Climate Change Bill [HL]

My Lords, we thank the Minister for introducing the amendment, which would restrict the order-making power for amending carbon budgets by preventing the Secretary of State amending the budget once that period has ended. This is a sensible amendment, which is in line with the sort of thinking that has motivated many of our amendments. We are pleased to see that the Government are finally starting to table amendments that limit the ability of the Secretary of State to tinker with the rules to make his life easier. The scenario was perfectly possible before the amendment, especially considering the provisions for banking and borrowing, that a Secretary of State could have amended a previous period such that the actual emissions reduction was 1 per cent over the limit and then could have banked that reduction to ease his burden later on. That is the sort of thing that we certainly hope Ministers in future will not engage in. None the less, we have tried to ensure that it does not happen. Thus, when the Government come forward to close up a potential loophole such as this one, we should be thankful. It shows that although we might disagree on a number of points, our attitudes might be converging on issues such as tightening the accountability and responsibility of the Secretary of State. In short, it is good to see that the Government, at least in this instance, are keen not to give the Secretary of State a way to let himself off the hook. We welcome the amendment.