Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: Before my noble friend gets up to respond to this debate and at the risk of upsetting the mood of the Committee, I remind noble Lords that we have done three groups. We have another 19 to go and we are going to finish tonight, so unless anybody does not wish to have any sleep, I suggest we perhaps cut our speeches down just a little bit if we can.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord McLoughlin for taking the Electricity Transmission (Compensation) Bill through this House. I also thank noble Lords from across the House, including the noble Baronesses, Lady Blake and Lady Walmsley, for their valuable contributions on this Bill through its passage. The Government are pleased to support this important Bill. The measures in it will help...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: Diolch o galon i Arglwydd Wigley am ei geiriau caredig iawn. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for those kind words and for sponsoring this Private Member’s Bill. I also thank all those who have contributed during its passage through the House, both today and at Second Reading. As I outlined at Second Reading, the Government’s position is that there is already an established practice...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords for their thoughtful consideration and hope that, in addressing the points raised, I can demonstrate how the new system of environmental outcomes reports offers a real opportunity to protect the environment. On Amendment 367, I welcome the support of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, for the setting of outcomes, but the proposed amendment would...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: Forgive me; I may be mistaken, but I do not think that the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, was here at the start of this debate on the last occasion.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: I apologise; the noble Lord is not in my notes. I will accept his word that he was.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: Whilst the Welsh Government has called for the devolution of justice and policing to Wales, it has not made a formal request for the powers to be transferred. There has been no persuasive case made for how devolution would improve the operation of these services. There are therefore no plans to devolve them.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: Perhaps I can remind the House that we have been incredibly patient but noble Lords should stick to debating the amendments rather than general points. Perhaps we can get on and make some progress.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, government Amendments 62 and 63 to Clause 24 provide a clarification, setting out that any amendments, repeals or revocations in the Bill have the same territorial extent as the provisions they are acting on. The Bill is intended to apply UK-wide. The purpose of Clause 24 is to set out the territorial extent of the Bill, which covers England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland....
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I beg to move that the debate on Amendment 313 be adjourned. Debate on Amendment 313 adjourned. House resumed.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I beg to move that the debate on this amendment be adjourned.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: There are a number of other speakers to speak in the debate. The list of speakers is quite long and we would probably be allowing another hour before the next business could be taken, which has been timetabled for around 4 pm. House resumed. Committee to begin again not before 4.52 pm.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, Amendment 291, in the name of my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering, seeks to require the Secretary of State to bring into force Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 before the end of 31 December 2023. I understand the intention behind this amendment. However, in January, the review for implementation of Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: I understand the noble Baroness’s concerns, and I will take that back to my colleagues in the department. Flood Re was designed to provide available and affordable insurance for households. It does not cover businesses. Business insurance operates differently from household insurance: it is often bespoke, based on the individual nature of the business. Flood Re is funded via a levy on UK...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord McLoughlin for bringing forward this Bill, which has already had a successful passage through the other place. I also thank noble Lords from across the House for their valuable contributions to today’s debate. The Government are pleased to support this important Bill, which helps to ensure that landowners will have access to a clear, fair, affordable...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I beg to move that the debate on this amendment be adjourned. Debate on Amendment 261 adjourned. House resumed. House adjourned at 8.02 pm.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, I would like to thank my noble friend Lord Northbrook for tabling these amendments and my noble friend Lord Lexden for so ably introducing them. Amendment 247 would require amendments to permitted development rights. Permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission which allow certain building works and changes of use to take place. Rights in relation to...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My Lords, the code of practice is a step in the right direction, with better protections for vulnerable households, increased scrutiny of supplier practices, and redress measures when prepayment meters were wrongly installed. Ofgem has now confirmed that it will put strengthened rules into energy company licences so that they can be enforced. The Government will monitor very closely the...
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: The noble Baroness asked a number of questions. First, Ofgem does not have the right to impose rules without consultation. It is an independent regulator accountable to Parliament, but this voluntary code is agreed by all suppliers; it will be put into their contracts by October. There were some nuances and details perhaps lost in the Ofgem announcement on Tuesday about the code of practice....
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist: My noble friend is not quite correct, in that we are doing a lot to tackle the higher costs that PPM users pay, and the Government are taking action to end the prepayment penalty. There are specific costs associated with prepayment meters, not least that the Post Office is often used as a conduit for payment and charges, and there are some regulatory and system costs. We have acted, we are...
