My Lords, if there has one been theme since the Bill started its long route over the past couple of years to where it is now, it is that it is not decarbonisation that has been the subject of the big debate—although it is a bigger debate now, I admit—but access to the market and competition by a vibrant independent generating sector. I would not be as pessimistic as the noble Viscount when he says that this sector would be squeezed out altogether. However, we want to see not just a surviving independent sector—and I believe it would survive under the conditions that we have at the moment—but a vibrant and expanding sector where we see future competition growing. I do not think we have got there yet. Whether it was the Select Committee in the House of Commons that went through the draft Bill or our own committee under the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, the whole area of independent generator competition was a theme that was common to us both and a very strong one.
What concerns me is not that the Government do not understand that this is an issue. I think that they do and that they have done for some time. They have done a lot of work on this, and I am sure that the Minister will go through it. The Government are aware that this is an issue and have been working on it very hard. What concerns me is that, as far as this Bill and the amendments are concerned, we still seem to be in a position of “may” rather than “must”. Although we talk about this in all sorts of other areas and sometimes use it as a political ploy—sometimes trying to strengthen something that is legitimate as a “may”—in this area it prolongs the uncertainty of the market.
When the Bill started its long process back in 1910—I mean in 2010-11; it might seem like the last century but it clearly was not—we said we saw this as important. I thank the Minister for keeping us very much in touch with the Government’s thinking via her letters. In her letter of 22 July she quite rightly said:
“This is a key issue as independent renewable generators currently hold a significant pipeline of projects”.
We understand that but the point is that over this period it has always been that the ROCs would finish in 2017. That system gave a fair degree of certainty.
We are now two or three years on in that process and it is only some three and a half years until that April 2017 deadline. By the time this Bill becomes an Act, as it surely will in whatever state, that will be down to three years. As the noble Baroness, Lady Liddell, said, these major investment projects take time, whether it is in planning permission, judicial review or all the other areas. By then we will be well into the post-2017 period. That is why it is important that the Bill firms up on that and why I am slightly concerned that it is still a “may” situation in these amendments.
Also, the Minister’s letter says:
“Whilst I believe that the introduction of the Contracts for Difference … will greatly improve conditions in this market, I appreciate that [we] may need to go further to support independent developers. This is why I have tabled amendments to allow the Government to further support independent developers if necessary”.
I understand that entirely and welcome the great clarity that the Minister has given in her correspondence to all our debates through this Bill—that has been exceedingly good. What concerns me is that the point has come where, as a Government—I point out to the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, that they are Liberal Democrat as well as Conservative—we need to come off the fence. We need to say, “Yes, this is not just a problem but one we understand needs to be fixed—and it will be in the legislation”. I am sure the Minister will assure us that by Report there will be a very strong indication of exactly how this is to be played out.
One unfortunate thing in this long process is the feeling that the auction system has partly been disregarded because of the pressure of the big six. That may be completely fallacious and wrong but that perception is there. That means that the perception remains that this market is not fully open to full competition for a generation into the future. We absolutely need to make sure that it is.