My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for tabling these amendments but, although we are sympathetic to their intent, it is fair to say that we would take a different approach.
This part of the Bill, which introduces measures to try to protect independent generators, is a clear indication that there is something very wrong with our electricity market. It is another layer of complexity that the Bill introduces to the market, and it is needed because we have probably all had considerable representation from independent generators saying that they are simply not able to gain access to the market on fair terms. That is very regrettable and a clear sign that something major needs to take place in the shake-up of the electricity market. Unfortunately, the Bill does not do that and was never intended to, and I am inclined to agree with my noble friend Lord O’Neill that another Bill would be needed to sort this out.
As I said, this is an extra complexity, and my general rule of thumb is that increased complexity equals decreased efficiency. I am sorry that we have had to enter into this market with new provisions to enable independent generators to gain access. All electricity ought to be sold into an open and transparent pool or market so that everyone has a fair crack at the whip and ultimately everybody can gain fair access to customers through supply companies. I fear that these amendments, although welcome, are something of a sticking plaster and would not really get to the root of the problem.
The Labour Party has made it very clear that our solution to this is to split up the vertical integration of the big six and to introduce a new regulator with real teeth, focusing squarely on the consumer and delivering better competition in all aspects of the electricity market. The amendments go some way towards achieving that but I do not think that they do enough, so I am afraid that, although we are sympathetic, we are not able to support them.