Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Is not the point on targets that, if or when a Government miss a target—for example, because of a cold winter—we will need to know about that immediately so that corrective action can be taken, rather than waiting until the end of a five or 10-year period? There will be times when we miss a target for reasons outside Government control—such as climatic or economic reasons—and we shall need to know about that, so that we can take action.