Climate Change Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
It is a pleasure to serve again under your chairmanship, Mr. Cook. We will certainly engage constructively on the Bill over the next fortnight or so. As you know, we voted against the programme motion in the House because we thought that two and a half weeks was an absurdly short period in which to discuss the many substantive issues. Now that the Government have indicated that they want to reverse most of the defeats in the House of Lords, we shall have some pretty meaty debates. Therefore, it is disappointing that we have so little time, but so be it.
We are concerned that the Government have not yet tabled their amendments on single-use carrier bags. If I remember rightly—I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham will be surfing the net as I speak to correct me—the idea of a levy on single-use carrier bags was raised in the Budget several months ago. I am disappointed that the Committee, which finishes two weeks today, has not even received those amendments. We had been promised that the amendments would be tabled in good time for the Committee to consider. I hope the Minister will ensure that the amendments are tabled expeditiously. These are important issues and we are keen to get on with debating them.