My Lords, I thank my noble friend and the noble Baroness for tabling these amendments, and for an illuminating, positive and helpful debate. In Committee, we can help to fine tune a Bill. My noble friend mentioned helping the Government; our duty is to help the nation to get this right. Certainty, trust and the smooth passage of transitional arrangements are certainly key.
Amendment 55AK inserts a requirement for the fixed-price certificate scheme to replicate the arrangements under the renewables obligation. The amendment aims to ensure that the fixed-price certificate scheme will be based upon and replace the RO, which is indeed our intention. I can confirm for my noble friend Lord Stephen that those generators that would otherwise qualify to receive renewables obligation certificates in 2027 and beyond will instead qualify for fixed-price certificates.
Clause 46 already mirrors much of the primary legislation for the RO to ensure that we are able to replicate the effect of the RO, so far as is appropriate. The differences from the RO are a result of the different ways in which the schemes operate; for example, the fact that the price of certificates will be fixed means that this will no longer be a market-based scheme. Amendment 55AL removes the provisions for both regular and ad hoc reviews of support levels under the fixed-price certificate scheme. The Government do not
expect to make regular support-level changes under the fixed-price certificate scheme. However, I hope that noble Lords would accept that the Government must be able to respond to significant unexpected changes, such as major cost reductions or increases within a particular technology, so that we can deliver the generation we need for our renewables targets at value for money for consumers.
My noble friend mentioned secondary legislation. In the autumn of 2014, we intend to consult on the secondary legislation for the transition of the renewables obligation to a fixed-price certificate regime. We propose to bring forward this legislation in early 2015.