Climate Change and SustainableEnergy Bill

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept that the provision is at least a step in the right direction. As I understand it, the aim is that the £50 million will be available for use on public buildings and for housing association homes, but I would also ask my hon. Friends in the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry to make it available for private households. Some Ministers may have reservations about making grant money available to the public. Others see some in the microgeneration industry as perpetually demanding grant funding, with no model for reaching viability without it. However, evidence from fellow northern European member states shows that medium to long-term grant programmes help to build critical market mass, which then offers the prospect of reaching a sustainable large market without grants. All we need is a few years with steady growth conditions in the market, and the rising price of fossil fuels is likely to increase demand. In the UK, as in Germany, the home owner sector has been and continues to be the cornerstone of the growing solar-thermal market. Purchases by home owners encouraged by the availability of small incentives provide businesses in the sector with the market conditions to invest in growth. Through either subsidy programmes or fiscal incentives, a meaningful market stimulation programme for renewable microgeneration is essential, and it is crucial that that incorporates stimulation of the home owner sector. Investment in a meaningful market stimulation programme for renewable microgeneration will offer strong returns and will lead to a self-sustainingmarket, which will not require Government incentive. That will significantly reduce UK demand for expensive new power stations, and it will help tofoster an internationally competitive UK renewable microgeneration industry, which is important if we are to get ahead of the game. It will also create jobs in the design, manufacture and installation of renewable microgeneration technologies. I thank the Minister for Energy for his patience in dealing with the Bill and for producing the microgeneration strategy this year. However, I ask him to re-examine the criteria on spending the £50 million, which is an important practical issue.