Energy Bill

In moving Amendment 2D, I shall speak also to Amendments 2G and 5B. It is probably difficult to speak to 8C until the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, has done so, but I may make a passing reference to it in support. It is worth reiterating the extent and the expectation the Government have of the Green Deal because it sets these amendments in context and shows why we think they are so important. The Secretary of State has made it clear that he thinks that something like 26 million homes could be transformed by the Green Deal, which is a great ambition. It could create 250,000 new jobs and lever funding of £7 billion into the private sector. Quite rightly, the Secretary of State has also made it clear that there will be no cowboy operators under the Green Deal. This is extraordinarily important because, if we are looking at consumer confidence, it will be essential that consumers have confidence in the new deal and not just in the installers but in the assessors and providers through every stage of the arrangements. The Minister made a similar point about consumer confidence in his comments and I hope therefore that he can take these amendments on board. They seek to ensure that the assessors, providers and installers of the Green Deal have the qualifications, skills and aptitudes to perform their functions appropriately and fully under the new deal. We also look at the standard to which they work on assessments. One reason why I am so concerned about skills is that those who work in the industry and are involved in training have expressed their concerns to me and to other noble Lords. There is a campaign known as Cut Your Carbon, a partnership between the Construction Industry Training Board, that deals with construction skills, the Sector Skills Councils, the Federation of Master Builders and the National Specialist Contractors Council. They have all sought to raise awareness of the kind of skills that will be required to fulfil the Green Deal and the ambition of 26 million homes that could be transformed. Cutting carbon emissions is going to mean a change in the construction industry and in the industry that will have to undertake the Green Deal. They have to change the skills that many in their workforce have. They have to upskill and reskill. Currently there is a gap between what the clients would demand under a Green Deal—and, indeed, any other energy programme—and the understanding of the role and ability for small and medium-sized enterprises to deliver the low-carbon solutions that we will need to find in order to fulfil the Green Deal. One of the things that concerns the SME sector is that the opportunities for it to win work through cutting carbon are not really understood. It has to understand what is required of it to ensure that the Green Deal is a success. The skills level needs to be increased and the training has to be in place. The Minister has said on several occasions that this is commercially led and is about the market. However, the Government have a role in ensuring that the workforce of this country has the skills and can provide the quality of work that is needed to undertake the work that is referenced in the legislation. The Government’s estimate at the higher end is 250,00 new jobs—although, more recently, that has been brought down to 100,000. If we are going to have these new jobs there needs to be a lead-in time to ensure that there are the trainers available and that those who are taking part have gone through the training programme. That requires investment. As past recessions show, construction is one of those industries that people move out of during a recession. We need to hold on to those people; if we look at what is likely to be the trajectory of the Green Deal, which will start off slowly and perhaps pick up as we would hope the private sector comes on board after the review, we need to ensure that those who do not leave the industry have been provided with the skills, standards and qualifications that they need. Alongside that, we need to look at the accreditation, quality and standards of the work that is undertaken because we need to be able to trust the credentials of those bodies, installers and assessors who are undertaking the work so that the consumer has confirmation, certainty and confidence in the work that is undertaken. Alongside the need for this, Amendment 2D says that the Green Deal must ensure that assessors and providers have the necessary qualifications and skills. Amendment 2G would ensure that it is in the framework regulations that the Green Deal assessors must comply with a standard assessment measurement. One of the problems with the assessors is that, if they work to different standard assessment measures—and there is some confusion and doubt at the moment that they would be working to the same level—different assessors may provide different levels of work. The consumer would have a lack of confidence if two Green Deal assessors in similar properties gave two very different assessments. There needs to be a standard assessment framework. I am not convinced that the current frameworks offer us the assurance that we need. I am not clear how the Government intend to measure the improvements to energy efficiency. There are various ways of doing it but we will presumably use the energy performance certificates as a base. Will we say that a building has gone up from an E to a G to a C to a D? How will it be assessed? In every instance where an assessor undertakes the work, that has to be the same. That a Green Deal assessor and installer has to follow the same standard assessment process must be in the code of conduct. If not, there would be a lack of confidence in the whole scheme, which is said to be broken; we need that confidence. We broadly support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson. We have a question for him when he speaks to his amendment. If the Government can give a power or responsibility, they should be able to take that power or responsibility away. This should be a basic principle. I look forward to hearing from the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, how this should be done. The legislation highlights some of the gaps, which is why we have made the point about secondary legislation and why it is necessary to have more detailed information in the Bill. In order to give the consumer confidence, I would need to be assured that the levels and skills of those undertaking the assessments and installation is more than adequate so that we do not need to redress it too often with the kind of regulatory schemes that will need to be put in place under this Bill. I beg to move.