Fifth Report - Local government and the path to net zero

In line with the recommendation from the Climate Change Committee, and seemingly in line with its own commitment in the Net Zero Strategy, we urge the Government to immediately begin consulting local government on the contents of a draft net … Read more In line with the recommendation from the Climate Change Committee, and seemingly in line with its own commitment in the Net Zero Strategy, we urge the Government to immediately begin consulting local government on the contents of a draft net zero delivery framework setting out the relative roles and responsibilities of local and central government. The framework should also clarify the critical role local government must play in delivering a just transition that benefits all communities. The Government should also consult local government on what additional powers it might need to meet its climate targets. Show less

View Details →

Either in that framework, or elsewhere, the Government should also clarify what role, if any, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will play in supporting local authority climate action, given that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial … Read more Either in that framework, or elsewhere, the Government should also clarify what role, if any, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will play in supporting local authority climate action, given that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is now responsible for co-ordinating with local government in this area. (Paragraph 31) Local government and the path to net zero 53 Show less

View Details →

Reaching net zero requires ensuring that new homes are designed and built in a way that will avoid subsequent retrofitting and are built to net zero standards. This will also avoid the cost of ensuring higher standards being borne by … Read more Reaching net zero requires ensuring that new homes are designed and built in a way that will avoid subsequent retrofitting and are built to net zero standards. This will also avoid the cost of ensuring higher standards being borne by the people living in the property, rather than being met by the developer. There needs to be certainty about the details of the Future Homes Standard as soon as possible to ensure the 2025 target is met. The technical consultation on the Future Homes Standard should take place in 2022 rather than 2023, thereby enabling the relevant legislation to be brought forward as soon as possible to ensure greater certainty for suppliers and developers. The Government should consider setting a further target of moving to zero carbon homes by 2030. Show less

View Details →

The public need to have confidence that homes stated to be net zero are as promised. Therefore, the Government should review the metrics used to measure energy efficiency in homes. This should include considering how energy performance certificates are calculated, … Read more The public need to have confidence that homes stated to be net zero are as promised. Therefore, the Government should review the metrics used to measure energy efficiency in homes. This should include considering how energy performance certificates are calculated, how embedded carbon could be better incorporated into the calculations of the carbon emissions of properties, and how the in-use performance of properties can be accurately measured. The Government should introduce measures to close the performance gap, including post-occupancy evaluations, which assess whether the actual energy output of new properties meet the standards promised by the developers once they are being lived in. This is particularly important as evidence indicates that new homes can lose 50% more heat than expected. Show less

View Details →

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities should ensure that future reforms to the planning system give a larger role to sustainability than is the case in the current planning system. We welcome the Government’s commitment to reviewing the … Read more The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities should ensure that future reforms to the planning system give a larger role to sustainability than is the case in the current planning system. We welcome the Government’s commitment to reviewing the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure it contributes to climate action, but the Net Zero and Heating and Buildings strategies could have said more about the ability of local authorities to use the planning system to shape their communities in ways that reduce carbon emissions. We agree with local authorities continuing to be able to set their own, more extensive, energy efficiency standards for new housing developments. To support making new housing carbon neutral, net zero should be given a central role in the National Planning Policy Framework. This can and should be compatible with the Government’s target to deliver 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s. Net zero should also be embedded in the new national design code and local design codes. Furthermore, local authorities should be given the ability 54 Local government and the path to net zero to include tougher standards in Local Plans as unconditional requirements for all developments. The proposal in the Planning White Paper for local authorities to have a statutory responsibility to produce a Local Plan should also include a requirement that the Local Plan specifically addresses the issue of carbon emissions and how the local authority will ensure developments in their area contribute towards achieving net zero. This will enable local authorities to take a strategic approach about how to foster developments that will help reduce carbon emissions. To ensure that planning authorities have the necessary skills to devise and monitor effective decarbonisation policies we reiterate the recommendation from our recent planning report for £500 million to be invested over four years into funding the planning system. Show less

View Details →

The retrofitting of existing homes is essential for ensuring the UK reaches net zero by 2050. Retrofitting will come at substantial cost and can only be achieved through a mix of both public and private funding. We welcome the additional … Read more The retrofitting of existing homes is essential for ensuring the UK reaches net zero by 2050. Retrofitting will come at substantial cost and can only be achieved through a mix of both public and private funding. We welcome the additional £3.9 billion of funding being provided for retrofitting as outlined in the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy, including for public sector buildings, social housing, and low-income families. But more needs to be done to provide long-term certainty for funding for retrofitting beyond 2025. The Government should set out its longer- term funding plans beyond 2025, and outline the share of funding for retrofitting it anticipates will come from private investment. The use of private sector financial instruments should be encouraged and incentivised by government. This should include greater action by the UK Infrastructure Bank to support private financing of retrofitting, following the example of the German national infrastructure bank. We note the Government’s proposal to encourage green mortgages, and this should be subject to extensive consultation to avoid unintended consequences. The Government should also consider offering tax incentives, which could include lower VAT, stamp duty and council tax, for energy efficient measures and homes. Show less

View Details →

The Climate Assembly UK emphasised the importance of giving the public choice over how retrofitting takes place, including over which technologies are installed. Choice is important in securing public support for retrofitting. Local authorities can play an important role in … Read more The Climate Assembly UK emphasised the importance of giving the public choice over how retrofitting takes place, including over which technologies are installed. Choice is important in securing public support for retrofitting. Local authorities can play an important role in supporting retrofitting in their local area, by assisting with organisation, advice, promotion and consultation with communities. The Government must ensure there is as much choice for the public in deciding how their homes are retrofitted as is technologically possible. There is therefore a need for progress on developing alternatives to heat pumps, including hydrogen heating. Local authorities should be given the necessary support and resources to fulfil their important role in retrofitting. Show less

View Details →

As previously stated, we welcome the Government’s commitment to reviewing the National Planning Policy Framework to make sure it contributes to climate mitigation, but we are concerned that in the meantime some councils will continue to grant planning permission to … Read more As previously stated, we welcome the Government’s commitment to reviewing the National Planning Policy Framework to make sure it contributes to climate mitigation, but we are concerned that in the meantime some councils will continue to grant planning permission to development that locks people into car dependency. In the short term, the Government should clarify the need for sustainable transport and placemaking to be embedded in all new development. In the longer term, it should amend the NPPF to require all housing development to be properly serviced by public transport and active travel networks and be within walking distance of local shops and amenities. As far as possible, all employment areas should also be served by public transport. To facilitate this, the Government should reiterate to 56 Local government and the path to net zero local councils the importance of having up-to-date Local Plans and, in line with our earlier recommendation, require councils to embed sustainability in those plans. Show less

View Details →

We urge the Government to make good on the welcome promises set out in the national bus strategy, in particular to give local authorities more control over bus services, and to explain as soon as possible how it plans to … Read more We urge the Government to make good on the welcome promises set out in the national bus strategy, in particular to give local authorities more control over bus services, and to explain as soon as possible how it plans to make sure local authorities have the necessary funding to provide high-quality public transport services in rural areas. We also ask the Government to give greater consideration to the important role light rail can play in the public transport network. Show less

View Details →

We are pleased the Government has promised to empower local authorities to take bold decisions in this area and to publish a toolkit of guidance and information to help local authorities develop innovative and sustainable transport policies. We also welcome … Read more We are pleased the Government has promised to empower local authorities to take bold decisions in this area and to publish a toolkit of guidance and information to help local authorities develop innovative and sustainable transport policies. We also welcome its commitment to investing £2 billion over five years in active travel, most of which will be channelled through local authorities, but we are concerned that this might not be enough. Funding should be more consistent and reliable and not dependent on competitive bidding processes, which tend to benefit the larger and better resourced councils and lead to wasted resources on unsuccessful bids. We recommend that funding for active travel be put on a more consistent footing and that the Government work more closely with local authorities to support and monitor their activities. Show less

View Details →

In line with its commitment in the Heat and Buildings Strategy, we urge the Government to immediately consult local authorities on how it can better support them to take advantage of the funding available for other types of low-carbon smart … Read more In line with its commitment in the Heat and Buildings Strategy, we urge the Government to immediately consult local authorities on how it can better support them to take advantage of the funding available for other types of low-carbon smart local energy systems. Show less

View Details →

As already recommended, the Government must immediately consult local government on the contents of a draft net zero delivery framework setting out the relative roles and responsibilities of local and central government. It must also commit to properly funding local … Read more As already recommended, the Government must immediately consult local government on the contents of a draft net zero delivery framework setting out the relative roles and responsibilities of local and central government. It must also commit to properly funding local authority climate action and provide assurance that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be able to fund schemes of the kind currently funded through the European Regional Development Fund. (Paragraph 126) 58 Local government and the path to net zero Show less

View Details →

Given how significant is local government’s influence over greenhouse gas emissions, it is clear the UK will struggle to reach net zero by 2050 unless central and local government work together to deliver solutions tailored to meet local circumstances.

View Details →

Local authorities will be particularly important in ensuring a just transition to net zero, since no layer of government is closer to people or better able to tailor climate action to meet the needs of local communities. Only by harnessing local government can central government deliver a just transition that …

View Details →

We welcome the ambitious targets set by many local authorities, and we are pleased the Government has now committed in its Net Zero Strategy to clarifying the relationship between central and local government in the delivery of net zero and to improving co-ordination between different layers of government. It remains …

View Details →

We note that the Net Zero Strategy assigns responsibility for co-ordinating with local government to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and that the role of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities remains undefined.

View Details →

On funding, we welcome the commitment in the Net Zero Strategy to explore ways to simplify and consolidate the number of local net zero funding streams, but we note it included no clear commitment to increasing the level of long-term funding specifically for local authority climate action.

View Details →

We also recommend that the Government come up with a plan for funding local authority climate action in a way that gives councils the confidence and ability to plan for the long term, including by making good on its commitment in the Net Zero Strategy to simplify and consolidate the …

View Details →

The Government anticipates that only 200,000 heat pumps a year will be fitted into new homes by 2028. As the Government’s target is to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, it should explain where the additional heat pumps and other low- carbon heating systems will come from to …

View Details →

The Green Homes Grant voucher scheme proved a disappointing failure, and it is important that the reasons for its failure–that it was created too quickly, had high management and administration costs, and did not last long enough–should shape future schemes. Above all both the voucher scheme and the previous Green …

View Details →

Future retrofitting schemes will be needed to incentivise the public to switch to low carbon heating. Such schemes should be put in place after a thorough consultation with stakeholders, including with the public. We believe the following five principles would provide a solid foundation for future schemes: • local authorities …

View Details →

The Government is proposing that certain properties with low EPC Bands and using electricity and LPG gas will need to choose a low-carbon heating system when replacing their existing one from 2026. This contrasts with the same requirement on replacing heating systems only applying to homes that are on the …

View Details →

We were told that local government needs additional resources to enforce minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector. Resources should be made available for this purpose. Enforcement would also be aided by the introduction of a register of landlords, as already undertaken in certain local authorities, and we …

View Details →

We welcome the ambition in the recent national bus strategy to increase bus usage and ensure cheaper and more reliable bus services across the country. In particular, we welcome its promise to give local authorities more control over bus services, either by agreeing Enhanced Partnerships with bus operators or by …

View Details →

Local authorities are well placed to support the decarbonisation of energy generation and supply through the delivery of smart local energy systems, owing to their role as planning authority and knowledge of their local areas. It is also clear that many councils are taking advantage of their position to deliver …

View Details →

Besides buildings, transport and energy, there are many areas where local government can make a profound contribution to the UK meeting its net-zero target. We have highlighted waste management, procurement and local leadership, but there are many more besides. It is the responsibility of central government, in partnership with local …

View Details →