Climate Change Bill [HL]

Perhaps I may come back to the argument. I know that I am going to have an opportunity to talk again on the annual milestones, but there is an inconsistency in the Minister’s arguments. He talked about a last-minute flap to put up heating costs in order to reduce emissions for the forthcoming winter and later he said that he thought that these annual milestones would not be much use because it would be too late to do anything about it by the time it was found out that they were being strayed from. The key is that we are looking at an arrangement that is designed to be indicative; any annual report is bound to centre around the degree to which the Government feel that they are on track for achieving their five-year target. We really need an annual progress report based on some sort of annual milestone target. I understand that much of economic and emissions activity is outside the direct control of the Government. That is why this Bill is such a challenge. The Bill is not just about what Governments do directly; it is about what they manage to persuade the rest of the economy—the rest of our nation—to do. I find it difficult to understand why the Minister is shying away from something that would help the Government and strengthen the Bill. We are going to need every weapon that we have to keep people focused on the issue in hand. There will be all sorts of sidetracking. Mild winters, cold summers or volcanic eruptions can all throw these predictions off track. None the less, I would have thought that to have something that you can refer to and use in the annual report would be greatly to the advantage of the Government and I am surprised that the Minister is not taking a more positive approach to this idea.