Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 121: 121: Clause 26, page 13, line 39, leave out ““Committee”” and insert ““Commission”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 122. We now turn to Part 2 and look in more detail at the structure, role and functions of the Committee on Climate Change. Much of our discussions on the Bill have concerned that key body created by the Bill, the Committee on Climate Change. In particular, there has been much discussion and debate on how it will fit in with the roles of government and Parliament. I think that Members of the Committee will agree that there has been widespread acknowledgement of how important it will be to get right the triangular balance between the Secretary of State, who will represent the Government, Parliament, which will represent the people, and the committee, which will represent science and expertise. There have been differences. The Minister, while taking much of our argument, has been cautious in conceding executive power to the committee, although as the Bill has progressed through the Committee stage, he has acknowledged that much determination of the targets and budgets will rest with the committee. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, has expressed concern that the committee should not become politicised. We in the Opposition agree with him. However, we see that the success of this legislation is very much dependent on getting the role of the committee right. We have pointed out repeatedly that as the Bill is currently drafted, it too frequently draws back from putting the committee centre stage, as we believe it must. In this we have been widely supported by noble Lords from all sides of the House who were involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill through the Joint Committee of both Houses. We have been saying since Second Reading that the Committee on Climate Change needs to be beefed up in its role. I was pleased to hear that this view has widespread support across the House. We have also emphasised—and again I believe this is a shared objective of all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate—that the committee needs to be independent, authoritative and expert. Its activities need to be based on the science of the issue and its decisions need to reflect the science on which they are based. My vision is that in this way it will be a more effective and useful partner to the Government and Parliament in achieving the success of this legislation. I have frequently drawn attention to the difficulties. This is why the committee’s authority is so important. It needs to be of consequence and it needs to be seen to be of consequence. I believe that this view is widely shared. For this reason we have tabled these two amendments which change the name of the committee to reflect its role and functions, to reinforce its status and authority, and to proclaim its independence. The change would create the Commission on Climate Change, which we believe is a more appropriate name for the body. The name ““committee”” applies to a body set up to undertake a function and which receives its authority from an existing body. For example, we are sitting here as a committee by virtue of the fact that we have had the business of the House committed to us. Similarly, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, a body performing functions comparable in importance with the Committee on Climate Change, is rightly so called because it is constituted by the higher authority vested in the Bank. Though the importance may be similar, its status is different. A commission is a task or a duty derived directly from the authority of the Crown or statute. Thus it is exactly the right term for our purposes in this Bill. It reflects the role and function, status and authority, and independence of this key body. This change is not mere semantics and it is certainly not cosmetic. It would give its members the status of commissioners and create a public sense that this is not just an exclusively advisory body. To this end we move this amendment. It will in a very real way ensure that the Government and Parliament can draw on the strength and authority of the body they have created to assist them in stopping climate change. I beg to move.