My Lords, I shall briefly make a couple of comments and ask one question of the Minister. I am glad that there is continued all-party support, under her new leadership in this area, for the Green Deal and for the work of the Green Investment Bank, which I strongly echo. I hope that, as the Government have been reconsidering elements of the energy Bill, when we finally read it this week we will see a greater emphasis on energy efficiency measures. It is so important that we see energy efficiency embedded in energy policy, as much as we focus rightly on the need to ensure that we have the correct balance between nuclear, renewables and fossil fuels in a policy geared towards ensuring that we have security of supply at a competitive price.
I welcome the Minister’s clear explanation of the measure before the Committee today. In her opening comments, she made an interesting point: she said that during the consultation exercise undertaken on the three measures that we are considering, 80% were in
favour. It would be helpful if we knew the genesis and gist of the 20% who were against the measures, so that we can take that into consideration before reaching a determination.