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Lord Jenkin of Roding: My Lords, I very much welcome these amendments. I moved the original amendments with all-party support. It is very good to see that those measures have been incorporated into the Bill.

I make two points. The first is that in dealing with this matter at earlier stages in this House, Ministers made much play with the problem of interfering with the activities of the regional development agencies and sought to argue that the NDA's activities must not cut across and contravene the general policies of the regional development agencies. Now that this duty has been inserted into the Bill, it will require a good deal of careful administration by the regional development agencies in the areas concerned and by the NDA to make sure that they work extremely closely together. I can understand the anxieties of the RDAs in knowing that someone else has the same sort of task. I welcome the fact that the NDA has been given this additional responsibility.

The second point is that the problems could be substantially reduced if it was recognised that the existing nuclear sites would be admirable places to build new nuclear power stations. We have made that point on a number of occasions. It is coming closer. As the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, indicated on Monday at Question Time, the Prime Minister's statement sounded like a change of policy and read as such. Many of us would have agreed with him that we hoped that it was a change of policy. However, we are not going to get that now. If that could happen, it would certainly meet the requirements of the people who are facing unemployment and disruption as a result of the winding down of the existing nuclear establishments.

My main point is about the RDAs and the NDA. That is going to be the key to making the provisions work.

Baroness Miller of Hendon: My Lords, we on these Benches welcome the amendments. The inclusion of the duty to ensure that the NDA will give encouragement and other support to activities benefiting the social and economic life of communities
 
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living near to a site, particularly those that will provide environmental benefits, is very reassuring. There is also the duty to produce these measures within the strategies which they create or which they require a contractor to provide.

As my colleagues in another place have said and as the Minister mentioned a few moments ago, given the moneys allocated to and deployed by the NDA, and given that it will be doing so much important work, it is important that Parliament keeps an eye on what is going on through the publication of the reports.

I also welcome the measure to ensure that these publications are provided directly to the Scottish Parliament considering the number of energy installations there are north of the Border.

Lord Jopling: My Lord, I believe that it was my amendment with which noble Lords agreed when we last debated these matters. Anyone who has worked for a long period in this building knows that, relatively speaking, amendments drawn by amateurs rarely attain the approval of the parliamentary draftsman in Whitehall. I am not remotely surprised, therefore, to see that the wording of the amendment has had to be changed.

Cumbria County Council first raised this issue. I am not sure whether it now has everything it wanted because it has not yet been in touch with me. But I want to add my welcome to that expressed by my colleagues.

Lord Whitty: My Lords, I am grateful for the expressions of support for these changes in the Bill which address the basic problems outlined at earlier stages by noble Lords, some of whom have spoken again today.

The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, asked about the regional development agencies. We were anxious that the original phrasing of the amendment might suggest that the more strategic role, one that might almost create a sub-regional RDA, was an ambiguity in the original drafting. The way it is now worded does not run that danger, but I agree wholeheartedly that it ensures close co-operation between the RDAs in those areas where there are substantial employment implications.

I do not think that I need to go into the question of future nuclear sites. As has been made clear, the Prime Minister is not enunciating new policy, and I agree with him. In any case, were we to take the nuclear option at some later stage, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority would not be the body to run those operations. Therefore it would not be appropriate to reflect that in this Bill, even if I were to agree with the basic point made by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin.

In relation to the Scottish Parliament, I am not entirely sure what should appear in UK legislation, but in practice I am sure that the Scottish Parliament will need to be informed. As the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, pointed out, Scotland has a number of significant nuclear sites.
 
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I turn to the questions raised about west Cumbria. I understand that the redraft has been discussed with Cumbria County Council, whose representatives say that they are happy with it. I hope that everyone is now reasonably appreciative of the clauses now agreed.

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT
8 Before Clause 84, Insert the following new Clause—
"Reports under section 1 of Sustainable Energy Act 2003
(1) Section 1 of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003 (c. 30) (annual reports on progress towards sustainable energy aims) is amended as follows.
(2) After subsection (1) insert—
"(1A) The report must include, in particular, all such information as the Secretary of State considers appropriate about—
(a) things done during the reporting period for the purposes of the development or the bringing into use of any of the energy sources or technologies mentioned in subsection (1B);
(b) things done during that period for the purpose of ensuring the maintenance of the scientific and engineering expertise available in the United Kingdom that is necessary for the development of potential energy sources (including sources of nuclear energy); and
(c) things done during that period for the purpose of achieving the energy efficiency aims designated under sections 2 and 3.
(1B) The energy sources and technologies referred to in subsection (1A)(a) are—
(a) clean coal technology;
(b) coal mine methane;
(c) biomass;
(d) biofuels;
(e) fuel cells;
(f) photovoltaics;
(g) wave and tidal generation;
(h) hydrogeneration;
(i) microgeneration;
(j) geothermal sources; and
(k) other sources of energy, and technologies for the production of energy, the use of which would, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, cut the United Kingdom's carbon emissions.
(1C) The references in subsection (1A) to things done during the reporting period include references to proposals of the Secretary of State published during that period."
(3) In subsection (2) for "subsection (1)" substitute "subsections (1) to (1C)"."

Lord Whitty: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 8. I spoke to this amendment with Amendment No. 1.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 8.—(Lord Whitty.)
 
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Lord Ezra rose to move, as an amendment to Commons Amendment No. 8, Amendment No. 8A:

8A Before Clause 84, Line 19, at end insert—
"(d) things done during that period and proposed to be done to secure carbon savings from domestic energy efficiency of 5MtC per annum by 2010 and a further 5MtC per annum by 2020."

The noble Lord said: My Lords, the purpose of the amendment, as is made clear on the Marshalled List, is to add to the list of subjects to be covered in the reports under Section 1 of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003 by including carbon savings from domestic energy efficiency. I need hardly remind noble Lords of the great importance which the Government have attached throughout the period since the publication of the energy White Paper to improving energy efficiency. Together with their emphasis on renewables, these are the two main planks of the Government's policy to achieve the reduction in carbon emissions to which they have committed themselves under Kyoto and in other ways.

This matter has figured largely in the debates on the Bill. Indeed, at Third Reading in the other place, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry referred to it:

"We will review our progress on the energy efficiency aim for the household sector in the review of the climate change programmes later this year, and in the 2007 review announced in the energy White Paper action plan. If we find that we can go further than we set out in the action plan, we will do so".—[Official Report, Commons, 13/7/04; col. 1366.]

I personally am firmly of the opinion that the Government should do so, and that they should revert to the figures mentioned in the energy White Paper and which are set out in the amendment I have proposed. Those figures were confirmed no fewer than 15 times—I repeat, on 15 separate occasions—by Ministers and senior civil servants as being the energy saving objectives for the domestic sector on which the Government have set their sights. Therefore, in the Energy Bill, which is intended to reflect what was set out in the energy White Paper, I think it is wholly desirable that reference be made to the objectives and that reports be produced annually on what has been done to achieve them, bearing in mind what the Secretary of State had to say about the Government wanting to go further than their recently announced reduced figures.

I hope that the House and the Government will be prepared to accept this small amendment so that we can reconfirm what the Government have already stated on so many separate occasions; that is, their commitment to achieve these savings of carbon emissions in the energy sector. I beg to move.

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