Home Energy Conservation Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 8:00 pm on 26 February 2002.
Michael Meacher
Minister (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Environment)
8:00,
26 February 2002
I beg to move Amendment No. 56, in page 5, line 12, at end insert—
'( ) Section 1 comes into force at the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.'.
John Cummings
Labour, Easington
With this it will be convenient to take the following: Amendment No. 42, in page 5, line 13, leave out subsection (2) and insert—
'( ) The following provisions come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed—
(a) section (Registration schemes),
(b) section (Model schemes and confirmation of schemes),
(c) section (Wales), so far as relating to any power to make regulations conferred by either of those sections.
( ) Otherwise, this Act shall come into force on such day as the appropriate Minister may by order made by statutory instrument appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.
( ) The appropriate Minister may by order made by statutory instrument make such transitional provisions and savings as he considers appropriate in connection with the coming into force of any provision of this Act.
( ) In this Act ''the appropriate Minister'' means—
(a) in relation to England, the Secretary of State,
(b) in relation to Wales, the National Assembly for Wales.'.
New Clause 5—Wales—
'(1) The reference to the Housing Act 1985 in Schedule 1 to the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/ 672) is to be treated as referring to that Act as amended by this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) does not affect the power to make further Orders varying or omitting that reference.'.
Michael Meacher
Minister (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Environment)
Amendment No. 56 brings the provisions relating to energy conservation into effect automatically 12 months after Royal Assent. I am sure that members of the Committee agree that it is important to have a clear statement of when new legislation comes into effect; 12 months was the period originally suggested under the Bill, so I hope that the amendment will be acceptable.
Amendment No. 42 sets a two-month deadline for commencement in place of the 12-month deadline. That is the shortest period that is usually allowed for commencement. Having regard to new Clause 2, local authorities will then have up to a year in which to have a registration scheme up and running and a further year in which to set in hand the application of control provisions and setting conditions for HMOs. The requirement to introduce registration with control provisions will take effect automatically after two years and compliance will be required with a model scheme issued by the Secretary of State or the Welsh Assembly. There will be no need for the making of an order as envisaged under clause 7.
New clause 5 is a technical provision, reflecting the fact that many powers of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have been devolved and are exercisable by the Welsh Assembly.
Desmond Turner
Labour, Brighton, Kemptown
I request that colleagues support my right hon. Friend the Minister's Amendment to subsection (2) and that the Clause stand part. However, we are left with a small problem, because these amendments were clearly drafted on the assumption of the deletion of part 2. I am happy with the start date provisions, but we are left with no start date for that part. I simply seek an assurance that it will be no later than 12 months after the Bill is enacted, as with the provisions of the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995, and that that provision will be inserted on Report.
Michael Meacher
Minister (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Environment)
We are talking about part 2, which is Clause 4. It has been agreed that that clause remains part of the Bill, but that the Government will table an Amendment on which we will have further discussions—hopefully it will be an agreed amendment—and which will mention eradication of Fuel Poverty.
My hon. Friend asks about the basis on which that will come into force. It is an odd question, because the Government's fuel poverty strategy, based mainly on the home energy efficiency scheme and the energy efficiency commitment, is already in force. As I said, £600 million has been committed up to 2004. The energy efficiency commitment becomes operative on 1 April this year, so that to which the revised clause 4 refers is already in place. I think that I can give an assurance that the revised clause 4 will come into force on the same basis as the rest of the Bill. However, although those measures need to have a point at which
action begins, I repeat that clause 4 refers to actions that are already well on stream.
Mr Jonathan Sayeed
Conservative, Mid Bedfordshire
I thank the Minister for that explanation and for his initial explanation, but for those of us who are rather slower than he is, could he say how long it will be from the date of Royal Assent before parts 1, 2 and 3 come into force?
Michael Meacher
Minister (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Environment)
I think that I have already answered that question. Government Amendment No. 56 automatically brings the provisions relating to energy conservation into effect 12 months after Royal Assent. That relates to part 1. Government amendment No. 42 sets a two-month deadline for commencement in place of the 12-month deadline. It applies to the registration provisions, because the Government want to show that we are serious about introducing them within a rapid timetable. That applies to part 3, and the relevant figure is two years.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made: No. 42, in page 5, line 13, leave out subsection (2) and insert:
'( ) The following provisions come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed—
(a) section (Registration schemes),
(b) section (Model schemes and confirmation of schemes),
(c) section (Wales), so far as relating to any power to make regulations conferred by either of those sections.
( ) Otherwise, this Act shall come into force on such day as the appropriate Minister may by order made by statutory instrument appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.
( ) The appropriate Minister may by order made by statutory instrument make such transitional provisions and savings as he considers appropriate in connection with the coming into force of any provision of this Act.
( ) In this Act ''the appropriate Minister'' means—
(a) in relation to England, the Secretary of State,
(b) in relation to Wales, the National Assembly for Wales.'—[Mr. Meacher.]
Clause 10, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
A household is said to be in fuel poverty when its members cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost, given their income.
