Conclusions and recommendations
1. It
is vital that local, regional and devolved government have a clear
understanding of their role in tackling climate change. We commend
the work the Government has done in collaboration with the devolved
administrations. We recognise that the Local Government Association's
Commission on Climate Change has helped to raise the profile of
climate change and has made some important recommendations. However,
central Government has a duty to co-ordinate how the different
spheres of government in the UK interact and to integrate, within
the context of devolution and localism, action on the issue of
climate change. (Paragraph 5)
2. Procurement, housing,
transport and adaptation are obviously areas where local authorities
could expect to make significant progress but how these are balanced
will depend on local circumstances. The Government made clear
its national priorities in the Comprehensive Spending Review and
has put real effort into cascading these to local government through
Government Offices and the guidance it has produced. The selection
of priorities by local authorities will be determined by their
scope for action and any particular competency they have. But
it is important that efforts to spread best practice and to provide
advice and guidance draw their examples from the agreed priorities.
(Paragraph 6)
3. Local, regional
and devolved government will never be successful in overcoming
barriers to progress on climate change if they lack the motivation
to take action or the barriers they face are too high. External
inspection, audit and challenge will undoubtedly play an important
part in providing motivation, as will changes to the policy and
performance management frameworks. The Government must look carefully
at the incentives and encouragements it can offer to local, regional
and devolved government and the steps it can take to help them
overcome barriers to action. (Paragraph 11)
4. We believe that
local and regional government has in the past faced contradictions
in national policy on climate change. Some problems with cross-government
policy co-ordination remain; there are tensions between regional
airport expansion and the need to limit emissions from aviation;
it is not clear how the targets to build more homes will be compatible
with efforts to lower emissions; increased road building and lack
of a national strategy on road pricing are incompatible with the
need to reduce emissions from road transport; it is unclear how
district renewable energy and district heating are to be taken
into account. (Paragraph 17)
5. The Climate Change
Bill will help but the Government must minimise the inconsistencies
between policies and ensure departments across Whitehall have
a joined up approach to climate change. Government must also provide
clear advice and help local, regional and devolved government
understand how tensions in policy are to be reconciled, particularly
how economic growth and sustainable development are to be prioritised.
Economic and environmental policies must be integrated if we are
to successfully move to a low-carbon economy. (Paragraph 18)
6. Climate change
is an area where one might expect to see priorities for local
government being set nationally. Targets can be justified for
local government on issues of national or international importance
that may not be driving local priorities. All local authorities
should be obliged to include the climate change indicators in
their Local Area Agreements, either as negotiated targets or as
voluntary targets. (Paragraph 21)
7. Whether or not
a local authority has included the climate change indicators in
its LAA, thinking about actions to reduce emissions and to adapt
to the likely changes in climate should be part of the warp and
weft of decision making in local authorities. The Government must
make sure that local authorities are acting to reduce emissions
and adapt to climate change across their full range of activities,
and that the introduction of the indicators does not compartmentalise
thinking about these issues. It is not just actions taken specifically
in relation to the climate change indicators that have a role
to play in reducing emissions or adapting to climate change. What
is important is making sure that local authorities are considering
the need to reduce emissions and to adapt to climate change in
all of their investment and development plans. (Paragraph 26)
8. The assurance that
the new performance framework is delivering will come from the
independent Comprehensive Area Assessments carried out by the
Audit Commission and other local inspectorates. We commend the
work done by the Audit Commission and its partners to develop
the framework for inspection. The Government must ensure that
this work is adequately resourced and that the Audit Commission
and the other inspectorates are able to recruit and develop the
skills and expertise they will need. (Paragraph 28)
9. We would expect
that where the climate change indicators on reducing CO2
are included in a Local Area Agreement they will be accompanied
by improvement targets that would be in line with, or run ahead
of, national targets. It is important that targets are based on
good data. Baselines will need to be set carefully. Targets for
the adaptation indicator are much more difficult to construct;
the indicator is about planning to adapt rather than measuring
an outcome. The Government will need to help local authorities
develop appropriate targets on adaptation. (Paragraph 35)
10. We are encouraged
that many of those who have set targets have demonstrated clear
leadership and set targets that are more ambitious than the national
targets. We understand the concerns the Government has about disaggregating
national targets. The Committee on Climate Change will need to
assess whether the sum of all the different spatial and sectoral
approaches puts the UK on track to meet its targets for reducing
emissions. If national targets are not disaggregated they should
at least inform local target setting; regional government has
a particular role to play in ensuring that local targets take
account of both local factors and national targets. (Paragraph
36)
11. The Government
should ensure that local, regional and devolved governments are
aware of the range of targets beyond those on emissions and adaptation
that action on climate change supports, like for example indicators
on biodiversity, energy and energy efficiency. (Paragraph 37)
12. The Nottingham
Declaration has been useful in providing a starting point for
action by local authorities but these public commitments must
be turned into real actions; this must be about more than a framed
copy of a declaration hung in the reception area of a council
building. Assessment and verification is important and the Government
should work with the Nottingham Partners to develop a scheme that
combines self-assessment and external verification of actions.
The Government and the Audit Commission should examine what role
such a scheme could play in assessing the performance of local
authorities as part of Comprehensive Area Assessments and therefore
what priority should be given to developing some kind of externally
verified scheme. (Paragraph 42)
13. We acknowledge
the impact and contribution 'wilful individuals' have made and
they have a role to play still in championing the issue. But mainstreaming
action on climate change must be more than this; it must get beyond
'wilful individuals' if it is to bring about the step change in
the level of activity that is needed. (Paragraph 44)
14. The Government
must ensure policies, like the Carbon Reduction Commitment, make
a difference to the way climate change is handled in local government
so that it becomes an issue that engages the political leaders
and senior officials and not just the band of 'wilful individuals'
in environment teams. (Paragraph 46)
15. The Government
should consider what part carbon impact assessments should play
in local, regional and devolved government. It should assess what
support would be needed to allow carbon impact assessments to
play a central role in local, regional and devolved government
decision and policy making process and then issue guidance to
encourage their use. It must also look at the extent to which
the organisation of budgets and funding streams is a barrier to
a whole-life costing approach. (Paragraph 47)
16. We believe that
the current approach to a statutory power to tackle climate change
is correct. There are already powers for local government that
permit action and the lack of a statutory duty does not seem to
be holding back the more innovative local authorities. The Government
should examine carefully the case for improving the statutory
underpinning for action on climate change; each new bill should
be examined to see what scope there is for requirements on local,
regional and devolved government to be inserted in order to focus
attention and increase activity. The Government should be ready
to intervene early if there are any indications that the steps
it has taken are not delivering the kind of change in the level
of activity on climate change that is needed. (Paragraph 51)
17. There is a difference
between a discretionary power, like the well-being powers introduced
by the Local Government Act 2000, which allows a council to take
some action, and a statutory duty that forces them to take some
action. With discretionary powers advice, guidance and action
to spread best practice become crucial. The poor take up of the
well-being powers shows there are lessons to be leaned from their
introduction and welcome the fact that guidance will be published
shortly following on from an evaluation of them. The Government
should take steps to encourage councils to use the powers available
to them creatively and innovatively to reduce emissions and drive
forward work on adaptation. (Paragraph 55)
18. Building skills
and knowledge in local and regional government is key. There is
a real risk that, if the changes in the performance management
and policy frameworks deliver a step-change in activity, the bodies
providing support could be overwhelmed by demand. The Government
should review the level of support available and ensure that action
is taken to address any gaps in skills, including identifying
how this extra support and action to address gaps in skills is
to be funded. This will be vital in the priority areas identified
by the LGA's Commission on Climate Change. (Paragraph 61)
19. Regional co-ordination
is important and the Government must ensure that the different
players are all clear about their respective roles. We believe
that as well as co-ordinating action on climate change between
the different spheres of government in the UK, it is important
that there is a joined up approach between local, regional and
devolved government and other public service provision. (Paragraph
66)
20. We urge the Government
to review how the Review of Sub-National Economic Development
and Regeneration addresses sustainable development and ensure
that the opportunities it offers for improving local and regional
co-operation on climate change issues are taken. (Paragraph 69)
21. We commend the
good co-operation between central Government and the devolved
administrations on climate change. The Government must maintain
the good will that exists in this area is by ensuring it consults
the devolved administrations as early as possible on cross-border
issues. The Government, in consultation with the devolved administrations,
should review the devolution settlements to see if there are any
areas where action on climate change is being hampered either
by asymmetric devolution or by the way reserved and devolved powers
interact. (Paragraph 71)
22. Adaptation must
be a higher priority. We are concerned that adaptation has been
treated as the poor relation of work on mitigation and not nearly
enough attention has been paid to it. The Government must accelerate
plans to bring forward the national adaptation framework and then
ensure that adaptation is properly reflected in the work of local,
regional and devolved government across the UK. (Paragraph 77)
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