My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Teverson and the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, for their amendments concerning consumer access to information. I start by saying to my noble friend and to the noble Lord, Lord O’Neill, that I take the issues around data protection and data security very seriously. I hope that in responding to both noble Lords I will be able to reassure them of the measures we have in place. However, I will address that at the end.
Amendment 51ZDA relates to the ownership of, and access to, the energy consumption data that will be stored by smart meters. I am grateful to my noble friend for the opportunity to explain the important regulatory changes on smart metering data access and privacy that have came into effect since last month. The smart meter data access framework is based on the principle that consumers should have a choice about how their data are used and by whom. The first step is that energy consumption data will be stored by smart meters themselves, in people’s homes. The meters will be capable of storing at least 24 months-worth of historic data. The second step is that consumers will have control and choice over who can access the data held on those smart meters.
Consumers will be able to access their data directly from the meter in their home. Energy suppliers are required to ensure that consumers are able to do this. As part of their smart meter installation, all domestic consumers will be offered an in-home display. This will connect them directly to their smart meter and show them how much energy they are using, in real time and historically, and what it is costing them. We expect other innovative products to be developed that will connect directly to the smart meter, which consumers will be able to purchase on the high street.
Consumers can also choose to give their energy supplier, or anyone else offering them an attractive product or service, remote access to their data. This enables companies to offer services to consumers such as regular home energy reports. The only exception, where consumers do not have a choice, is that the meters will provide energy suppliers with the data required for billing or other regulated duties. One of the key benefits of smart metering for consumers is the end of estimated billing. This data access framework, embedding the principles of consumer choice and control, has been implemented through changes to energy suppliers’ licences and will be enforced by Ofgem.
Before I turn to the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, I will respond to two points. Both noble Lords asked about data control and engagement. While I have given noble Lords a broad overview, we also have in place a central consumer delivery body that would be able to reach out and reassure consumers with an independent voice on how their data is being kept. We have come to create the mechanism through which the data is stored with advice from the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance, which is linked to the Government’s GCHQ; I hate acronyms. We therefore know that we have worked with a huge amount of expertise on national data security. The noble Lord, Lord O’Neill, will welcome the appointment of his colleague the noble Baroness, Lady McDonagh, as the chairman of the central delivery body.
The other mechanism, which I have just mentioned, is the data and communications company. This will effectively be the mechanism through which all information will go. It has security on the front and back ends. The information that will be utilised from consumers’ homes cannot be accessed unless it has been accredited to the suppliers who have signed up through their licence conditions to the utilisation of smart meters. There is a huge amount of information out there that I urge noble Lords to access. If noble Lords would like me to, I am more than happy to ensure that they receive the updated frameworks and codes of practice that we are putting out there to ensure that there is absolute privacy for and security on data for consumers. We have worked hard to ensure that we satisfy the sort of concerns and fears that noble Lords are raising.
I now turn to Amendment 51AA of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt. I, like the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, support the sentiment behind the amendment concerning the provision of energy information to consumers. The first step to saving energy is to receive reliable, quality advice about energy efficiency. Generic advice from a high street shop will only get you to a certain stage of information availability. The best approach is to get personalised advice that is tailored to your own home. This is the only way to ensure that recommendations and savings estimates are truly meaningful for the consumer. The Green Deal assessment does exactly that.
The Green Deal assessment provides detailed advice about the range of options which might be suitable for a particular property, including insulation and other efficiency measures, renewable heating systems and options for generating low-carbon electricity, like solar
panels. Householders also receive advice on how they use energy through an occupancy assessment. It is still early days, but awareness of the scheme has grown rapidly. I am pleased to say that nearly 40,000 Green Deal assessments had been completed by mid-June, with thousands happening every month. Physical demonstrations are always a highly effective way to raise consumer awareness of the measures available. That is why we are supporting the development of a national “open homes” network to make it easy for people to see how homes can be improved by energy-saving retrofits.