Public Sector
The Local Government White Paper, published in October 2006, made it clear that local government has a key role to play in tackling climate change and achieving the UK's CO 2 emissions reduction targets. The White Paper calls on local authorities to rise to the challenge and play their part, whether as estate managers, statutory service providers or community leaders.
In addition, the Independent Climate Change Commission, launched by the Local Government Association, will look further and more critically at the ways in which local government can tackle carbon emissions in their own buildings and facilities, in the services they provide and decisions they take in housing, transport and social services.
As property owners and employers, local authorities can manage the energy consumption of their buildings, introduce green travel plans for major council sites to reduce reliance on cars, implement a green procurement policy and develop local renewable sources of energy by setting up energy service companies.
Through planning or building regulation controls, local authorities can influence the design and location of new buildings. They can reduce the need to travel and encourage energy efficiency in both the domestic and industrial sectors. As policy makers they can adopt a framework which will shape low carbon places and create an attractive environment for innovation and investment by the private sector.
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They can achieve this by developing policies to secure and encourage decentralised renewable sources of energy. At the regional level planning bodies can predict and manage performance on carbon emissions, using the information to shape new policies at the local level. Local authorities also have a key role to play as waste authorities by supporting projects for energy from waste, using non-incineration technologies.
Finally, as developers or regeneration partners, local authorities can use contractual provisions to ensure that new developments carried out on publicly owned land meets zero-carbon targets, a move that is all the more timely given the Housing Green Paper.
Our advice to local authorities in this area has included:
- spatial policies and strategic frameworks
- planning conditions and Section 106 Agreements
- development agreements, joint ventures and delivery plans as part of regeneration schemes on publicly owned land
- waste projects
- transport schemes
- setting up ESCOs
- funding for renewables development.
Clive Read, Partner
Head, Public Law Property
T: 44(0)870 763 1439
E: clive.read@martineau-uk.com |
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