My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. It gives me some comfort but there are a number of uncertainties on both sides here in the sense that those behind some of these schemes thought that they would be commissioned at an earlier date than they will be, so their calculations are based on that earlier date. The Minister is clearly right to say that we had six years’ sight of ROCs ending but we have not had six years’ sight of what will replace them. Therefore, decisions were made on the ROCs system or something very like it operating until that point. I would not like to see a delay because of a planning appeal, or some other reason why the commissioning date slips, which might have a detrimental effect on some very good schemes in the pipeline that we would wish to encourage.
I am heartened by the noble Baroness’s reference to grace periods. I will look at the consultation document more carefully. Although I knew it was issued last week or the week before, I was not clear that it would affect this so directly. That would give some comfort. I hesitate to mention it, but there is a possibility on the other side, namely that the introduction of CFDs, or the clarity of what the choice might be between ROCs and CFDs, might be delayed. An issue I have not mentioned since Second Reading must still slightly worry the Government: we have not cleared any of this through state aid. Were there to be a delay on that, a lot of the dates would have to slip whatever was written in legislation. While I was mainly concerned about delays in projects based on ROCs, there is the possibility of delay on the government side, which none of us want to see. That would also have consequences for the way we deal with those projects in the pipeline.
I got sufficient comfort from the Minister to withdraw the amendment at this stage but I put that slight warning light in our minds. We may well have to return to the more general subject on Report, by which time I hope the Government have something positive to say on it.