Bill.””" The third proposal is that a"““reporting amendment should ensure…the energy saving programme is linked with other…requirements””." All three improvements could be made today if the Government accepted our new clauses. The letter is signed by organisations as diverse as B&Q, Marks & Spencer, Friends of the Earth, the Co-operative Group and the National Insulation Association—the very organisations and businesses that the Government hope will deliver the green deal. Environmental groups, businesses and trade associations are all telling the Government the same thing: ““You haven't got this right. You need to go further.”” They are asking the Government to do what the Opposition have suggested in this House and in the other place, but we are now running out of opportunities for the Minister to listen and change his mind. In Committee, the Government added clause 108 to explain their ambitions for the green deal better, but unfortunately it is inadequate. The clause contains no qualified level of ambition and excludes non-residential properties. By repealing section 2 of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003 and introducing clause 108 to the Bill, the Government are in fact diluting existing energy efficiency requirements. That is why we have tabled amendment 1, alongside new clauses 1 and 2, to ensure that the Government's green deal definitely results in real carbon reductions. We will press new clauses 1 and 2 to a vote if Government support is not forthcoming, because they are crucial to the success of the programme. New clauses 3 and 4 would ensure that Britain's transition to a low-carbon economy is fair. They would place power into the hands of councils and give them the freedom and flexibility to engage with local communities in finding innovative solutions to tackling climate change. They would boost the economy and create jobs by encouraging investment in green businesses. In practice, they would establish a three-stage process. The first part would involve the independent Committee on Climate Change examining the carbon output in every locality and assessing what reasonable action could be taken to reduce carbon emissions; those data would then be used by councils and central Government to agree a local carbon strategy, providing a road map for how the area would reduce its emissions. The local authority could use the strategy to engage the local community and voluntary groups in efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency. That idea is not new. The previous Labour Government introduced a pilot programme involving nine councils in January 2010. I am pleased that the Minister announced in Committee that further pilots were to follow, but what we are proposing would allow us to take advantage of economic opportunities that we are failing to exploit. The Federation of Small Businesses, speaking in support of local carbon plans, argues:"““Small businesses are keen to go green…but are not getting the help or incentives they need to do so””." It goes on to say that they need"““a framework that is flexible and supportive to encourage small businesses rather than penalise them.””" Our new clauses would provide such a framework. They would provide certainty about the scale of carbon reductions locally while allowing local authorities to retain flexibility on how they go about achieving the cuts. It is vital that businesses play an integral role in tackling climate change. According to the FSB, at least one third of the UK's emissions are from businesses, and the Carbon Trust estimates that 20% of the UK's emissions are from small and medium-sized enterprises. The FSB calculates that if all UK businesses and public sector organisations install energy-efficient measures, at least £3.6 billion could be saved every year, thanks to the reduction in energy consumption. As well as helping businesses to cut energy usage and reduce costs, estimates of the potential for low-carbon job creation are significant. Research by Carbon Descent estimates that 70,000 jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy could be created across the country if all local authorities set about reducing emissions in their areas by at least 40% by 2020. It is easy to see why the proposals have a wide backing both from business and environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth, the Federation of Small Businesses, the TUC, Good Energy, B&Q, the Stop Climate Chaos coalition and, most importantly, local government. Rather than being seen as a burden by local councils, these proposals have a broad range of backing across local authorities. In March, 40 council leaders from across the political spectrum called for the introduction of local carbon plans. For many councils, the plans build on work they are already doing. By pledging to cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 or rolling out grant-funded renewable installation schemes, councils of all political colours—in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, Islington, West Sussex and Bristol—are leading the way. Although some councils are making good progress, it is clear that others need to do much more. Any advice to councils from the Committee on Climate Change needs to be meaningful. The level of carbon reductions recommended must be in line with our national carbon budgets and we need to ensure that councils share best practice and policies that successfully deliver local emission reductions, as well as advise each council on the steps that it could take to meet its plan. The proposals in the new clauses will empower local councils, engage local communities and enhance local economies. They offer a fair way to meet our national climate change targets. We recognise that not every part of our country is the same and that we all need to share the same aim. Ultimately, every one of us needs to do our bit to tackle climate change. We need to go further; we need local carbon plans. Amendments 47 and 48 would bring forward from 2018 to 2016 the introduction of a minimum standard of energy efficiency in the private rented sector, in line with the UK's legal target to eliminate fuel poverty. We welcomed the Government's announcement on Second Reading that they would introduce a minimum standard of energy efficiency for the private rented sector, but we do not believe that a 2018 deadline is adequate; we need to go much faster. According to the Government, half the properties in the private rented sector are not considered to be of a decent standard. It cannot be right in the 21st century that people are forced to live in unfit homes that they cannot afford to heat. About 1.3 million children live in cold homes. The Marmot review found that this makes them twice as likely to suffer from respiratory problems than children living in warm homes. Anyone who watched the recent BBC documentary, ““Poor Kids””, will have seen the haunting footage of Sam who, at the age of 11, said:"““When the gas runs out, the whole house is freezing.””" We must urgently address that problem. The UK has a legally binding target of eliminating fuel poverty by 2016. How can the Government not introduce the efficiency standard in time to help reach that goal? We know that fuel poverty is at record levels. In July, uSwitch published research showing that a staggering 6.3 million homes across the UK are paying 10% or more of their disposable income towards their energy bills. That means that almost a quarter of all households—24%—find it hard to afford to stay warm. Most worryingly, those figures do not take into account the huge price rises announced over the summer. When those increases hit, the number of people in difficulty will increase dramatically. That should be a wake-up call to the Government. Instead, over the past year, the Government have systematically removed support for fuel-poor households—from scrapping the Warm Front scheme to cutting winter fuel payments by up to £100. They have an opportunity to go some way to rectifying their record by bringing forward the introduction of the minimum efficiency standard. By ensuring that poor-quality F and G-rated homes are no longer allowed on the rental market, the amendments would improve the living standards of thousands, many of whom are forced to live in the cold simply because their landlords do not know what improvements can be made, or because the owners of properties refuse to improve them. The amendments would end that sooner rather than later, and we sincerely hope that Ministers will support them. The 2016 target still allows adequate time for landlords to be made aware of the changes and to improve their properties. Amendments 23 and 25 would establish a national landlords register to ensure that the minimum standard is enforceable. A register tightly defined as being for the purpose relevant to the Act would reduce enforcement costs, increase compliance, and help landlords to gain access to appropriate information about the green deal and other schemes such as the landlords energy-saving allowance. It would also leave rogue landlords unable to avoid improving their properties, and with nowhere to hide. I hope that Ministers will consider carefully the changes that we are proposing, which are intended to improve on what is already in the Bill. I thank the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), for the way in which he has dealt with Opposition Front Benchers during the progress of the Bill. It was necessary for us to meet him on several occasions and although we did not always agree on the best way forward, he was always courteous in his dealings with us, and I thank him for that. Our new clauses and amendments would substantially strengthen a Bill that lacks clarity and detail. They would make improving the energy efficiency of our building stock a key part of our strategy for meeting the United Kingdom's carbon budgets. They would put local communities at the heart of tackling climate change, boost small businesses and non-profit-making organisations —particularly co-operatives and charities—and provide extra support for those who struggle to stay warm. I urge the Government to accept them.