Greater London Authority Bill

I add my support to the amendment. I suspect that the Minister will not like the words which the noble Baroness has chosen, but they give us a chance to talk about renewable energy as well. I am obviously anxious that we should continue to encourage better use of waste, particularly food waste. Germany already has some 3,000 treatment plants. The Minister may put me right but I do not think that we have any in this country. Will he comment on that? When considering clean and green energy it is not just a question of greenhouse gases. The whole thing is tied up with what more we can do about waste per se—that can involve renewable energy production as well—and how much attention we pay to dealing with excessive junk mail, which continues to come through our doors on a daily basis. I hope that digesters can be considered in that regard. The noble Baroness mentioned minimal support. The UK has been slow to give industry a direction on making better use of waste, which can comprise waste oil, waste packaging or waste food. There are enormous opportunities out there in that regard. Indeed, that was discussed when we debated biofuels recently. We discussed the first stages of that process and the Minister who replied to the debate talked about second and third generation biofuels. I thank the noble Baroness for giving us this opportunity to reflect on the wisdom of inserting the words ““clean or green”” in the Bill. I do not mind if her wording is not accepted by the Minister provided that he gives us a steer on this matter and a better understanding of where exactly the Government stand on it and, consequently, the pressure to which the Mayor of London will be subject in that regard.