Clause 71 - Smart meters

Part of Energy Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:45 pm on 16 June 2011.

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Photo of Charles Hendry Charles Hendry The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change 3:45, 16 June 2011

I hope that I can persuade the hon. Gentleman that that is not necessary. We have had an immensely lengthy consultation. We have published one of the longest documents that I have ever seen. We consulted on it and then gave our feedback on the documentation. There has been positive engagement from industry, consumer groups and the unions on how that process is being moved forward. We are aware of all the areas in which there are remaining doubts for the consumer groups, the unions and the industry itself. We are now working on getting consensus on those areas. The sort of consultation that he is talking about—even the non-consultation consultation—cannot add to the work that has happened.

I will take the hon. Gentleman through that a bit further. In March, we published a detailed set of decisions and plans for further work. That represents our strategy to achieve the full range of benefits, and it followed a full and thorough consultation with consumer groups, industry and other parties. We published our prospectus in July last year. To re-consult on that now, or to go further in the way for which he is calling, would only slow down the process. Everything that we have been trying to do is to give people early clarity about what will be necessary.

The plans that were published in March set out the work that is now under way as part of the foundation stage of the programme. That includes developing and implementing a consumer engagement strategy. The development of a code of practice on installation will ensure that energy suppliers provide information to consumers to enable them to benefit from their smart meters. That code of practice will be binding. It will be a licence condition, and it will not be something that they can opt in or out of.

There will be an absolute requirement for those installing smart meters to adhere to that code of practice, which was initially being taken forward by industry and consumer groups. I specifically asked for the trade unions to be involved in that process so that it would be as comprehensive as possible. To suggest that there needs to be a separate independent code of practice, which, by definition, suggests that the one that has been done by consensus between the different groups is somehow inadequate, would make it more difficult to take things forward.