Clause 3
Green Energy (Definition and Promotion) Bill
3:00 pm
Martin Horwood (Cheltenham, Liberal Democrat)
I have a couple of questions and a few comments to make. My first point concerns the timetable for consultation. The 12-month timetable set out in the original measures has been replaced by one lasting, effectively, six months to the beginning of the consultation and six months beyond the end of the consultation, to final publication. We worry at times that this Government are better at producing wind through consultations than wind through turbines. It would be nice to know, in an aspirational sense, when the Minister expects the revised strategy to be published.
Secondly, there are a few losses from the original wording that relate, as the hon. Member for East Surrey pointed out, to the issues to be addressed. Specifically, the original wording mentioned that the review would include a focus on existing buildings, the cost-effectiveness of different technologies, and the active promotion of feed-in tariffs and how they could be achieved. It would be interesting to hear from the Minister whether those things could be planned as part of the review as well.
In terms of who is to be consulted, the original drafting contained specifics relating to farmers, for instance, and countryside campaigning organisations, albeit in a roundabout way. Again, it would be nice to think that such groups would be specifically consulted. I am not clear why officials saw the need to remove them from the drafting. Parish councils, too, are in the same category. They were explicitly mentioned before but are now only implied under other categories of people that the Secretary of State might see fit to consult. Will the Minister specify whether she intends to consult parish councils?
Finally, I am afraid that the Committee will have to suffer the loss of an opportunity to vote on our amendment (a), as we will not be pushing it to a vote, in the interests of the smooth progress of the Bill. However, it raises the issue of whether consultations that have been completed will be acknowledged as having been part of the process, or whether the Bill will necessitate further consultations on top of those. If so, we might enter an endless cycle of consultations. I hope that the Minister can clarify that point as well.