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Mr. Forth: I assure my hon. Friend that I will not be browbeaten by eco-nuts, eco-fascists or any other odd people. I am always prepared to engage in serious debate and scrutiny of Bills, be they well-intentioned or otherwise. I congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith on steering his Bill to this stage in its development. With a bit of luck, we might just be able to get started on Third Reading today, which would be a giant step forward and would reward the patience that the hon. Gentleman has shown, as well as his politeness and his courtesy—qualities not shown by some extraordinary, unpleasant people outside the House who, being either ill-informed or malicious, think that bombarding Members of Parliament with vaguely threatening material can somehow change the way we work. I hope this debate has demonstrated that that is not, and will not be, the case, no matter how strongly they may feel about this or that issue.
We have had a useful debate on this group of amendments. I am not sure that we have quite got to the bottom of the meaning and importance of community energy schemes and projects, or that we are completely satisfied that there will be sufficient protection against the development of what could be substantial generating plants. We have been given reassurances, and I hope that they are carried through in whatever way may be appropriate—in guidance and so on. I hope that one of the things that has emerged strongly from this debate is that we must get the balance right between the desire for good things such as microgeneration, sustainable energy and renewables on the one hand and people's quality of life on the other. It is one thing to attempt to look decades ahead and save the planet in the next century, but it is quite another to take care of the quality of people's everyday lives today, and that should concern us as much, if not more.
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We will probably have to agree to disagree on parish councils. Few parish councils will have the resources available or will be prepared to give sufficient priority to this kind of work, over and above what they do day by day in their communities. There has obviously been some interesting to-ing and fro-ing between my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) and the Minister about how to get the pitch about parish councils right. My view, which I expressed in my amendment, is that it would probably be better to leave them out of it altogether. However, at this stage of the Bill, I will be content to let matters rest there.
We have had helpful explanations. The Minister has been helpful throughout. He has given us his explanations in his usual courteous way, and the promoter of the Bill has been much more helpful today than he was last Friday. He has been rewarded by some good progress on the Bill. I am very grateful that he brought along his hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead), who has put us right in his knowledgeable way. I am sure that the Bill will be that much the better for it. So, for all these reasons, I am not going to press my amendment to the vote. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendments made: No. 47, in page 11, line 19, leave out from 'area' to 'or' in line 22 and insert
'(whether offered or provided by public authorities or by any other persons),'.
No. 48, in page 11, line 25, at end insert—
'(2A) Assistance provided under subsection (1) may, if the council giving the assistance think appropriate—
(a) be made subject to conditions, or
(b) otherwise be provided on such terms as the council think appropriate.'
No. 49, in page 11, line 26, leave out subsections (3) and (4).—[Gillian Merron.]
Amendments made: No. 50, in page 15, line 30, at end insert—
' "greenhouse gas" means any of the following—
(a) carbon dioxide;
(b) methane;
(c) nitrous oxide;
(d) hydrofluorocarbons;
(e) perfluorocarbons;
(f) sulphur hexafluoride;'.
No. 51, in page 15, leave out lines 31 and 32 and insert— ' "microgeneration" means the use for the generation of electricity or the production of heat of any plant (which, for this purpose, includes any equipment, apparatus or appliance)—
(g) which, in generating electricity or (as the case may be) producing heat, relies wholly or mainly on a source of energy or a technology mentioned in subsection (2), and
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(h) the capacity of which to generate electricity or (as the case may be) to produce heat does not exceed the capacity mentioned in subsection (3);'.
No. 52, in page 15, line 34, at end insert—
'(2) Those sources of energy and technologies are—
(a) biomass;
(b) biofuels;
(c) fuel cells;
(d) photovoltaics;
(e) water (including waves and tides);
(f) wind;
(g) solar power;
(h) geothermal sources;
(i) combined heat and power systems.
(3) That capacity is—
(a) in relation to the generation of electricity, 50 kilowatts;
(b) in relation to the production of heat, 45 kilowatts thermal.
(4) The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (2) by adding to the sources of energy and technologies for the time being listed any other source of energy or technology for the generation of electricity or production of heat if he considers that the use of that source of energy or technology would cut emissions of greenhouse gases in Great Britain.
(5) The power to make an order under subsection (4)—
(a) is exercisable by statutory instrument, and
(b) includes power to make such supplemental or consequential provision (including provision modifying this section) and such transitional or saving provision as the Secretary of State thinks fit.
(6) No order under that subsection may be made unless a draft of the order—
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