Energy Bill [HL]

I am afraid that I cannot agree with my noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding. I deeply believe that Government have lost themselves in a mire by failing to proceed quickly on things. We have a massive task ahead of us of reforming so many things in order to meet our commitments and face the challenges that lie ahead, so I am afraid I do not agree that we should elasticate time so that some people in the building sector who have been briefing noble Lords do not feel that they are perhaps being rushed into something. We are now effectively at 1 January 2011 and we are talking about having a review in perhaps two years’ time. Every professional organisation knows about the Green Deal. People understand the possibilities that are available and a number are already making plans to take full advantage of it and put it into the housing sector. It is therefore not right that the Government should not set down tight timelines to see how this progresses. I will follow up on the remarks of my noble friend Lord Teverson that we need to find out early on if it is working and, if it is not, what action we need to take to make it work. I will amplify what I said earlier. The start of the review will be at the end of 2013. Some people—I am one—are persuaded that it should be done then, while others think that it should be done later. We must start somewhere and get on with it. We cannot allow the land to lie fallow. We have a massive and monumental task. As my noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding graciously admitted, this has been sitting around unresolved for a long time. The Government must get on and resolve it. Therefore, I am afraid that I do not agree with the amendment. Perhaps we will discuss the issue further. In the mean time, I ask my noble friend Lady Noakes to withdraw the amendment.