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Energy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I support the amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Best, but speak specifically on Amendments 35C and 35E. I should apologise to the Minister for dragging him away from the Conservative Party conference. Looking around the Chamber, I think the average age in your Lordships’ House is currently significantly lower than in the debate I saw at the Conservative Party conference this afternoon. We are pleased to have the Minister here. In some ways, this is the most controversial part of the Bill, although not in intent, because it is clear that everyone in your Lordships’ House wants to see improvements in energy efficiency in the private rented sector. The difference is the degree of urgency. I endorse the comments of other noble Lords who want to see the 2018 date brought forward. I greatly welcome the changes that have been made, and a number of amendments in this group, particularly the Government removing the requirement for a review on which any change in energy efficiency regulations would be dependent. That is very good. That is the point that I raised in Committee. At the time it was not accepted. I have discussed it since with the Minister and I am really grateful to him for listening to the many voices that have asked for that condition to be removed. I also greatly welcome the introduction of a minimum energy efficiency standard for private rented properties, so that properties that do not meet at least an E standard cannot be let. I entirely agree with and welcome that commitment. The impact of energy efficiency regulations could have a massive impact on health; on bringing down the energy bills of some of those hardest hit by the increases in energy prices; and, of course, as the noble Lord, Lord Deben, mentioned, on the environment. Consumer Focus estimated that just lifting band E to being the minimum could lift 150,000 households out of fuel poverty by saving each an average of £488 off their fuel bills a year. It would save 1.87 million tonnes of CO2 annually and cut the Bill to the NHS, as we have heard in previous debates, by around £145 million, which is currently spent on illnesses and conditions for those who live in poorly heated homes. All those objectives have our full support, and I welcome the Minister’s movement on them. However, I part company with the Government on two qualifications, or loopholes, to those commitments, which undermine the Government’s stated objectives: first, to ensure that all homes that are rented out are of an acceptable energy efficiency standard; and, secondly, that this is done as soon as possible. The amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Best, seem a sensible and practical way of addressing these issues and meeting the Government's objectives. I hope that the Minister will be able to say something positive about those two amendments in particular and about all those tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Best. As we have heard from other noble Lords, delaying the regulations that will provide for a minimum standard of energy efficiency until 2018 is really unacceptable. People in Belfast wear a t-shirt about the ““Titanic”” that says, ““When it left here it was okay””. We feel the same about the dates. When the Bill left here, it was okay in that regard. The date was 2015. We would be very happy with 2015 and would accept 2016. but now it has been knocked back to beyond the next election. Even with 2018 in legislation, the picture is still quite confusing. Greg Barker, as a Minister, has repeatedly said that he sees 2018 as the end date, or finishing line, by which properties should have been improved voluntarily, rather than just the start of the regulations. He then said that if voluntary improvement does not happen quickly enough, the date could be brought forward. That is a very confused message to send to private landlords, who need certainty in what is expected of them. It is also a very confused message to send to tenants, who could be saving an average of £488 a year on their fuel bills, but do not know when that will be. It is also a very confused message to send to those who are suffering from living in cold homes that they cannot afford to heat properly. I was struck by the comment of the noble Lord, Lord Deben, that if we are talking about a seven-year delay, that is a child’s entire primary school career. It is just too long. Professor Marmot, who is known to the Minister for the reviews that he has undertaken, and his team identified very startling and disturbing details about the impact of cold homes on children. We are all very aware of the impact of cold homes on older people. Statistics from CLG, obtained by Friends of the Earth, also show that over 1.3 million children are estimated to be living in the coldest, worst insulated homes: that is, those with an F or G rating. The figures have increased. In 2009, the number of households in the group that were in fuel poverty was seven times the number in 2003. Children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from a variety of respiratory problems than children in warm homes. More than one in four adolescents in cold housing are at risk of multiple mental health problems, compared with one in 20 adolescents living in warm homes. Cold housing significantly affects children's attainment, emotional well-being and resilience. There is significant evidence of cold housing affecting infants’ weight gain, hospital admission rates, developmental status, and the severity and frequency of asthmatic symptoms. The Government identify those problems and get the right answer by identifying that a minimum standard must be brought in, but then fail to act on it for another seven years. I plead with the Minister not to delay but to act as quickly as possible. That date can be brought forward to what it was before the Bill left your Lordships’ House. That would be greatly appreciated by Members across your Lordships’ House. There is another qualification—the second loophole—that damages the Government’s credibility on this issue and the Bill. Under this provision, from 2018, landlords will not be able to rent a property unless it is in band E or above, which we all entirely support. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Best, made very clear, if they have undertaken a package of measures from the Green Deal and the ECO and the property is still at band F or G, they will be allowed to rent it out legally, presumably for ever. There is no time limit on that legislation. I have struggled with this, because I have been trying to work out what the Minister and the Government are seeking to achieve by allowing that position to continue. Not only is it wrong to allow households to live in such appalling conditions—conditions that the Government themselves have said are below the minimum requirements—but it will make it harder to enforce the regulations. Whether a home has had enough Green Deal or ECO improvements could be used as a defence or argument in the courts, if it was ever to get that far. Local authorities, as the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, said, are quite rightly looking to recoup their costs and for the Government to reimburse any costs arising from taking these issues to court. If there are categories—bands F and G—that are both legal and illegal, the ability to enforce the legislation is significantly weakened. It seems to be a legal nightmare and a solicitor’s delight. It will bang around in the courts for ages. Greg Barker has stated that, "““landlords will know what is required of them and when””.—[Official Report, Commons, Energy Bill Committee, 14/6/11; col. 181.]" However, under this legislation they do not. Chris Huhne has said: "““From 2018, the rental of the very worst performing properties—those rated F and G—will be banned through a minimum energy efficiency standard””.—[Official Report, Commons, 10/5/11; col. 1064]." No, they will not; most will, but not all. The Government have almost got this right. I know that the Minister longs for three cheers and only ever gets two from me. On this occasion I am afraid it might be just one, but he can redeem that. There is a great danger that what is right and what the Government have done so well in this could be completely undermined by qualifications, exemptions and loopholes. Therefore, I urge the Minister to accept the amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Best.