asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many home inspectors there are who are qualified to issue energy performance certificates required to market homes for sale after 1 June 2007; and how home owners wishing to sell privately will know how and where to make contact in their area.

My Lords, over 3,000 people have already passed their exams with a further 2,500 in training. Home owners wishing to sell privately will be able to contact local energy assessors through business listings services by contacting one of the accreditation schemes or online at the national register of energy performance certificates and home condition reports.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. This is a very serious matter, but it is almost turning into a farce. Is the Minister aware that the newspapers are advising people that it is cheaper to pay the £200 fine than the £600 fee for the certificate? Will she confirm that, as another newspaper has reported, you do not have to produce the certificate if someone knocks on your door and offers to buy, or if a relation, a friend or someone you meet in the pub offers to buy? In Australia, private sales are not listed as sales; they are listed as "expressions of interest are invited". Would that type of sale fit into the free category?

My Lords, I will answer the questions in reverse order. The types of sales that the noble Baroness has described as private in Australia would be regarded as private here, as long as no public marketing takes place. When houses are sold privately without being marketed, no HIP is required; if she sold her home to a friend she would not require a HIP. A HIP is required when marketing by an estate agent or someone else kicks in.

It will certainly not be a better option to go for the £200 fine rather than the cost of a HIP. The only additional cost on the HIP is the energy performance certificate of £100. The fine would be £200, which would be imposed again if the offence of not getting a HIP were repeated. I am sure that the House is aware that I will be making a Statement later, after which there is to be a debate. There will be many opportunities today to explore the detail of the Question.

My Lords, will the Minister make sure that she gives advice to everyone? Homes are a major cause of carbon in the atmosphere, and if we are serious about climate change it is very important that we debate these issues, preferably on a cross-party basis, and make any changes that we need from time to time. It is important that this should work. Will she confirm that she will keep that climate change issue in this Bill?

My Lords, that is an extremely important point. Our homes generate 27 per cent of all carbon. Not only should there be cross-party agreement on what we have to do urgently, but people are with us on this. In the most recent YouGov poll, two-thirds of people want more information about energy efficiency and 72 per cent think that it is a good idea to rate energy efficiency. We are going with the grain of what people want, which is the only right and proper thing to do in the circumstances.

My Lords, can the noble Baroness confirm that if the Government reach their target for the number of assessors, each of them will be required to carry out five assessments per day unless the number of housing transactions falls? Assessors are being told that they are not allowed to go up into lofts to inspect the insulation. Is there not a danger that, with these assessors whizzing around the country but not really looking at all the property, the assessments themselves will barely be worth the paper they are written on?

My Lords, the noble Lord is right about one point, which is that it is assumed that the average number of assessments undertaken will be five a day. However, assessors will work at different rates, at different times of the week, and both part-time and full-time. Where he is not right is to say that this is not a serious qualification. The accreditation system has been fully qualified by the QCA, and the certificate will be well worth having because it will save a lot of money on bills.

My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree that while the assessors may be qualified, they have to go on to be accredited? The accreditation may take some time because the Criminal Records Bureau must be consulted.

Yes, my Lords, I can confirm that 1,500 people have been accredited or have applied for accreditation. No one will be able to conduct inspections without having a criminal record clearance. The noble Baroness is quite right about that.

My Lords, how much money will the average home buyer save when the HIPs are in existence, and how much will they save on their energy costs? Further, would my noble friend like to comment on whether she thinks the amount of money saved will be a farce or actually welcomed by first-time buyers?

My Lords, I am absolutely sure that the money saved on energy will be welcomed by everyone. The Energy Saving Trust has shown that savings to the average property owner will come to around £300 a year. If only a fifth of home owners make the basic changes set out in the EPC, they could save around £100 million a year on their energy bills. These are serious figures.

My Lords, who is going to employ the domestic energy assessors, or whatever they are going to be called? Will they be employed by estate agents or lawyers, or will they be self-employed? Who are they responsible to?

My Lords, some of them will be self-employed, while others will be employed by the range of people just mentioned by the noble Baroness. Estate agents themselves are setting up opportunities to qualify and accredit some of their people, as are surveyors. Recruitment will be made across the professions, but we expect to see quite a number of self-employed people.

My Lords, can the noble Baroness give us an idea of what these people were doing before they became assessment officers? Were they on the dole? Why does she think that employing 5,000 people to do a job that has worked perfectly well before and at far less cost is a good thing?

My Lords, this is a new task. We have not carried out audits of what our homes cost in terms of energy before. We have had audits for all sorts of things such as fridges, but we have never had them for our homes, which is slightly bizarre. The types of people coming in vary enormously and cross a range of professions, bringing extra skills with them. For some this represents an opportunity to change careers and qualify for something we are required to do under European law and which will be of benefit to the country.

My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that I know the cost of the energy used in my house because I pay the bill, and I should imagine that most other householders know too?

My Lords, I have no idea whether the noble Lord has fitted loft insulation, draft proofing, double glazing and cavity wall insulation in his house. He nods his assent and he is wise to have done so. Many people have not done so and they do not know what savings they would make. The energy performance certificate will suggest to householders how they might save money as well as carbon.