Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 225: 225: After Clause 62, insert the following new Clause— ““Waste reduction provisions: interim report (1) If it appears to the Secretary of State that it will not be possible to lay a report under section 62 in relation to a pilot area before the end of three years beginning with the day this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament an interim report in relation to that pilot area before the end of that period. (2) The interim report must contain— (a) a description of the scheme and of the respects in which the provision made or to be made by it differs from that made by the schemes in other pilot areas, (b) a copy of the order made by the Secretary of State under section 61; and (c) a description of the respects in which the relevant enactments and guidance applying in that area differ from that applying— (i) in other pilot areas, and (ii) in areas not designated as pilot areas. (3) If the scheme has not been implemented, the interim report must contain a description of the progress made towards its implementation. (4) Otherwise, the interim report must contain— (a) a description of the scheme’s operation, and (b) an assessment of the progress made towards achieving the scheme’s objectives, if such an assessment can reasonably be made.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Rooker, I rise to move Amendment No. 225. I hasten to add that if the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, thought that we were post-dinner and that therefore the Government were being unduly aggressive, I apologise for that tone. Secondly, I have now got an amendment in which I can be conciliatory. Therefore, I hope to work my way back into his good books. When we discussed the waste provisions issues in Committee, my noble friend Lord Rooker said that he would look again at the whole issue of engaging Parliament in the evaluation of pilots. We had a short debate before dinner on some of these issues. We recognise that the previous drafting left some noble Lords with considerable concern that pilots could carry on for long periods of time without any flow of information back to Parliament on their progress. Amendment No. 225 addresses those concerns. The amendment will require that the Government have reported back to Parliament on all of the pilots within three years of Royal Assent to the Climate Change Bill. So, for any of the pilots on which we have not provided a final report within three years, we will at least lay before Parliament an interim report on their progress to date. In this situation, we would seek to provide as comprehensive an interim report as possible, reflecting the extent to which a pilot had progressed in the time that it had been in operation. The structure would follow as closely as possible the structure of the final report, as can be seen in subsections (2), (3) and (4) of our amendment. In particular, any report must describe the scheme and explain how it differs from schemes operating in other pilot areas. It must also contain a copy of the designation order. In the case that a scheme has not begun when the interim report is laid, the report must describe progress towards implementation. But if the pilot is already under way, the report should assess the progress towards meeting objectives that far. The value of Amendment No. 225 is in making absolutely sure that Parliament and the public are kept well informed about, and closely involved with, the pilots as they progress. On this basis, and as explained by my noble friend in his factual briefing note which he circulated on 20 February, we are hopeful that we can have a debate in both Houses of Parliament, if and when the Government wish to roll out the powers to all English local authorities. I hope it will be recognised that this amendment is a step to meet concerns expressed in Committee. I beg to move.