My Lords, the only response I can give is the one I gave just now. However, if that is not useful, as I said, I will go back and read Hansard to see whether my answer can be tweaked to be a little better —although I think the answer will possibly be the same.
The noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, asked about the success of RO and asked for us to provide some detail of its success over the period it has been in place. Yes, it would be wrong to try to produce it now, so it may be useful to write to the Committee to allow it to look at it in fuller detail. However, I hope that the noble Baroness did not misunderstand me. In our earlier debate, I referred to the RO as being a useful tool to bring on the renewables that we so rightly need to reduce our carbon footprint, but also to ensure that we have a proper mix of energy sources. However, in future the CFDs provide a better mechanism for the longer-term necessity for investment confidence.
I know that the noble Baroness, like other noble Lords, is very supportive of a much more self-sufficient renewable sector in the country, particularly given what is happening across the globe. The CFD scheme provides longer-term certainty and better returns for investment, but also gives us an opportunity to try to bring the costs down so that the impact is much more beneficial to the consumer.
The order raises two important changes introduced to the RO scheme. The first sets a consistent closure date across Great Britain to new generating capacity, at which point CFDs will become the main support mechanism for large-scale, low-carbon electricity generation. The second introduces grace periods designed to target specific risks of delay with the intention of avoiding any investment hiatus. Both measures will ensure that investors continue to have confidence in the operation of the RO in its final years as we transition to a new support regime.
I thank all noble Lords for their contributions.