My Lords, I welcome noble Lords’ support for the order. Whereas the previous order was very complex, I am pleased to say that I am bringing balance to the debate by trying to make this measure simpler. We have tried, through engagement with stakeholders, to ensure that we have much better informed and not excessively burdensome regulation for industry. We are trying to make sure that there is a reason to use CRC as a means of reducing carbon emissions.
The noble Lord, Lord Grantchester, asked a couple of very poignant questions, so I shall respond first to those and then go to those of my noble friend. The noble Lord asked why schools in England had been removed from the CRC. Due to the continued growth of academies and their independence from local government, the CRC is not the best mechanism to achieve energy efficiency across the English schools estate. The Government therefore decided to withdraw all state-funded schools in England from CRC participation and implement alternative measures to incentivise and support those schools in obtaining
both energy cost and emission savings. However, that does not mean that schools will not partake; it just means that they will take a different route.
The noble Lord asked whether the benefits of the scheme would be reduced. The loss of emissions coverage is very small, being less than 5%. The key drivers—awareness, publication of data and the financial incentives arising from needing to buy allowances—will still be part of the scheme. As I said in the previous debate, we want continually to review what we are doing so that we get the best outcomes from these measures.
My noble friend Lord Deben asked about half-hourly metering. I welcome his support for the order and thank him for it. If the Committee will allow me, I shall take away my noble friend’s question and perhaps give him a much more detailed response—I shall ensure that the opposition Benches also have a copy. If I was to give him a half-hearted response now, it would not satisfy the Committee and certainly not my noble friend.
Overall, I am pleased that noble Lords have seen the benefits of simplification and the fact that it will reduce administrative costs to industry by quite a large sum. It also allows greater flexibility for industry to organise its own businesses as it sees fit. I welcome the support of noble Lords and commend the order to the Committee.