Energy Bill [HL]

Before the noble Baroness, Lady Maddock, decides what to do with her amendment, perhaps I may follow up a point made by my noble friend Lord Cathcart in relation to tenants. I do not understand the position. Since my noble friend laid it out so clearly, I recall some of the debates that left me with a slightly foggy view when we debated this earlier. The local authority can require an energy efficiency improvement under the terms of the regulations. An energy efficiency improvement is one which is either paid for by the Green Deal or is free under the energy company’s obligations. Let us assume that it is not free but must be funded by the Green Deal. Let us suppose that the tenant says: ““I do not want it. I am the bill payer and I do not want this Green Deal because I do not understand all this stuff about getting extra bills and about energy efficiency—it is too complicated””. This is the point I was trying to make earlier about tenants having a different perspective on life, with different timescales. What happens then?