Recommendation 22

In written evidence, the LGA told us that there was a long-term funding gap in government’s ambitions to decarbonise housing. In February 2020, the LGA’s Climate Change Survey 2020 found that nine out of 10 councils had declared a climate emergency and 80% had set a carbon neutral target.40 But the survey found that local authorities faced numerous barriers to tackling climate change. Ninety-six per cent of respondents reported that funding was a barrier to their local authority tackling climate change, and 93% that legislation or regulation was a barrier. Lack of workforce capacity or a lack of skills was also a cause for concern, with 88% and 78% of local authorities in the survey respectively reporting this as a barrier to tackling climate change. Respondents who noted legislation or regulation as a barrier highlighted a range of issues including building regulations not being environmentally rigorous and that the National Planning Policy Framework or planning regulations were insufficiently ambitious.41