Electricity and Gas (Internal Markets) Regulations 2011

My Lords, it is, as always, a great opportunity to look at the contents of the Bill. I am afraid that I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, about its size. Let us not forget that this regulation was agreed by the previous Government in 2009, at a negotiation in Europe. So I share the noble Lord’s complaint: I have inherited this vast document of noble exchanges at a very high level—beyond my pay grade—in Europe. The net result is that we have a broad regulation which we have attempted to modify and improve, taking on board what a number of noble Lords have said. We have largely accepted everything that is here, because it has been imposed upon us by the EU, through previous negotiation. We have taken four issues which we have tried to mitigate and improve on. Those are: loosening the private network owners’ situation—about which the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, is concerned—small generation interests, gas storage, which we have tried to find a more transparent way of managing, and switching licences. These are four areas which we, as a department, have decided it would not be in the best interests of the consumer to adopt wholeheartedly. It comes as no surprise that the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, has heard from one or two of the major energy companies, because they, quite naturally, do not like everything that is going on. We in Government—and I think that we would all in this Room agree about this—want, largely, to protect the consumer, not the provider. It therefore comes as no huge surprise that, in this particular instance, one or two of the companies are disappointed. That does not mean that we do not have to work with these big six, because they are fundamental to delivering supply and we must congratulate them on much of their work. The noble Lord asked me a specific question in relation to ACER. The point about ACER is that it deals with cross-border issues, whereas Ofgem deals with issues in relation to the UK. ACER has, of course, a broader remit than Ofgem. My noble friend, Lord Teverson, asked about the views of the other European states. I am afraid that is way above my pay grade. Who would be able to navigate the minefield of the views of some of the European states? My concern is what goes on in this country and I know that is his primary concern despite his great knowledge of Europe. This brings us, happily, to the issue of Northern Ireland, which a number of noble Lords have mentioned. It has taken a decision to wait and see what actually happens. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland makes it clear that it will consult on these licences, and the appeals progress, but I suspect that it will largely be onside with these excellent things negotiated by the British Government. I turn briefly to the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, who always speaks on the issue of transport, of which he has great knowledge—I have enjoyed sharing experiences with him on that front. There was a notable train journey that we took along the coast of Cumbria on the reopening of that line. It was a magnificent moment and a very enjoyable experience. The issue of ports has been raised by the noble Lord and other noble Lords on a number of occasions. In this negotiation process, we have tried to push it as far as we could within the confines of the EU regulation that has been imposed on us. The short answer is that ports do not have to upgrade their network to those of a public network, which I hope the noble Lord will be pleased about. On a specific question that I was unable to answer, existing bulk contracts can stand but customers must be able to switch if they wish before deals are agreed. I hope that that answers the noble Lord’s question. The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, comes at these things from the perspective of Consumer Focus, where people tell me that he was a brilliant chairman. It was not the noble Lord who told me, but I am sure that he would not disagree. The noble Baroness asked how the functions will be transferred. They will transfer to Citizens Advice, which is the appropriate place, not to Which? I have mentioned about loosening the private networks. The short answer to the question of whether CHP is provided for is yes. I hope that the noble Lord will therefore support these provisions. My noble friend Lord Teverson mentions the business of checking. I am very pleased to be able to tell him that today the Prime Minister and our Secretary of State, Chris Huhne, opened something called ““Check, Switch and Insulate to Save””. I know that he is going to leave this place and go to the website, on directgov.uk under home energy. It ensures the publication of cheaper tariffs. There will be a consumer checklist and a concise version will be summarised and the relevant information given. The noble Baroness is quite right that it is a minefield going into the issues of where the cheapest price is and how people can get to it. She rightly raised very valuable points, which I have written down, about the interrelationship between the consumer and these new regulations. She asked whether there was a cooling-off period and when it starts. It starts from the end of the three-week period that we talked about. She asked what penalty could be imposed if the supplier did not supply in time. In fact, the penalty can be as much as 10 per cent of the turnover, so it is a very significant figure. Of course, it will be imposed on them, because it is very important that we represent the desires of the consumer.