Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill |
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Malcolm Wicks: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. Colleagues will be relieved to hear that I can be very brief. I propose that new clause 37 replace new clause 18, which has now been overtaken by events and which I therefore no longer intend to move. New clause 37 outlines the commencement periods for different clauses of the Bill. The majority of clauses will come into force two months after the Bill is passed, in line with convention. The reporting clauses that have been included on microgeneration energy, efficiency and residential accommodation, community energy projects and renewable heat will come into force on 1 January 2007 to fit in with existing governmental report cycles. The remaining clauses and schedules
Question put and agreed to. Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill. Clause 11 Interpretation Amendment made: No. 13, in page 6, leave out lines 4 and 5.—[Malcolm Wicks.] Amendments made: No. 28, in page 6, leave out lines 8 to 10. No. 29, in page 6, leave out lines 15 to 17.—[Mark Lazarowicz.] Clause 11, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 12 Orders and regulations Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill. Malcolm Wicks: In the original draft of the Bill submitted by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith, clauses 7 and 10 gave power to the Secretary of State to make orders and regulations. This clause is drafted to clarify those powers. As clauses 7 and 10 are no longer part of the Bill, clause 12 is no longer required. Therefore, as I hope was always clear, I oppose its standing part of the Bill. Question put and negatived. Clause 12 disagreed to. Clause 13 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 14 Short title and extent Malcolm Wicks: I beg to move amendment No. 36, in page 6, line 41, at end insert—
Column Number: 145 certificates: further provisions) and (Adjustment of transmission charges for electricity) extend to England and Wales and Scotland only.’. The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendment No. 31. 6.30 pmMalcolm Wicks: I can deal with the amendments quickly and with my usual clarity. Clause 14 deals with the short title and extent of the Bill. Amendment No. 31 removes subsection (2), which is then replaced through amendment No. 36 by a more detailed provision setting out the extent of the Bill. The only substantive part of the Bill that will apply to Great Britain and Northern Ireland is that about annual reports on greenhouse gas emissions. The clauses on permitted development orders, building regulations, parish and community councils and renewable heat extend only to England and Wales. All other clauses extend to England, Wales and Scotland. I will support clause 14, as amended, standing part of the Bill. Question put and agreed to. Amendment made: No. 31, in page 6, line 42, leave out subsection (2).—[Malcolm Wicks.] Clause 14, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill. New Schedule ‘Amendments consequential on sections (promotion of reductions in carbon emissions: gas transporters and suppliers) and (promotion of reductions in carbon emissions: electricity distributors and suppliers)
Column Number: 146
Brought up, and read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill. TitleAmendments made: No. 14, in line 3, leave out
Column Number: 147 and insert
No. 15, in line 3, after ‘obligation’ insert
No. 37, in line 3, after ‘obligation’ insert
Question proposed, That the Chairman do report the Bill, as amended, to the House. Malcolm Wicks: I thank you, Mr. Benton, for the clear stewardship that you have offered to this Committee. Our proceedings have been largely convivial. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith and colleagues on putting together a useful Bill. We have had some constructive debates which will, of course, continue later on Report. Thank you for your hard but successful work, Mr. Benton, in drawing the Committee to a conclusion. Gregory Barker: May I also thank you, Mr. Benton? I am particularly grateful for your kind stewardship, as this has been the first time that I have spoken for the Opposition from the Front Bench in Committee. I have sat mute as a Whip on the Back Benches, but it is quite another thing to navigate one’s way through reams of paper and complexity. Therefore, I am grateful to you. May I also say how grateful I am to the Clerk for his help and advice in tabling my amendments? They were greatly appreciated. We in Parliament are lucky in the expertise and professionalism on which we are able to draw. I am also extremely grateful to all the NGOs that advised me. I have been incredibly well served, and I could not have begun to do what I have done without them. They have been excellent, and I cannot thank them enough. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith. The Bill has not been quite what we hoped for. Nevertheless, there is a clear direction of travel, and it is a very great thing for a Back Bencher to get this far in legislative scrutiny. We shall still have some issues with the Government on Report, when we shall want to see the Bill tightened up further—I hope consensually, if possible. Nevertheless, we have made progress, if not quite as much as we had hoped for—but it is progress. I congratulate and thank all Members from all parties in the Committee. There are Members present who have track records that are far longer and knowledge of this subject that is far greater than mine.
Finally, I thank the police, and all those who have helped us in Committee, sitting silently. It is much appreciated, and we look forward to Report. Andrew Stunell: Thank you for your chairmanship, Mr. Benton. On behalf of my colleagues in the House, I am delighted that we have a Bill to consider on Report. It has its weaknesses but it certainly has its strengths, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith on bringing us to this stage. The Minister and the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle must take a small measure of credit, but much must go to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith, and I congratulate him on his work. Mark Lazarowicz: I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove for those comments, and I am grateful for the comments made by the Minister and by the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle. Mr. Benton, I thank you for the way in which you have chaired the Committee. I appreciate it, because as a Back Bencher promoting a private Member’s Bill, one is somewhat isolated, although I have had much support from various people in Committee and outside. There have been times when your chairmanship has rescued me from one or two difficult moments, and I appreciate that. Without wishing to go through a long list of thanks resembling an Oscars ceremony, I endorse the comments from all those who have spoken about the contributions made by all parties. I am also grateful for the support of the Officers of the House, the DTI and the various NGOs that have been involved in the exercise. We have completed the Committee stage, but we are only so far along the road. I hope that Members will support the Bill during its remaining stages, as I am sure they will, and that they will do what they can so that all their colleagues give it their full support to ensure that it succeeds in its passage to the other place, where I hope that, with cross-party support, it will become legislation later this year. The Chairman: I thank the Minister, Opposition spokesmen and all members of the Committee for the courtesy that they have extended to the Chair throughout our proceedings. I am very grateful. I ought to thank the learned Clerk. As you probably all discerned, I would have been flummoxed all the more without his presence. I thank also the Official Report and everybody connected with the Committee. Question put and agreed to. Bill, as amended, to be reported. Committee rose at twenty-one minutes to Seven o’clock. |
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