Local Area Carbon Emissions Reduction Report Prepared by The

Maidstone Borough Council

Local area carbon emissions reduction report

August 2009 2

Table of contents 1.0 Executive summary ...... 3 1.1 Overview of council...... 4 1.2 Progress so far...... 6 1.3 Key recommendations ...... 9 2.0 Introduction...... 11 2.1 About this report...... 12 2.2 Background information...... 13 2.2.1 General information ...... 13 2.2.2 Carbon emissions...... 15 2.3 The national context...... 16 2.4 Ongoing support ...... 17 3.0 Results and Recommendations ...... 18 3.1 Summary...... 18 3.2 Strategy...... 19 3.2.1 Overview...... 19 3.2.2 Strategic approach...... 20 3.2.3 Resources – internal...... 22 3.2.4 Political/corporate support ...... 23 3.2.5 Staff training and engagement ...... 24 3.3 Services ...... 25 3.3.1 Overview...... 25 3.3.2 Regeneration ...... 26 3.3.3 Housing...... 28 3.3.3.1 Social housing – other stock ...... 31 3.3.3.2 Private sector housing – rented and owner occupied ...... 35 3.3.4 Energy advice ...... 40 3.3.5 Resources – levering in external funding ...... 41 3.3.6 Signposting residents to external grant schemes...... 42 3.3.7 Planning policy...... 43 3.3.8 Building Regulations enforcement...... 48 3.4 Community leadership ...... 49 3.4.1 Overview...... 49 3.4.2 Community planning...... 50 3.4.3 Engagement with regional stakeholders ...... 51 3.4.4 Engagement/awareness raising with wider community...... 52 3.4.5 Schools and education ...... 57 3.4.6 Transport in the community ...... 59 3.5 Own estate...... 63 3.5.2 Procurement ...... 64 3.5.3 Resources...... 66 3.5.4 Own buildings ...... 67 3.5.5 Transport ...... 70 Next steps...... 73 4.0 Recommendations table...... 74 Appendix 1 - Guidance on prioritising recommendations i Appendix 2 - Summary of savings for energy efficiency measures iii Appendix 3 - The benchmarking matrix vii Appendix 4 - Energy Saving Trust consumer segmentation graph for Maidstone Borough xvii Appendix 5 - Energy Saving Trust consumer segmentation descriptions xviii

1.0 Executive summary

This report for Maidstone Borough Council provides guidance about actions the Council can take to tackle climate change through its role as community leader and provider of local services. It was commissioned by Trevor Glasson, forma Deputy Chief Executive and Councillor Mark Wooding, Cabinet Member for Environment in order to recognise the Council’s successes and to identify opportunities for improvement. With Trevor Glasson no longer working for the Council, Alison Broom, Director of Prosperity and Regeneration will be taking over as a sponsor for the program.

The report has been produced following analysis of detailed staff questionnaires coordinated by an operational group identified by Alison Broom, the members of which are detailed below:

Brian Morgan Assistant Director of Development and Community Service Jim Boot Community Planning Coordinator Stuart White Private Sector Housing Manager John Newington Senior Pollution Officer Vronni Ward Marketing Manager David Tibbit Property and Procurement Manager Jennifer Gosling Waste Collection Manager Steve Clarke Principal Planning Officer Jennifer Hunt EMS Project Manager NB The membership has changed from the original group due to staff leaving the Council

The recommendations contained herein will form the basis for an Action Plan which will be adopted by the Council.

This Action Plan will be used by the Council to feed into its Climate Change Strategy, and will continue to exist in its own right as a repository for progress monitoring by the Operational Group and/or Councillor Mark Wooding.

Progress through the Local authority one-to-one programme, over a two year period, is project managed by Jenny Hunt, Environmental Management System Project Manager.

The Energy Saving Trust aims to lead 60 million people to act on climate change through behaviour change; more energy efficient homes; products which consume less energy; more renewable energy and microgeneration; sustainable low carbon transport; more efficient use of water; and by producing less waste. Services are provided through a national network of local Energy Saving Trust advice centres, Regional teams, and a central office in London.

1.1 Overview of council

Maidstone is a borough council delivering services to 145,400, people across 63,054 households covering a majority urban area of 393.2 square kilometres.

Maidstone demonstrated ‘excellent’ performance in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) in 2004. For the year 2007-2008, the Audit Commission measured the Council as still delivering a strong performance.

The following summary is taken from the ‘Key messages’ section of the Audit Commission’s March 2009 Annual Audit and Inspection letter for the Council.

“The Council continues to deliver strong performance from an already high base. The numbers of performance indicators in the best 25% of performance in 2007/08 significantly exceeded the district average. Improvement in performance between 2006/07 and 2007/08 also continues to be above the average achieved by other district councils.

There has been good progress against the majority of the Council’s priorities. Overall, crime has reduced, recycling has increased and there has been good progress in the provision of new housing. The Council continues to deal effectively with homelessness, and the number of families in temporary accommodation continues to decline. Whilst litter marginally increased in 2007/08, overall street cleanliness remains good, with significant improvements in the levels of graffiti and fly posting.

Contributions towards achieving sustainable communities have been broad. The Council continues to proactively support local economic growth, and there has been good progress with a number of local regeneration strategies. A high proportion of homes have been built on previously developed land and good use is being made of scarce development land through higher density developments. Public transport in Maidstone Town Centre has improved, with slight reductions in traffic levels achieved. The Council is also leading by example and has cut carbon emissions from street lighting and council buildings, and is actively working to improve parks and open spaces as a stimulus to healthy lifestyles.

The Council’s broad engagement with its diverse communities is recognised, and access to services more broadly continues to improve. Notably, the Council is one of only 7% of councils to have reached level 4 of the Local Government Equalities Standard.

A rigorous approach to the preparation and implementation of improvement plans ensures the majority of targets and actions are met. Performance management remains effective. New strategies for economic development and tourism have been developed, to help shape the local economy. Capacity is being used effectively to secure efficiencies and drive improvement, including through opportunities for shared service arrangements with neighbouring councils.

The Council makes excellent use of its resources, achieving the highest level 4 rating in the use of resources assessment in 2008. Only 13 district councils achieved this level of performance. Within the five sub-themes which contribute to the overall use of resources assessment, both financial standing and value for money were rated at level 4 (out of a possible 4). Only 12 district councils achieved this strong performance in each of the sub themes.”

The Borough consists of 26 wards and the last elections were held on the 3 May 2007. The Council has 55 councillors and a Conservative majority, the next elections are scheduled for 2011.

The Council signed the Nottingham Declaration in 2001 and its Strategic Plan sets ‘a place that is clean and green’ as one of its priorities. The priority sets out that the Council will always work to minimise climate change and make the best uses of natural resources. The Council have had a Climate Change Plan and Climate Change Action Plan since 2005 and the aims of the plan are to:

¾ Actively encourage the development of sustainable sources of energy throughout the Council and the Borough. ¾ Promote energy conservation and use of renewable energy. ¾ Promote the purchase of goods and services which least damage the environment locally and globally. ¾ Encourage sustainable forms of transport to reduce congestion and pollution. ¾ Protect, conserve and improve the quality of the (natural) environment.

The Council has other strategies that highlight the need for action on climate change, the environment and sustainability; these are:

¾ The Sustainable Community Strategy for Maidstone Borough 2009-2026. ¾ Housing Strategy 2005-2009. ¾ Asset Management Plan 2008-2011. ¾ Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2005-2015.

The Council also has a carbon reduction target for its own estate which is a 3% per annum reduction, which would equate to a 20% reduction by 2016 and a 30% reduction by 2021. These targets have replaced the Council’s original goal of being carbon neutral by the end of March 2010, the Council feels that carbon trading and offsetting are not currently appropriate.

The Council has National Indicator (NI) 186 (per capita annual area-wide carbon emissions) in its Local Area Agreement (LAA), the Kent Agreement (KA) 2. The carbon reduction target in the KA2 for NI 186 is 11.2% (+/- 2.5%). Maidstone is ranked 248 out of 354 (where one is the most deprived) out of all the Local authorities in Britain. However, there are four Super Output Areas that are in the lowest 20% nationally.

The Energy Saving Trust’s marketing analysis has shown that there is a high proportion of individuals in the area who are likely to be responsive to the ‘taking action on climate change’ message and are also more likely to be able to pay for domestic measures to be installed, due to low levels of deprivation. There are also groups that would be interested in the ‘save energy and money’ message. However, domestic emissions remain a difficult issue to tackle due to this higher level of affluence, 36% of CO2 emissions in the area come from the domestic sector, 38% come from local business and 25% come from road transport. The national average is 28% from the domestic sector, 47% from local businesses and 25% from road transport.

1.2 Progress so far

Maidstone Borough Council’s approach to tackling climate change was assessed by looking at four key areas – its overall strategy for tackling climate change and using energy sustainably; the Council’s services such as housing and planning; its community leadership and its own estate.

Maidstone Borough Council Ove rvie w

8 7 Actual 6 Best practice 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair 2 Weak 1 0

p e ces shi at vi trategy er est S n S leader w ty O uni m om C

This graph shows that the Council is performing most strongly with regard to its overall strategy for tackling climate change and the sustainable use of energy, but has opportunity for improvement in all areas.

Under the heading of strategy, the Council was rated ‘excellent’ in terms of its strategic approach as well as its political/corporate support. In terms resources (internal) the Council rated ‘fair/good’ and for staff motivation and knowledge the Council scored ‘weak/fair’.

Highlights include: the Council signed the Nottingham Declaration in 2001 and the Strategic Plan sets ‘a place that is clean and green’ as one of its priorities. The priority sets out that the Council will always work to minimise climate change and make the best uses of natural resources. The Council have had a Climate Change Plan and Climate Change Action Plan since 2005 and there is a carbon reduction target for the Council’s own estate which is a 3% per annum reduction, which would equate to a 20% reduction by 2016 and a 30% reduction by 2021. These targets have replaced the Council’s original goal of being Carbon Neutral by the end of March 2010, the Council feels that carbon trading and offsetting are not currently appropriate. The Council has National Indicator (NI) 186 (per capita annual area-wide carbon emissions) in its Local Area Agreement (LAA), the Kent Agreement (KA) 2. The carbon reduction target in the KA2 for NI 186 is 11.2% (+/- 2.5%).

The Council also has a Climate Change Officer Working Group, which has been operating since 2002. It is currently being restructured into separate work streams to tackle both carbon reduction and adaptation. It covers all areas within the Council and will be supporting the development of an energy action plan that is being created by the Environmental Management System Manager.

Councillor Mark Wooding is both the Council Energy Champion and Cabinet Member for the Environment. The Council Cabinet currently receives half yearly climate change and carbon reduction reports. There is also active support from the Council’s Chief Executive, David Petford and the Leader of the Council, Christopher Garland.

In relation to its services, the Council scored ‘good/excellent’ for its Building Regulations enforcement and ‘good’ for its energy advice, resources (external funding) and signposting to grant schemes. The Council was rated ‘fair/good’ for its private sector housing and with regards to its regeneration, social housing stock – other stock and planning policy the Council scored ‘fair’.

Highlights include: the Council offering a Solar Water Heating Initiative (as part of the North and West Kent Renewables Grant), a Rural Homes Renewable Heating Initiative and a Hard to Heat Homes Initiative. There has also been good progress with home energy efficiency improvements, the Council have had a 27.1% annual improvement reported in 2007 since 1996. (The average improvement in the South East region was 20.6%1).

The Council completes work with the Energy Saving Trust advice centre and Creative Environmental Networks to deliver energy advice. Examples of activities include talks, presentations, one-to-one advice and road shows. The Council have successfully accessed funding in the past three years from the Regional housing Board, Warm Front and the Department for Energy and Climate Change through Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme.

The Council has a sustainable construction and design policy that is contained within the Residential Extension Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) that was adopted on 1 May 2009. The policy states that “When designing an extension, a sustainable approach should be taken to design and construction through the minimising on site waste, maximising recycling, improving energy efficiency and reducing water consumption”. Although not a SPD, Supplementary Guidance that has been endorsed by the Council includes the Kent Design Guide which contains very comprehensive detail on many aspects of sustainable design and construction including sections on climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy technology, water supply and conservation, whole-life costs, public transport, walking and cycling. For non-domestic properties, the Council would ensure that they meet the relevant Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) standard. The Council’s new Depot building achieved BREEAM Industrial ‘Very Good’.

There is a systematic approach to both enforcement and review of Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of Building Regulations and the Building Control Officers are all trained in the most recent amendments to Part L and all officers are trained in energy efficiency and renewable energy issues. There are differing areas of expertise within the team, including Standard Assessment Procedure, BREEAM and Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM). There is currently one energy assessor completing training for commercial premises and the Council hope to have another two by the end of this year (2008-2009).

Under the heading of community leadership, the Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ for its work with transport in the community. In terms of community planning and engagement with regional stakeholders the Council scored ‘good’. For engagement with the wider community the Council scored ‘fair/good’ and in relation to schools and education the Council was rated ‘fair’.

Highlights include three of the eight priorities within the Council’s Sustainable Community Strategy being sustainable and integrated transport, homes and communities and environmental excellence and climate change.

The Council do work with other local authorities in Kent, they are members of the Kent Energy Efficiency Partnership (KEEP), a group made up from representatives from all the Kent authorities who “co-ordinate a range of initiatives to cut CO2 emissions and support delivery of government environmental targets”. On a regional level the Council works with the Regional Housing Board and Climate South East. Regional priorities are reflected in the Kent Agreement 2, the Council’s Local Area Agreement.

The Council has both a Transport User Group and Disability Focus Group which consider transport issues. There will also be discussion with the Local Strategic Partnership this summer. The Council is a partner within the Maidstone Quality Bus Partnership (QBP), which has been in existence since 1980. The QBP targets the partner’s investment into key corridors to improve the standard and frequency of services.

1 Please note, this figure is calculated from data provided to Defra by individual local authorities and is unverified.

In addition, the Council funds the operation of three Park and Ride services and the contract encourages the use of alternative fuels; at present the buses are to Euro 3 standard and use a 5% bio fuel diesel mix.

Finally, with regard to the Council’s own estate, the Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ in relation to energy efficiency in its own buildings, ‘fair/good’ in terms of procurement and ‘fair’ with respect to resources and transport.

Highlights include: The Council uses energy efficiency standards in the procurement of electrical goods and Maidstone House (the Council main office building) were both required to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating. The Council also use procurement to drive higher energy efficiency standards and lower emissions from transport in service providers through specific requirements within tender documents.

The Council do consider energy efficiency measures during the refurbishment of existing buildings, eg Passive Infrared Sensor lighting has been installed in the public toilets as well as low energy light bulbs, where possible. Energy efficiency is also always considered during refurbishment and plant replacement programmes. Buildings are not classified based on energy consumption, but buildings that have high energy usage are prioritised and energy use data is available. Plans are in place to use the European Union Energy Performance Directive to highlight energy performance to staff. The Council has a target of a 3% annual reduction in CO2 and some training has taken place to highlight this to staff, more training is being planned. The Council also have a biomass boiler in Maidstone House and the Maidstone Gateway.

The Council encourage the use of public transport through offering discounted bus travel in partnership with Arriva. They also encourage cycling and provide showers, lockers and secure storage facilities in their new building. The Council also restrict the number of parking spaces to encourage the use of other modes of transport. The Kent Car Share scheme is promoted to staff and mileage is monitored through the Council’s Payroll system. There is not however, a formal system for challenging use and it is up to individual line managers to authorise claims. The Council do however have two low emission pool cars and two pool bikes for business travel use. Discussions have also taken place with StreetCar car club, which currently operates in Maidstone.

With regards to the Council’s own fleet, the Council own 38 vehicles and lease 140 vehicles. The lease cars are limited to 180 gCO2 /km and the Council hope to reduce this to 160 gCO2 /km on all cars ordered from 2009.

The Council are one of fifteen Local Authorities that are members of the Low Emission Peer Group1. As part of this work, the Council are looking to develop a Low Emission Fleet Procurement Policy. The Group is also developing a Low Emission Toolkit which aims to provide fleet managers with quantitative data on financial benefits, maintenance costs and emissions reductions of the different travelling modes2.

1 lowemissionstrategies.org/index.html 2 lowemissionstrategies.org/newsitems/news_low_emissions_toolkit.html

1.3 Key recommendations

Following the review of Council activity to reduce carbon emissions, through which the above highlights were revealed. The Energy Saving Trust has made a significant number of recommendations, found in the body of this report, which are supported by deeper guidance and appropriate case studies. These should be considered by leaders, service heads, and colleagues across all identified areas of council activity. For convenience, some of the key recommendations in the area of strategy, services, community leadership and own estate are highlighted here.

Key recommendations in relation to the Council’s overall strategy include:

¾ Ensure that a cross-council system is in place for gathering data relating to sustainable energy (including energy use in the Council’s estate, the energy efficiency of public and private sector housing stock, planning applications relating to the use of microgeneration etc). ¾ Ensure that a member of staff within each service area is allocated time to promote the integration of sustainable energy, with performance reviewed through the Council’s appraisal system or equivalent. ¾ Ensure that any savings made from investing in energy efficiency are reinvested in sustainable energy. ¾ Include a climate change impact assessment for all major projects/decisions at committee level. ¾ Conduct a scrutiny review of energy. ¾ Ensure that frontline staff who visit tenants are aware of issues associated with poor energy efficiency and are either able to provide advice there and then, or refer the tenants to the Energy Saving Trust advice centre. ¾ Introduce energy training on energy issues for all new staff as part of their induction. ¾ Introduce detailed training for all staff with regular refresher courses and follow up with email bulletins.

Key recommendations in relation to the Council’s services include:

¾ Consider implementing an area based insulation scheme as an effective way of delivering significant carbon reductions in their area. ¾ Strengthen partnerships with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) with a named officer lead. This would enable the Council to continue to obtain energy ratings and data for HECA/NI 186 returns, and would give the Council a better overall picture of the social housing stock. It may be possible to set up joint energy efficiency schemes to help achieve minimum standards across all social housing or link up on advice and awareness campaigns to tenants. ¾ Encourage RSLs to develop a work plan to raise average SAP by several points, prioritising the poorest performing housing and ensuring that all properties with cavities are insulated and all lofts insulated with at least 270mm of insulation. ¾ Continue to implement programmes for tackling privately owned and rented housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies where possible. ¾ The Council should consider introducing a programme of marketing sustainable energy measures to private sector householders. This could include promotion of national grant programmes such as Warm Front and the Low Carbon Building Programme. The Council should benchmark its progress in terms of referrals to these programmes. ¾ Continue to offer a community energy advice programme involving community talks and face to face advice. ¾ Maintain a proactive programme to secure external funding and access support services. ¾ Within the Local Development Framework (LDF), specify a minimum level of the Code for Sustainable Homes which encourages energy efficiency standards beyond building regulations across all new development as follows; ¾ Code level 4 (44% reduction in CO2) from 2010-2013, ¾ Code level 5 (100% reduction in CO2) from 2013-2016 and ¾ Code level 6 (zero carbon standard) from 2016 onwards. ¾ Include a policy in the LDF to require a target for CO2 emissions reduction through the use of renewable energy in all new developments. ¾ Encourage and require (where feasible) Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and District Heating to provide heat and electricity to new and existing buildings.

To improve the Council’s rating under community leadership, key recommendations include:

¾ Engage with other local authorities classified as ‘nearest neighbours’ using the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) modelling to exchange information and develop solutions. ¾ Council officers should actively work in partnership with local community groups and key officers should join the Energy Saving Trust’s Green Communities programme, and signpost active communities in the area to the tools and resources available. ¾ Lead the community to take action on energy by setting up community energy efficiency initiatives ¾ Develop a communications plan to lead the community to take action on reducing energy usage. ¾ Work with the Carbon Trust to promote its services to businesses, industry and schools. ¾ Seek to reduce CO2 from cars though promoting efficient driving and low carbon car choice. Targets and timescales should be identified. ¾ Work with local businesses to promote travel plans.

In relation to the Council own estate, relevant recommendations include:

¾ Assign energy costs to departments or buildings, based on actual use. Targets for energy reduction should be set and staff trained to use less energy. Publicise the results and use them to raise further awareness further. Meter readings should be used to prioritise work. ¾ Use smart metering and feedback to energy users. ¾ The Council should: ¾ Introduce a travel plan focusing initially on commuting. ¾ Expand the travel plan to look at business use. ¾ Expand the travel plan to include visitors. ¾ Include plans for working with public transport providers to ensure that, where possible, public transport provision is convenient for staff. ¾ Ensure that the travel plan includes a provision to promote cycling and public transport and provide facilities for cyclists. ¾ Include a target for reducing car use. ¾ Encourage car sharing. ¾ Encourage staff to use more efficient vehicles for work and consider prohibiting high polluting vehicles. ¾ Appoint a full time Travel Coordinator.

Further information on all the recommendations mentioned above can be found in the relevant sections of this report.

Ongoing support in implementing these recommendations will be provided to Maidstone Borough Council through Ben Frier and the Energy Saving Trust’s Practical Help service.

2.0 Introduction

The report has been produced following analysis of detailed staff questionnaires coordinated by an operational group identified by Alison Broom, the members of which are detailed below:

The recommendations contained herein will form the basis for an Action Plan which will be adopted by the Council.

Progress through the Local authority one-to-one programme, over a two year period, is project managed by Jenny Hunt, Environmental Management System Project Manager.

It is important to note that assessments and recommendations are based only on the information provided to the Energy Saving Trust by the Council.

A copy of the matrix used to produce this report can be found in Appendix 4.

2.1 About this report

The results of the review are presented in section 3 which is broken down into three main sections (strategy, services, community leadership), each with an assessment of the current situation and a list of recommendations to improve performance towards best practice. The objective of the programme is to make recommendations which seek to improve the Council’s performance by one benchmark level. Hyperlinks to further information on best practice and examples of how other councils have implemented the recommendation are provided throughout the report. Therefore the report can be used in the long term as a reference guide. For ease of reference, the full list of recommendations are listed in section 5. Your Account manager will recommend that these are used to form the basis of a climate change action plan, and prioritised with a timetable for implementation established. Additionally, guidance on prioritising the recommendations is provided in Appendix 1.

This report is intended to give Maidstone Borough Council some direction in terms of the actions it should take. However, this is not an exact science and the priorities will vary due to local circumstances and requirements; therefore, this is intended to be a guide only.

2.2 Background information

2.2.1 General information Maidstone is a borough council delivering services to 145,400, people across 63,054 households covering a majority urban area of 393.2 square kilometres.

Maidstone demonstrated ‘excellent’ performance in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) in 2004. For the year 2007-2008, the audit commission measured the Council as still delivering a strong performance.

The Borough consists of 26 wards and the last elections were held on the 3 May 2007. The Council has 55 councillors and a Conservative majority and the next elections are scheduled for 2011.

The Council signed the Nottingham Declaration in 2001 and the Strategic Plan sets ‘a place that is clean and green’ as one of its priorities. The priority sets out that the Council will always work to minimise climate change and make the best uses of natural resources. The Council has had a Climate Change Plan and Climate Change Action Plan since 2005 and the aims of the plan are to:

¾ Reduce the Council’s environmental impact. ¾ Pursue energy efficiency in the design, maintenance and management of Council owned buildings. ¾ Raise awareness and promote good practice amongst all staff and users of the Council’s services. ¾ Promote the benefits of efficiency in energy and water consumption. ¾ Actively encourage the development of sustainable sources of energy throughout the Council and the Borough. ¾ Promote energy conservation and use of renewable energy. ¾ Promote the purchase of goods and services which least damage the environment locally and globally. ¾ Encourage sustainable forms of transport to reduce congestion and pollution. ¾ Protect, conserve and improve the quality of the (natural) environment.

The Council has other strategies that highlight the need for action on climate change, the environment and sustainability; these are:

¾ The Sustainable Community Strategy for Maidstone Borough 2009-2026. ¾ Housing Strategy 2005-2009. ¾ Asset Management Plan 2008-2011. ¾ Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2005-2015.

The Council also has a carbon reduction target for its own estate which is a 3% per annum reduction, which would equate to a 20% reduction by 2016 and a 30% reduction by 2021. These targets have replaced the Council’s original goal of being Carbon Neutral by the end of March 2010, the Council feels that carbon trading and offsetting are not currently appropriate.

The Council has National Indicator (NI) 186 (per capita annual area-wide carbon emissions) in the Local Area Agreement (LAA), the Kent Agreement (KA) 2. The carbon reduction target in the KA2 for NI 186 is 11.2% (+/- 2.5%). Maidstone is ranked 248 out of 354 (where one is the most deprived) out of all the Local authorities in Britain. However, there are four Super Output Areas that are in the lowest 20% nationally.

The Energy Saving Trust’s marketing analysis has shown that there is a high proportion of individuals in the area who are likely to be responsive to the ‘taking action on climate change’ message and are also more likely to be able to pay for domestic measures to be installed, due to low levels of deprivation. There are also groups that would be interested in the ‘save energy and money’ message. However, domestic emissions remain a difficult issue to tackle due to this higher level of affluence, 36% of CO2 emissions in the area come from the domestic sector, 38% come from local business and 26% come from road transport, please see the graph over the page. The national average is 33% from the domestic sector, 44% from local businesses and 23% from road transport.

Maidstone Borough Council carbon Emissions by end user 2007

Transport 26% Domestic Emissions 36%

Industry and Commercial 38%

2.2.2 Carbon emissions Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures show that in 2007, domestic energy use in Maidstone Borough Council produced 340,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The graph below details the Boroughs per capita domestic emissions in 2007, in tonnes of CO2, compared to neighbouring authorities and the UK average.

Maidstone Borough Council Per capita domestic CO2 emissions

3.00

2.50

2.00 CO2 emissions 1.50 UK average 1.00 domestic domestic Per capitaPer tonnes CO2 0.50

0.00 l l l il nc ounci ounci C Cou C Counci ay ough ough or edw Borough or B M B ne Borough Councile ling o ord Borough Council ells wal al W S shf M A Maidst and idge

idge Tunbr onbr T

The CO2 produced by energy use in Maidstone Borough Council area (domestic, transport and industry and commerce) in 2007 was 937,000 tonnes, enough to fill approximately 5,194 Royal Albert Halls.

It is also estimated that if all the households in Maidstone only filled their kettles as required, turned their thermostat down by 1oC, turned their appliances off standby, replaced all their light bulbs with Energy Saving Recommended ones, bought Energy Saving Recommended appliances and washed their laundry at 30oC it would save 48,706 tonnes of CO2 per year and would achieve financial savings of around £11,971,499.

2.3 The national context

Over the last five years, the issue of climate change and what the UK needs to do in order to reduce its emissions has significantly risen in priority in the public and political arenas. The recent report by Sir Nicholas Stern outlined the very high costs to society and the economy of not tackling climate change as an immediate priority.

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits us to legally binding targets of green house gas emission reductions through action in the UK and abroad of at least 80% by 2050, and reductions in CO2 emissions of at least 26% by 2020, against a 1990 baseline.

The UK Climate Change Programme 2006, which sets out the Government’s policies and priorities for action in the UK and internationally, identifies local authorities as critical to the achievement of the Government’s climate change objectives. Local government has long carried out activities and projects to invest in its own estate and encourage action by its citizens. However, this will need to gear up very significantly if local government is to take a lead in reducing our contribution to climate change, as all the recent policies and papers propose.

This role was further emphasised in the 2006 Local Government White Paper, which proposed significantly strengthening local government’s leadership role, including leadership in tackling climate change. This was then reflected in the new performance assessment framework (Comprehensive Area Assessments [CAA]) and Local Area Agreements (LAA) announced in 2008. For the first time the indicator set contains national indicators on action on climate change which makes mitigation of climate change a key responsibility for local authorities.

¾ NI185 CO2 reductions from local authority operations. ¾ NI186 CO2 emissions reductions per head in the local authority area. ¾ NI187 Tackling fuel poverty. ¾ NI188 Adapting to climate change.

These performance indicators mean that local authorities now have a specific requirement to address these areas. Thus 2% of the 198 indicators are around the area of energy, fuel poverty and climate change. This is the first time that local authorities have had this broad range of indicators and it is currently common for resources supporting energy and climate change issues to not adequately reflect the scale of the issues, or the number of Government indicators for this area.

More recently in February 2009, the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy Consultation set out the Government’s long term vision for reducing emissions of CO2 from buildings. The overall vision is for CO2 emissions from buildings to approach zero by 2050. In the domestic sector, the strategy aims to achieve a 30% reduction in domestic emissions by 2020 and a greater than 80% reduction in domestic emissions by 2050 (from 2006 levels).

Further information on legislative drivers can be found in the Energy Saving Trust briefing note Legislative drivers in England: overview for local authorities on sustainable energy.

2.4 Ongoing support

Ongoing support and assistance will be provided to Maidstone Borough Council through your Account manager in the short term. In the long term, the Energy Saving Trust’s free Practical help advisory service will provide ongoing support on all areas covered in this report. As well as having a wealth of good practice guidance documents and case studies, Practical help also offers an enquiries answering service, with any enquiry relating to sustainable energy answered within a maximum of three working days. Council staff can also contact the team (on 0844 84 888 30 or email [email protected]) with any questions regarding this report, or with any subsequent enquiries about sustainable domestic energy or sustainable road transport. Finally your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre (0800 512 012) shares the mutual aim of reaching out to your local community so is ideally placed to work in partnership with you.

Please note that the Energy Saving Trust mainly focuses on sustainable energy in housing and transport. The Carbon Trust is the lead body on energy use in local government own estate, and these resources have been signposted to where appropriate. Contact the Carbon Trust on 0800 085 2005, or see the website at: carbontrust.co.uk.

3.0 Results and Recommendations

3.1 Summary

Maidstone Borough Council Overview

8 7 Actual 6 Best practice 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair 2 Weak 1 0

p e ces shi at vi trategy er est S n S leader w ty O uni m om C

3.2 Strategy

3.2.1 Overview

Maidstone Borough Council Strategy summary

8 7 Actual 6 Best practice 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair Performance Performance 2 Weak 1 0 t t n rnal por e inte sup s e at rce por

Strategic approachResou l/cor ca ing and engagem iti n Pol Staff trai

The graph above provides an overview of Maidstone Borough Council’s overall strategy for tackling climate change and the sustainable use of energy. The Council was rated ‘excellent’ in terms of its strategic approach as well as its political/corporate support. In terms resources (internal) the Council rated ‘fair/good’ and for staff motivation and knowledge the Council scored ‘weak/fair’.

3.2.2 Strategic approach

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘excellent’ in terms of its strategic approach because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council signed the Nottingham Declaration in 2001 and the Strategic Plan sets ‘a place that is clean and green’ as one of its priorities. The priority sets out that the Council will always work to minimise climate change and make the best uses of natural resources. The Council have had a Climate Change Plan and Climate Change Action Plan since 2005 and the aims of the plan are:

¾ To reduce the Council’s environmental impact. ¾ To pursue energy efficiency in the design, maintenance and management of Council owned buildings. ¾ To raise awareness and promote good practice amongst all staff and users of the Council’s services. ¾ To promote the benefits of efficiency in energy and water consumption. ¾ To actively encourage the development of sustainable sources of energy throughout the Council and the Borough. ¾ To promote energy conservation and use of renewable energy. ¾ To promote the purchase of goods and services which least damage the environment locally and globally. ¾ To encourage sustainable forms of transport to reduce congestion and pollution. ¾ To protect, conserve and improve the quality of the (natural) environment.

The Council has other strategies that highlight the need for action on climate change, the environment and sustainability; these are:

¾ The Sustainable Community Strategy for Maidstone Borough 2009-2026. ¾ Housing Strategy 2005-2009. ¾ Asset Management Plan 2008-2011. ¾ Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2005-2015.

The Council also has a carbon reduction target for its own estate which is a 3% per annum reduction, which would equate to a 20% reduction by 2016 and a 30% reduction by 2021. These targets have replaced the Council’s original goal of being Carbon Neutral by the end of March 2010, the Council feels that carbon trading and offsetting are not currently appropriate.

The Council has National Indicator (NI) 186 (per capita annual area-wide carbon emissions) in their Local Area Agreement (LAA), the Kent Agreement (KA) 2. The carbon reduction target in the KA2 for NI 186 is 11.2% (+/- 2.5%).

Recommendations Although Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘excellent’ with regard to its strategic approach to sustainable energy, a particularly good score, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘best practice’.

The Energy Saving Trust has developed an online resource to help local authorities to address National Indicator 186 - Per capita CO2 emissions in the local authority area. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions in your local authority area - the guide’s main focus is on England and meeting NI 186 targets. However there are many useful examples of good practice for local authorities across the whole of the UK.

It aims to provide a gateway for local authorities to develop a strategic framework and focus on actions local authorities can take to reduce per capita CO2 emissions, drawing together information from various support bodies. It provides an entry point and introduction to Energy Saving Trust publications, services and resources which can support performance against climate change targets.

Data and information Ensure that a cross-council system is in place for gathering data relating to sustainable energy (including energy use in the Council’s estate, the energy efficiency of public and private sector housing stock, planning applications relating to the use of renewables etc). Further guidance; In order to monitor performance against carbon reduction targets within own estate, service delivery and the wider community, it is important to establish a system to capture all activity across the Council. Information to include as follows; renewable energy planning applications (non-domestic microgeneration and larger scale), combined heat and power/district heating installations, monitoring of travel plans (own organisation and local businesses/organisation), vehicle fleet, energy efficiency in local housing, local business initiatives, details of partnership working on schemes with local agencies such as Energy Saving Trust and carbon reduction measures in own estate. Energy Saving Trust’s TrACE tool meets this need and is free. This database will be a useful tool to evidence actions when making NI186 or similar returns.

Local authorities are not officially required to report against NI86 targets as carbon emissions will be monitored centrally by Department of Energy and Climate Change. However local authorities should record the plethora of actions they are undertaking to influence area wide emissions reductions. This will help develop an evidence base to track activity to report to the Audit Commission for CAA. It is essential that a common methodology is established to enable similar authorities to be compared.

3.2.3 Resources – internal

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of its internal resources because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The internal staff resources that have been committed to sustainable energy are:

¾ 0.75 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Environmental Management System Manager. ¾ 0.2 FTE Community Planning Coordinator. ¾ 0.1 FTE Private Sector Housing Manager.

The Council does not however, ring fence savings from energy efficiency measures into further energy saving measures.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ with regard to its internal resources, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good/excellent’.

Human resources Maidstone Borough Council should ensure that a member of staff within each service area is allocated time to promote the integration of sustainable energy, with performance reviewed through the Council’s appraisal system or equivalent.

Reinvest savings from energy efficiency investments into further energy action Maidstone Borough Council should ensure that any savings made from investing in energy efficiency are reinvested in sustainable energy. Further guidance; Two of the authorities that have produced carbon management action plans under the Carbon Trust’s local authority carbon management programme have looked at including schemes that involve reinvesting the savings from energy efficiency investments. These are: ¾ Bristol City Council developed a plan that encompasses a 15% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2010. ¾ Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council signed up to a 6% carbon emissions reduction target within its Community Plan. Its action plan includes details of the Council’s ‘payback’ schemes which involve reinvesting savings.

3.2.4 Political/corporate support

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘excellent’ in terms of political or corporate support, a rare achievement for councils on the One-to-one support programme, because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

Councillor Mark Wooding is both the Council Energy Champion and Cabinet Member for the Environment. The Council Cabinet currently receives half yearly climate change and carbon reduction reports.

There is a corporate commitment to action across the Council estate and wider community and that is shown within the Council’s strategies. The Deputy Chief Executive was the Chair of the Climate Change Officers Working Group and the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council attended the Energy Saving Trust one-to-one programme ‘Get on Board’ meetings and are fully supportive of the programme.

The Chief Executive and Management Team receive the six monthly reports of the carbon footprint of the Council. In the recent re-structure, the Chief Executive created the Environmental Management System Manager role in order to take the Council’s climate change agenda forward.

The Council has not conducted a scrutiny review of energy, although they have conducted a review of climate change, which led to the Council’s Climate Change Strategy.

Recommendations Although Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘excellent’ with regard to its political or corporate support, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘best practice’.

Decision making Maidstone Borough Council should include a climate change impact assessment for all major projects/decisions at committee level Further guidance; This could be implemented in a simple way by including a scoring system in the cover paper for committee papers. The author would be asked to provide a judgement on the potential climate change impact by using a simple traffic light system (red, amber, green) This could be a mechanism to raise climate change issues to councillors when climate change is not on the agenda.

Conduct a scrutiny review of energy Maidstone Borough Council should conduct a scrutiny review of energy Further guidance; The publication, Climate change – Information for scrutiny members and policy reviewers looks at some of the questions that may be asked by a scrutiny panel with regard to climate change.

3.2.5 Staff training and engagement

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of staff training and engagement because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council does not currently have a formal training programme for all staff, either during or after the initial staff induction training. There are however plans to include training on sustainable energy in the Council’s training calendar for this year, 2009-2010, and the plans include training for all members of staff.

The Council currently provide briefing sessions for all line managers. To encourage staff to limit their own energy consumption, the Council have publicised their pool car and pool bike facilities and a have initiated a campaign to promote cycling to work. The Council has also written articles on energy saving and environmental tips for the internal staff newsletter, Wakey Wakey.

The Council has not assigned energy costs to each department and neither are there energy champions within the Council’s departments.

Recommendations Well informed staff can play a key role in promoting sustainable energy throughout the borough. It is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘fair/good’.

Train staff ¾ Ensure that frontline staff who visit tenants are aware of issues associated with poor energy efficiency and are either able to provide advice there and then, or refer the tenants to the Energy Saving Trust advice centre. ¾ Introduce energy training on energy issues for all new staff as part of induction. ¾ Introduce detailed training for all staff with regular refresher courses and follow up with email bulletins. Further guidance; Further information can be found in the ‘Energy efficiency training for staff’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide. A full course in providing energy efficiency advice is awarded jointly by City and Guilds and NEA.

Regarding raising awareness of energy efficiency within the Council’s own operations, the Carbon Trust has some useful top tips and can also provide starter packs and posters to raise awareness. The Carbon Trust has more information on its website. It also provides some case studies demonstrating what other organisations have done to save energy.

Staff awareness campaign with departmental targets for reduction Maidstone Borough Council should embark upon a staff awareness campaign. The Council can assign energy costs to each department and set targets for reduction. This could be linked to a personal climate change pledging system at work and home. Further guidance; The MY Energy feasibility study looked at engaging with Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire County Council staff to promote sustainable energy use both at home and at work. The project included conducting focus group sessions with staff representatives, developing a detailed online staff energy questionnaire, undertaking follow-up telephone surveys and holding several energy advice stands in the workplace.

Your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre can provide information and tools on personal carbon cutting. More information can be found here; energysavingtrust.org.uk/calculator/start

3.3 Services

3.3.1 Overview The graph below shows that the Council scored ‘good/excellent’ for its Building Regulations enforcement and ‘good’ for its energy advice, resources (external funding) and signposting to grant schemes. The Council was rated ‘fair/good’ for its private sector housing and with regards to its regeneration, social housing stock – other stock and planning policy the Council scored ‘fair’.

Maidstone Borough Council Services

6 Actual Best practice 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair 2 Weak 1

ion ng ce ng es di stock advi un f housi rgy schem ing policy or e n egenerat other nal nt R g En a sect gr Plan e exter - to ivat ng Pr ces i ur Social housin eso Building regs enforcement R ignpost S

3.3.2 Regeneration

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ in terms of regeneration (economic development) because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The newly adopted Sustainable Communities Strategy commits the Council to developing a Regeneration Strategy and the Council is currently completing work on this.

The Maidstone Going for Green Group has encouraged businesses to participate in European Mobility Week in 2008. It is hoped to build on this in 2009 by formally developing the group as a sub-group of the Local Strategic Partnership.

The Council is a member of the Kent Sustainable Business Partnership, which is a county level group that seeks to develop sustainable energy business in the area.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ with regard to regeneration, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good’.

Integrate sustainable energy in renewal/regeneration schemes ¾ The Council should ensure regeneration team recognises value of energy efficiency improvements as part of regeneration. ¾ The Council should ensure renewal/regeneration schemes actively seek projects delivering energy efficiency advice and improvements, with specific targets. ¾ Ensure a core focus of economic development activity is to secure high sustainable energy standards in projects and businesses targets. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust has developed a case study on the Ebbw Vale development in Wales. This looks at the sustainable energy strategy for the redevelopment of the former steelworks and describes how the Welsh Assembly Government and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council intend to meet the ambitious carbon reduction targets set in the strategy.

Beacon Housing Estate in Falmouth, once a severely disadvantaged area of Cornwall, has been transformed through a programme of housing improvements. A Green Communities (which now incorporates Community Action for Energy) case study provides an overview of the energy-related elements of a major community-wide regeneration project.

After the village of Boscastle was devastated by floods in 2004, its residents decided to address environmental issues when it was rebuilt. It now has one of the highest concentrations of green businesses in the UK, including five businesses that have gained a gold award under the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

The London Borough of Southwark is redeveloping the Elephant and Castle area in a comprehensive project that will upgrade over 30 hectares of land. The work will include major improvements to infrastructure and a new mixed-use urban centre, with 5,300 new homes. The project as ambitious carbon reduction water minimisation targets and aims to achieve these by establishing a Multi-Utility Services Company. You can read more about the development here and about the Multi-Utility Services Company here.

Encourage businesses to be energy efficient Maidstone Borough Council should continue to acknowledge energy efficiency as a factor in business performance and look at opportunities to improve business efficiency. Further guidance; Relevant regeneration or business support staff should promote the advice programmes available to businesses in their area. There are several nationwide programmes such as those of the Carbon Trust and Envirowise and Business Link. There may also be local programmes on offer, funded by European government, regional government, charities and your own business support activities. Relevant staff should

have a good overview of these services and promote them to businesses as appropriate.

Setting up green business awards can be an effective way of encouraging sustainable businesses. A number of local authorities have successfully done this, including: ¾ Chichester District Council. ¾ City of London.

Any award schemes, and broader leadership work in the business area by the Council, can be run through the local strategic partnership and with involvement or endorsement by the Chamber of Commerce.

The European Energy Trophy is an EU-wide competition for companies and public administrations to recognise energy saving in office buildings. The aim is to award the Energy Trophy to participants who saved the most energy in a single office building using only cost-free measures.

The Association of Town Centre Management runs the Business Climate Champions project which aims to inform and inspire companies, providing them with all the information and support they need to save energy and tackle climate change. Ensuring that Maidstone Borough Council’s town centre managers are informed of this project could help engage businesses in this area.

The energy agency of Frankfurt organised an energy benchmark for commercial buildings. Users, owners and investors of buildings are invited to analyse and compare the energy use of their buildings in small groups of ten participants. The results are published anonymously with the aim to increase energy efficiency through competition.

In Sweden, the Energy Gain programme is working to increase awareness of energy issues in small and medium-sized enterprises, by combining education with a voluntary agreement to take action. The Municipality of Lidköping is offering tailored seminars for a number of different industries, as well as helping the companies to audit their energy use.

Upper Austria has provided comprehensive information, advice and financial support to develop a third party financing market for energy improvements. The annual energy savings are used to cover the investment costs. Energiesparverband managed to establish a well functioning third party finance market in Upper Austria with more than 100 successful projects already carried out.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment, scheduled to begin operation in 2010, is a mandatory emissions trading scheme that will cover around 5,000 public and private organisations, including supermarkets, banks and local authorities. It is hoped that the scheme will save at least four million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020 - the equivalent of taking more than a million cars off the road.

3.3.3 Housing

Area based insulation

The latest DEFRA local area carbon dioxide figures show that the emissions for most authorities did not change significantly between 2005 and 2006. However, many authorities have set a target of between 7% and 14% for CO2 emission reduction by 2011 under their plans for NI186. In order for authorities to hit these challenging targets, it will be necessary to implement a major programme of work, in particular on domestic carbon emissions. The most cost effective and achievable way to rapidly cut per capita emissions is to implement a full scale area based insulation programme.

If an average authority area were to run a three year area based insulation programme to insulate 46,000 lofts and cavities in their area, then this could create 90 jobs, save £3.75 million per annum for residents and cut carbon dioxide emissions in their local authority area by 16,200 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Housing overview

According to the 2008 Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix, there are currently 63,054 households in the Maidstone authority area. Tenure breakdown is estimated to be 71.1% owner occupied, 11.8% rented from housing association and 17.1%. The breakdown of house type is detached 26%, semi-detached 39%, terraced 23% and flat/maisonette 11%. There is a predominance of houses (41.4%) that were built between 1945 and 1980.

Compared to national averages the Council has 3.1% more owner occupied, 6.1% more privately rented and 2.8% more properties that are rented from housing associations. The Council is no longer a stock holding authority and therefore, compared to national averages has 11% less properties in the Borough that are rented from local authorities.

Maidstone Borough Council housing tenure

100.0

80.0

60.0 Maidstone Borough Council % UK % 40.0 Percentage

20.0

0.0 Ow ner Privately Rented from Rented from Othe r occupied rented housing local association authority

With regards to household type, the Council has more detached and semi-detached properties than the national average. There are less terraced and flat/maisonettes in the borough compared to the national average.

Maidstone Borough Council household type

40 Maidstone Borough 30 Council 20 England Percentage 10

e tte hed rac tac Ter isone Detached -de a m emi S lat / F

According to the English House Condition Survey1, the average Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) figures (using SAP 2005 methodology) for English housing in 2005 were: ¾ 50 (overall). ¾ 58 (social sector). ¾ 48 (private sector; rented and owned scored similar amounts).

According to the 2009 Private Sector House Condition Survey, the SAP rating for the private sector properties is 56 and this has increased by four percentage points since the 2004 survey. Approximately 7.4% of the properties have a SAP rating of 35 or less.

The average SAP rating of all the housing stock in the area is 54 and the average SAP rating for the social housing stock is 51.

The Energy Saving Trust’s Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) contains relevant information on properties gathered through various means including energy suppliers, government scheme managing agents, local authorities and other landlords. HEED currently contains information on 24,726 (36%) of the properties in the Maidstone Borough Council area. The summary of data is shown on the following page. Please speak to your Account Manager regarding a more detailed analysis of the HEED database for the Maidstone area.

1 communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingsurveys/englishhousecondition/ehcsreports/.

3.3.3.1 Social housing – other stock

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ in terms of its other social housing stock because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council completes work in partnership with the Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in the borough. There is however currently a knowledge gap between the Council and the work and strategies of the RSLs in Maidstone Borough.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ with regard to other social housing stock, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good’.

Working in partnership with registered social landlords (RSLs) It would be advisable for Maidstone Borough Council to strengthen its partnership with RSL with a named officer lead. This would enable the Council to continue to obtain energy ratings and data for Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA)/NI186 returns, and would give the Council a better overall picture of the social housing stock. It may be possible to set up joint energy efficiency schemes to help achieve minimum standards across all social housing or link up on advice and awareness campaigns to tenants. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust case study Sustainable energy in practice - Cosy Homes describes how the Cosy Homes scheme provided financial support, advice and encouragement to improve the energy efficiency of homes owned by housing associations in Northern Ireland.

Severn Wye Energy Agency worked to raise awareness of the benefits of sustainable energy use among residents and social housing providers through its SHARE programme. SHARE - Social Housing Action to Reduce Energy Consumption – created a social housing forum to exchange information between partners, as well as training sessions and an awareness campaign.

The following case studies may also be relevant: ¾ Healthy Homes, a fuel poverty referral network led by South East Wales Energy Agency. ¾ The Home Health project, a fuel poverty referral network in West Cornwall.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) gives local authorities the opportunity to reduce levels of fuel poverty while potentially also reducing carbon emissions. In addition, this can be carried out at very little cost to the taxpayer, since landlords can be required to pay for the measures to remove hazards from their properties. However recent research by the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes suggests it is not being applied nearly as widely or as effectively as it could be. Further information, including a copy of the report and guidance for environmental health professionals, can be downloaded from the Partnership’s website.

Encourage RSLs to raise the mean SAP rating Encourage RSLs to develop a work plan to raise the average SAP of housing by several points, prioritising the poorest performing housing, and ensuring that all cavities are insulated and all lofts insulated with at least 270mm of insulation. Further guidance; Further information can be found in the ‘Housing stock assessment’ and ‘Housing energy management matrix’ chapters of Energy efficiency the guide.

The Energy Saving Trust’s publication ‘Roadmap to 60%: eco-refurbishment of 1960’s flats’ presents research into the real life costs of implementing the measures.

The case study Nottingham EcoHome provides an example of how much can be done to transform the

energy performance of an ordinary Victorian semi-detached house with reasoning behind design choices and the details of how the work was done.

The London Borough of Lewisham has for the past 10 years been implementing a ‘Housing Energy Programme’, which is aimed at eradicating fuel poverty among its own tenants.

The Best Practice house provides information on refurbishing houses and building new homes to the Energy Saving Trust’s ‘Best Practice’ and ‘Advanced Practice’ standards.

Fit For the Future - The Green Homes Retrofit Manual is a Housing Corporation publication for social landlords that puts together essential information for any retrofit work to households being conducted in the UK.

City-owned housing in New York is set to become more energy efficient with retro-fitted insulation and other measures. The Clinton Climate Initiative is teaming up with the mayor's office and the New York City Housing Authority to work with energy companies, banks and green building organisations to speed up a planned energy efficiency programme.

Encourage RSLs to set minimum Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) target and tackle hard to treat homes The Council should encourage RSLs to introduce minimum targets. To achieve the minimum target, RSLs should introduce a programme of improving hard to treat properties. This may include using renewable energy technologies. Further guidance; Further information can be found in the ‘Hard to treat homes’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide and the Energy Saving Trust’s 'Hard to treat’ toolkit.

The London Borough of Camden carried out a green refurbishment of a council-owned Victorian house, cutting its carbon emissions by 80%. U-values on the property are now 20% lower than current Building Regulations.

The Flagship Home project addressed the issues surrounding the improvement of energy performance of older properties in conservation areas.

The following are examples of how renewable technologies have been used to improve hard to treat homes and/or reduce the incidence of fuel poverty. ¾ Kielder Community Enterprises Ltd manages a wood-fired district heating scheme for new build housing and various community buildings in the village. ¾ Powys County Council runs a rural biomass project demonstrating the potential of biomass as an energy source for community heating in a rural setting. ¾ National Energy Action has been working on a number of projects involving the installation of renewable technologies to reduce fuel poverty. ¾ Three of Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s tower blocks are set to become a showcase of green retrofitting. Planned installations include insulating cladding, integrated wind turbines and solar thermal and solar PV technologies.

Through SunCities, a European Commission project, Kirklees Council has installed 4.9% of the total solar electricity installed in the UK, making it the largest domestic solar project in the UK.

Encourage RSLs to integrate opportunistic energy improvements into existing works. Maidstone Borough Council should encourage RSLs to specify integrated packages of improvement measures where possible and ensure opportunistic energy work is included in repair and maintenance programmes and void repairs. There are a number of publications on whole house refurbishment. These include: ¾ Energy efficient refurbishment of existing housing. ¾ Energy efficient refurbishment of existing housing – case studies. ¾ Refurbishing dwellings – a summary of best practice.

In addition, PassivHaus construction standards typically achieve energy savings of 90% compared to existing housing. The Promotion of European Passive Houses project aims to disseminate the experience gained by the people who are building to the PassivHaus standard.

Encourage RSLs to set targets and monitor progress Maidstone Borough Council should encourage RSLs to set targets for improving their own stock and to monitor progress against this. This should include having a plan in place to achieve the Decent Homes standard. As part of this, the Council should establish a dedicated database of public sector domestic properties with energy ratings. Ensure this is updated continuously (eg using surveys and inspections) and annually with improvements to heating and insulation standards. Further guidance; The ‘Housing energy management matrix’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide is a practical tool to help you assess the current energy efficiency levels of your stock, set targets and monitor progress.

The Homes Energy Efficiency Database has being developed by the Energy Saving Trust to register the uptake of sustainable energy measures and related survey data throughout the UK housing stock. The database registers these installations on a property-by-property basis with data from a wide variety of sources including energy suppliers, government scheme managing agents, local authorities and other landlords, Energy Saving Trust advice centre home energy checks as well as other Energy Saving Trust programmes. The database stores property details such as building type and full address, as well as details of the installed energy efficiency measures, but not personal details of occupants. It will also store property survey data so that a picture of the remaining potential for measures can be built up.

RSLs and energy performance certificates (EPCs) Maidstone Borough Council should ensure RSLs understand the requirement to implement the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by ensuring EPCs are issued each time a dwelling changes tenancy. Further guidance; EPCs are a requirement in social housing stock. Energy Saving Trust has produced a briefing note on the Implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in England and Wales.

CLG has produced a landlord’s guide to Energy Performance Certificates. A guide to generating Energy Performance Certificates for similar dwellings owned by the same landlord is also available.

Work with RSLs to secure funding for sustainable energy improvements Maidstone Borough Council should work with RSLs to introduce a proactive programme to secure external funding to improve sustainability in social housing in the area. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust maintains a funding database which contains information on a number of grant opportunities for both energy efficiency and renewables projects. Further information on funding can be found in section 2.3.5 below.

Encourage RSLs to train staff to provide advice for tenants Maidstone Borough Council should encourage RSLs to ensure that adequate energy efficiency advice and signposting to Energy Saving Trust advice centre is provided for their tenants. Further guidance; It is vital for tenants to have access to good quality, tailored energy efficiency advice if they are to use their homes in the most energy efficient way possible.

Energy saving advice for people living in your area is available from your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre. The following number should be used in all promotions and advice – 0800 512 012

The Energy Saving Trust and Housing Corporation’s tenant empowerment toolkit aims to help develop the capacity and skills of social housing residents to tackle energy efficiency issues concerning their homes and mobilise fellow residents to do the same. The toolkit includes material such as slide presentations, trainer’s notes, hand-outs, fun exercises and information sheets. To obtain a copy of the toolkit, please contact the

Energy Saving Trust’s Practical help advisory service.

Information on training and advice can also be found in the ‘Energy training for staff’ and ‘Energy advice for tenants’ chapters of Energy efficiency the guide.

Encourage RSLs to tackle fuel poverty amongst own tenants The Council should encourage RSLs to ensure that fuel poverty is considered when allocating properties to tenants. Further guidance; Information on tackling fuel poverty can be found in the Energy Saving Trust publication Affordable warmth - an introduction and the ‘Delivering affordable warmth’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide.

Tackling fuel poverty – A Beacon Council toolkit for local authorities is a resource which allows local authorities to examine the different approaches the Beacon councils (Blyth Valley Borough Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, London Borough of Camden, Luton Borough Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council) have taken to tackling fuel poverty in their communities, taking account of local circumstances and priorities, demographics, social characteristics and housing conditions.

National Energy Action is the national fuel poverty charity and provides various resources that are useful to local authorities: ¾ Information from National Energy Action

In addition, there is a case study on Lewisham’s Housing Energy Programme plan to eradicate fuel poverty amongst its own tenants.

Encourage RSLs to establish an affinity deal with an energy supplier Maidstone Borough Council should encourage RSLs to consider establishing an affinity deal with an energy supplier to cover void properties and ensuring that any revenue (via commission payments) obtained through this is ring fenced for other energy efficiency improvements. Further guidance; Several councils have established such affinity deals; information is available in the Energy Saving Trust’s Affinity deal toolkit.

3.3.3.2 Private sector housing – rented and owner occupied

Current situation The Council is clearly placed to play a real leadership role in facilitating the reduction of carbon emissions from the private domestic sector. Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of its private sector housing because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council currently allocate less than 0.1 Full Time Equivalent of the Private Sector Housing Managers role to activities to improve private sector domestic energy efficiency.

The Council does not have an up to date Housing Strategy, however the strategy that is dated from 2005-2009 has a priority of ‘Improving existing homes’ and the Council believe this involves:

¾ Dealing with unfit houses in the Private Sector. ¾ Improving the energy efficiency of homes and eliminating fuel poverty. ¾ Improving standards in Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs). ¾ Encouraging owners to bring Empty Properties back into use. ¾ Meeting the Decent Homes Standard in both social and private sectors.

The current activities in which the Council is involved in to improve to improving domestic energy efficiency in the private owned sector are:

¾ Promotion of Warm Front. ¾ Provision and promotion of grants. ¾ Work with the Energy Saving Trust advice centre.

The grants that are available are:

¾ A grant for heating and insulation is available to anyone on means tested benefits and for people who are over 60 (where State retirement pension is the main source of income and savings are less than £16,000). The maximum grant amount is £7,000. ¾ A Home Repair Grant is available to anyone on means tested benefits and for people who are over 60 (where State retirement pension is the main source of income and savings are less than £16,000). The maximum grant amount is £15,000 although in exceptional circumstances it could be increased to £20,000. ¾ A Landlords Grant (including Empty Homes Grant) of which 75% of the costs of the eligible works can be claimed for. The maximum grant amount is £10,000 per property or £7,000 per unit of accommodation for flats or a house in Multiple Occupation. ¾ A Landlords Innovation Grant for innovative schemes that have obvious merit and benefit to the Council. The maximum grant amount is £75,000. ¾ A Disabled Facilities Grant of up to £25,000. There is also a top up to this grant of £15,000 or another grant to help the person acquire alternative accommodation of £25,000. ¾ A First Time Buyers Grant, where the person must be a first time buyer and buy a property in Council Tax bands, A, B or C. The maximum grant amount is £10,000. ¾ A Mobile Homes Grant is available to anyone on means tested benefits and for people who are over 60 (where State retirement pension is the main source of income and savings are less than £16,000). The maximum grant amount is £5,000.

The Council is also offering a Solar Water Heating Initiative (as part of the North and West Kent Renewables Grant), a Rural Homes Renewable Heating Initiative and a Hard to Heat Homes Initiative.

Maidstone Borough Council has made good progress with home energy efficiency improvements, with a 27.1% annual improvement reported in 2007 since 1996. (The average improvement in the South East region was 20.6%1). However it should be noted that not all local authorities use a common methodology for Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) monitoring so progress on HECA is not always directly comparable.

1 Please note, this figure is calculated from data provided to Defra by individual local authorities and is unverified.

Recommendations More than a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions come from energy use in the domestic sector, so this is a vital area to focus on. The Council should assimilate the following recommendations into its specific programme for tackling privately owned housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies where possible. It is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good/excellent’.

Implement an area based insulation scheme Maidstone Borough Council should consider implementing an area based insulation scheme as an effective way of delivering significant carbon reductions in their area. Further guidance; Area based insulation schemes have been pioneered by Kirklees Council under their ‘Warm Zones’ initiative.

It has been shown that a 6% reduction in domestic carbon emission can be achieved in a comparatively short period, by offering to insulate all homes in the local authority area, where possible, with cavity wall, loft insulation and hot water tank jackets, for ‘free’. The cost for this work can be potentially shared between the energy supply industry under the Government’s Carbon Emissions Reduction target (CERT) regulations and the local authority from their capital programme. Kirklees have accessed CERT funding and in addition have chosen to use ‘Prudential’ borrowing to bolster their capital programme for this work, paid back by residents at a rate of £7 per year/per property. Average annual savings are in the region of £200 per insulated home.

Allocate officer time Maidstone Borough Council should ensure sufficient officer time is made available to influence home owners and landlords to invest in measures and instil changes in energy usage behaviours.

Continue to tackle the private owned sector Maidstone Borough Council should continue to implement programmes for tackling privately owned housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies where possible. Further guidance; Kirklees council has tackled all tenures of houses (with privately owned being of highest prevalence) through their area-based scheme Warm Zone. Every home in Kirklees which is suitable for loft and cavity wall insulation will receive this work for free. £20 million funding comes from energy suppliers, renewal funding and the Council. On a house by house, ward by ward basis, Warm Zone will contact every householder, giving every Kirklees resident the opportunity to make their home warmer and more comfortable, contribute to reducing energy consumption and make a positive impact on the environment. More information on Warm Zones can be found here.

You can also find further resources in the following recommendations.

Continue to tackle the private rented sector Maidstone Borough Council should continue to implement programmes for tackling privately rented housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies where possible. Further guidance; Privately rented properties typically have lower Standard Assessment Procedure ratings than other properties, and correspondingly A higher number of fuel poor households. The Energy Saving Trust’s ‘Private rented sector guidance’ includes a short guide to the elements of a successful scheme to improve energy efficiency in the private rented sector, with links to 14 good practice case studies looking at a range of schemes. For example, officers at Newcastle City Council have been working to develop relationships with local landlords to provide support and raise housing standards. It also includes information on the funding that is available for landlords. To download the guidance and the associated case studies, visit the publications search tool and search for ‘private rented sector guidance’.

Set up financial incentive schemes for householders Maidstone Borough Council should consider setting up a bulk discount, council tax rebate or loan scheme to help persuade private sector householders to invest in sustainable energy. Further guidance;

Various local authorities are successfully offering grants and loans to fund energy efficiency measures and the installation of renewable technologies through their housing assistance and capital budgets. These include the Credit Union ‘Green Energy Loan Scheme’ in Coventry, Warwick, Nuneaton and Bedworth District Councils as well as Chichester District Councils interest-free loans for renewable energy systems.

Below are specific examples of local authority’s grant and loan schemes ¾ Kirklees Council offers interest free loans to householders to install energy efficiency measures in properties through its Warm Zone scheme. ¾ Leicester City Councils ‘hot lofts‘ project uses thermal imagery to identify homes for free loft and cavity wall insulation. ¾ The City of York Council established the independent not-for-profit organisation, The Energy Partnership, to negotiate and deliver bulk discounts to householders purchasing home insulation. The project now delivers energy efficiency grants for seven local authorities and discounted schemes for insulation and solar hot water systems. ¾ Blaby District Council offers loans of up to £20,000 for properties built before 1945 with a poor energy rating. Energy efficiency works should contribute towards a targeted SAP rating of 65. ¾ Burnley Borough Council has a range of offerings including £1,000 discounts on solar water heating, £800 grants for insulation measures for certain owner occupiers/private tenants who are not eligible for Warm Front, and up to £10,000 energy efficiency loans. ¾ Fareham Borough Councils Home Heating Scheme pays for full central heating or replacement boilers for fuel poor households which do not qualify for Warm Front. ¾ Gloucestershire Warm and Well combines funding from local authorities in the county with CERT funding to provide energy efficiency (and occasionally renewable energy) measures to the private rented sector. ¾ The London Borough of Lambeth’s Loans for All scheme offers interest-free loans to meet the costs of heating, insulation and solar water heating. Grants for private landlords are also available. ¾ Manchester City Councils Home Energy Loan Plan (HELP) offers loans to households with an annual income of under £35,000 for energy efficiency measures and heating systems. Owner occupiers and private tenants over the age of 60 who are not eligible for Warm Front can also apply for a £300 grant toward energy efficiency and heating measures. ¾ Sefton and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Councils offer interest free loans of up to £1000 towards insulation, heating systems and solar water heating installations through the Home Energy Loans Project (HELP). ¾ South Derbyshire District Council offers residents loans of up to £4,000 towards renewable systems. A prerequisite is that they also apply for LCBP grants. ¾ South Gloucestershire Council offers grants of up to £500 and low interest loans of up to £3500 towards renewable energy technologies. ¾ South Somerset District Council offers loans of up to £15,000 to bring housing up to the ‘Decent Homes’ standard. ¾ Wyre Borough Councils Promoting Home Energy Efficiency and Warmth (PHEEW) Grants are intended to assist older 60+ or above or disabled owner-occupiers of lower council tax band properties (Bands A to D) who are not on means tested benefits to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. ¾ 64 councils in England, Wales and Scotland are working with British Gas to offer council tax rebates for those who install loft or cavity wall insulation – and in some cases, microgeneration.

Various local authorities are implementing schemes to promote solar water heating systems. These include Lewes District Council, Leicester City Council and Kirklees Council. All make use of bulk discounting and are often accompanied by a small grant to further reduce the price, typically by a few hundred pounds. Leicester’s Solar Rental scheme provides flexible financing, whereby the rent charges are designed to match savings in hot water heating costs and householders can buy the system at any time. Applicants to Kirklees and Calderdale’s Simply Solar scheme need to have loft and cavity wall insulation installed before accessing these benefits.

Share best practice Maidstone Borough Council should work with the regional Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA)/ Carbon Action Network forum to share best practice.

Use the Homes Energy Efficiency Database Maidstone Borough Council should use the Homes Energy Efficiency Database to monitor progress against targets, understand energy efficiency in your area and allocate resources effectively. Further guidance; The Homes Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) has been developed by the Energy Saving Trust to register the uptake of sustainable energy measures and related survey data throughout the UK housing stock. The database registers these installations on a property-by-property basis with data from a wide variety of sources including energy suppliers, government scheme managing agents, local authorities and other landlords, Energy Saving Trust advice centre home energy checks as well as other Energy Saving Trust programmes. The database stores property details such as building type and full address, as well as details of the installed energy efficiency measures, but not personal details of occupants. It will also store property survey data so that a picture of the remaining potential for measures can be built up.

Continue to tackle hard to treat homes The Council should continue to target those dwellings considered to be ‘hard to treat’. Further guidance; Further information can be found in the ‘Hard to treat homes’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide and the Energy Saving Trust’s 'Hard to treat’ toolkit.

South Bristol Carbon Reduction Project investigated innovative ways of reducing domestic carbon emissions from solid-wall Victorian properties in south Bristol. The project examined the issues associated with cutting carbon emissions in hard to treat homes and the implications on policies for both Bristol City Council and UK Government to improve energy efficiency and tackle fuel poverty and climate change.

In addition, the Flagship Home property is also highlighted as a best practice case study in the private rented sector. As a five storey Victorian house in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the building was in a poor condition, with condensation and mould growth providing an unhealthy environment for tenants. South East Land and Estates bought the property and worked in partnership with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council to refurbish it as high-quality, safe and energy efficient accommodation.

Guildford Borough Council offers private sector renovation grants of up to £3,000 for measures such as external wall insulation, heat recovery ventilation units and renewable energy technologies. These grants target households living in hard to treat homes.

Market energy efficiency to the private sector The Council should consider introducing a programme of marketing sustainable energy measures to private sector householders. This could include promotion of national grant programmes such as Warm Front and the Low Carbon Building Programme. The Council should benchmark its progress in terms of referrals to these programmes. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust’s Practical help service has a briefing note on Marketing energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies.

The Severn Wye Energy Agency developed Think BIG to strengthen the connection between home improvement, energy efficiency and increasing the market value of the home. This involved working with a new set of project partners in the DIY and home improvement industry. Think BIG complemented existing energy efficiency advice and grant provision by targeting the ‘able-to-pay’ sector.

The first step was to develop a marketing campaign for carbon saving measures aimed at the home improvement sector. A 25% cashback grant was offered for DIY energy efficiency measures including loft insulation, draught proofing, solid wall insulation, lighting, hot water tank jackets and pipe insulation.

Promote and provide information on Home Information Packs (HIPs) It is recommended that Maidstone Borough Council promotes HIPs to householders, working with estate agents where appropriate and ensuring the Council is set up to answer any questions on this. Further guidance; Council staff should have a good understanding of all parts of the Home Information Pack including Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). From the 1 October 2008 EPCs will be extended to rented homes and all remaining homes for sale including those on the market before the phased introduction of EPCs for domestic properties in 2007. Since being introduced the average rating for a home has been a 'D'.

A booklet has been produced by Communities and Local Government, which gives advice to landlords on energy performance certificates. The Energy Saving Trust has produced a briefing note on the implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in England and Wales.

From 1 May 2008 it will be compulsory for Home Information Packs for all new homes to include ratings against the Code for Sustainable Homes. It is therefore important that officers are aware of the difference between Energy Performance Certificates and certificates for the Code for Sustainable Homes. For further information, contact the Energy Saving Trust’s Practical help advisory service.

Set up a fuel poverty referral network Maidstone Borough Council should consider setting up a fuel poverty referral network, which can put residents in touch with a variety of networks that can assist them with insulation and heating grants, as well as debt counselling and income maximisation. Further guidance; Front line staff from local health and voluntary organisations, as well as council staff, can be trained on fuel poverty and which organisations can help their clients. Some local authorities have set up affordable warmth referral networks: ¾ Blyth Valley Borough Council. ¾ London Borough of Camden. ¾ East Riding of Yorkshire. ¾ Luton Borough Council. ¾ Newark and Sherwood District Council. ¾ Woking Borough Council.

3.3.4 Energy advice

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ in terms of energy advice because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

There are also some of the Private Sector Housing Officers who have completed the NEA/City & Guilds Energy Awareness 6176 training and advice on energy efficiency and/or fuel poverty advice is provided when the officers visit residents and where applicable the residents are referred to the appropriate organisations.

There is not however a procedure for recording the provision of energy advice, neither is there a system if tracking the impact/effectiveness of the advice given. The Council do however receive reports on advice provision and its potential impact from the Energy Saving Trust advice centre and Creative Environmental Networks.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ with regard to energy advice, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent’.

Commitment to action in the wider community The Council should continue to offer a community energy advice programme involving community talks and face to face advice. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust’s Green Communities programme can be accessed for advice on setting up such a programme. Your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre runs Green Communities: Local Support, which you could nominate communities to be part of. Your Account manager can provide details of this opportunity. Other free resources to support communities into taking action can be found at the Green Communities website.

Domestic energy efficiency advice code of practice The Council should ensure that staff follow the domestic energy efficiency advice code of practice. Further guidance; The domestic energy efficiency advice code of practice was developed by the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes. Further information on training and advice can be found in the ‘Energy training for staff’ chapter of Energy efficiency the guide.

3.3.5 Resources – levering in external funding

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ in terms of its external resources because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council have successfully accessed funding in the past three years from the Regional Housing Board, Warm Front and the Department for Energy and Climate Change through Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme. The Council has not been unsuccessful in any applications for funding.

The other services that the Council make use of are the Carbon Trust Building Design Advice Service, Energy Saving Trust advice centre and the Energy Saving Trust Practical Help service.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ with regard to its external resources, it is recommended that the following area is explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent’.

Programme of accessing funding Maidstone Borough Council should maintain a proactive programme to secure external funding and access support services. Further guidance; The main domestic energy efficiency funding source is the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), which can also be used to fund renewables. There is a Priority Group Flexibility Option which encourages suppliers to fund hard to treat measures including solid wall insulation, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers in off-grid properties. The Energy Saving Trust has written a briefing note on CERT which can be accessed here.

The following case studies are available on how different local authorities have used funding from the Energy Efficiency Commitment, the predecessor to CERT: ¾ Daventry District Council. ¾ East Riding of Yorkshire. ¾ South Humber Energy Efficiency Partnership.

Regional Development Agencies and the Regional Efficiency Improvement Programme provide funding for local authorities tackling climate change.

There is also a case study on Marches Energy Agency, set up by the Shropshire Energy team, which obtained European funding to champion the sustainable energy agenda. It is one of nearly 400 similar bodies established across European Union member states, to encourage the rational use and production of energy.

The Energy Saving Trust maintains a funding database which contains information on a number of grant opportunities for both energy efficiency and renewables projects. This also includes information on grants for reducing carbon emissions in own buildings.

Some examples of funding sources for renewables are: ¾ The Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 funds up to 50% of the cost of installing approved microgeneration technologies. ¾ E.ON SOURCE Fund is a new resource that replaces that Powergen Green Plan fund. It is made up of two parts, a web resource and a fund. The SOURCE fund offers grants of up to £30,000 to community groups and not for profit organisations who wish to consider and implement sustainable energy projects in their buildings - from energy efficiency through to micro-generation. It may be possible for a local authority to access this funding if they work with a community organisation which must also be a lead partner, but this cannot be guaranteed. ¾ ScottishPower’s Green Energy Trust supports small scale community based environmental and educational renewable energy projects.

3.3.6 Signposting residents to external grant schemes

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ in terms of signposting to external grant schemes because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council partners with the Energy Saving Trust advice centre and Creative Environment Networks to signpost residents to external grant schemes.

The Council also provides signposting to schemes through its website, the Maidstone Gateway staff, leaflets and through advice sessions. Apart from at advice sessions the signposting is largely reactive and the Council does not benchmark take up of grants with national figures to ensure that the borough is getting its ‘fair share’.

The Council has set up its own grant schemes to fill in gaps. Please refer to section 3.3.3.3 Private sector housing – rented and owner occupied for further information.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ with regard to signposting external grant schemes, it is recommended that the following is explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent’.

Set up your own grant schemes Maidstone Borough Council should continue to set up and promote its own grant schemes to fill gaps in national grant funding. Please refer to section 3.3.3.3 Private sector housing – rented and owner occupied for further information.

3.3.7 Planning policy

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ in terms of planning policy because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area. However it should be noted that it is difficult to accurately and fairly benchmark the Council in this area due to the protracted and convoluted process involved.

The Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF) is currently in preparation. The Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) is currently at stakeholder engagement stage, and the next step will be public consultation during the summer of 2010. It is hoped that the Core Strategy will be adopted in December 2011.

The Council seeks the submission of pre-assessment reports on new residential development and normally expects development to achieve a minimum Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) level 2. Where a Registered Social Landlord is involved they are mandated to achieve CSH level 3 to enable them to receive funding from the Homes and Communities Agency. On major schemes or where innovative design is proposed the Council would endeavour to seek CSH level 3.

For non-domestic properties, the Council would ensure that they meet the relevant Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) standard. The Council’s new Depot building achieved BREEAM Industrial ‘Very Good’.

The Council also uses the planning system to reduce dependence on the car; where appropriate, reduced car parking and cycle lane provision are proposed as part of developments, Travel Plans are encouraged, and contributions are sought for the funding of infrastructure, such as real-time bus information signs. In the next Air Quality Action Plan that is currently in draft, the Council will be trying to understand how travel plans are implemented and to quantify their impact.

The Council are developing a system to interrogate their APAS system to search by ‘key words’ in order to find applications that have air quality and contaminated land conditions in place. It is hoped that the search could be used and developed for County Council purposes. The Council is also trying to develop a better understanding of how conditions are regulated and by which teams to ensure the checking of conditions is robust.

The Council does not however require developers to consider district heating in all new developments, does not have data on the number of applications for renewable installations or stipulate higher than average standards when releasing land or property for development.

There is not a cross departmental working group in place for Planners and Building Control, however Planners will seek advice as appropriate.

Some Members have attended the Planning Summer School.

Councils can use planning policy to promote sustainable development which will impact positively on carbon reduction targets.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ with regard to its planning policy, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good’.

Specify a minimum level of the code for sustainable homes within the LDF Within the LDF, Maidstone Borough Council should specify a minimum level of the Code for Sustainable Homes which encourages energy efficiency standards beyond building regulations across all new development as follows; ¾ Code level 4 (44% reduction in CO2) from 2010-2013, ¾ Code level 5 (100% reduction in CO2) from 2013-2016 and ¾ Code level 6 (zero carbon standard) from 2016 onwards.

Further guidance; Energy Saving Trust recommends that planning policies go beyond the proposed timetable for the national Building Regulations, to ensure that CO2 emissions from new development in your area are minimised. We recommend that local planning authorities determine the feasibility of implementing a policy that requires new development to meet: ¾ Code level 4 (44% reduction in CO2) from 2010-2013, ¾ Code level 5 (100% reduction in CO2) from 2013-2016 and ¾ Code level 6 (zero carbon standard) from 2016 onwards

Planning policies that specify a level of the Code should be set out in Development Plan Documents (DPDs) such as the Core Strategy. This ensures that the policies undergo the necessary level of scrutiny from the planning inspectorate and ensures that the policies will be robust against appeal from developers. Planning authorities should not rely on Supplementary Planning Documents to set out policies that require a level of the Code for Sustainable Homes for new development as these will not be robust against appeal from developers

An Energy Saving Trust briefing note on the Code for Sustainable Homes provides an overview to the Code and explains the relevance to the Building Regulations and the planning system. The Energy Saving Trust’s housing programme have also developed technical guidance on designing and building new homes that meet the energy requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes. These guides address energy efficiency measures to meet, and in some instances, exceed minimum measures set down in code levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. ¾ Energy efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3. ¾ Energy efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. ¾ Energy efficiency and the Code for Sustainable Homes Levels 5 and 6.

Energy saving trust runs a free new build outreach programme for supporting developers and house builders who wish to build new homes to the higher code levels. There are three areas of support provided: ¾ Energy Saving Trust approved consultants can provide strategic and technical support during the design process to help achieve higher energy performance standards such as Code for Sustainable Homes levels. ¾ Support with the assessment of the energy performance of new homes at design, build and post- occupancy stages and monitoring and evaluating the performance for dissemination. ¾ Facilitating supply chain and product development, both at dwelling and site wide scale, to support the delivery of higher energy performance standards for new homes. Your account manger can put you in touch.

The Code for Sustainable Homes: Case studies sets out a number of detailed case studies on homes that have been built based on the Code for Sustainable Homes. The case studies show the different ways of achieving various levels of the code and highlight potential pitfalls for developers.

Additional case studies;

¾ Ashford Borough Council is one of only 29 local authorities to have had its core strategy approved. It includes a challenging sustainable energy policy seeking level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes on major new greenfield development, requirement for 20% of energy demand to be met by renewables and carbon off-setting as part of the package to deliver carbon neutral

developments. ¾ Milton Keynes’ planning policy aims for zero carbon growth by achieving carbon neutrality on new development sites. Milton Keynes’ policy now also incorporates the Code for Sustainable Homes. ¾ The first Code Level 6 apartments in the UK will be built in Manchester. They will feature onsite microgeneration technologies, rainwater harvesting, green roofs and large windows to harness natural daylight. ¾ The Planning Advisory Service and the Beacon Scheme have produced a document with case studies of the four sustainable planning Beacon councils called Letting the light shine in. This highlights how Ashford Borough Council used innovative consultation processes to create consensus around plans to double the town’s population. It describes how Basingstoke has involved communities in the planning process and thus improved regeneration schemes. It also shows how Hambleton District Council has integrated its local development framework with other corporate strategies and how Woking Borough Council has encouraged planners to think laterally about addressing housing shortages and environmental issues.

Develop a renewable energy evidence base within the Local Development Framework To inform the LDF development Maidstone Borough Council should develop an evidence base to identify the potential for renewable energy in new developments. Further guidance; PPS 1 Supplement on Planning and Climate Change makes it clear that local authorities should develop an evidence base for the potential for renewable energy technologies in their area. This evidence base should examine the strategic potential and technical feasibility for different renewable technologies, according to the specific circumstances of your area. It should be the key document that underpins local planning authority’s conditions to provide renewable energy on the site of new development. Guidance on implementing local and regional policies can be found in the Practice Guidance to support PPS1.

A non-ringfenced area based grant of £22,500 is available to councils to help implement the supplement to PPS1 on climate change.

Communities and Local Government has also commissioned Cyril Sweett Ltd to update its original report on the cost of meeting zero carbon housing, Costs and Benefits of Alternative Definitions of Zero Carbon Homes. The new report takes into account predicted changes to the Standard Assessment Procedure and the Government’s consultation on the definition of zero carbon housing. This document will form a useful part of the evidence base for planning policies.

Further resources for developing an evidence base can be found below; ¾ Dover’s Core Strategy evidence base ¾ Bromsgrove District Councils Core Strategy evidence base.

Specify sites for renewable energy. Maidstone Borough Council should include a policy in their LDF to require a target for CO2 emissions reduction through the use of renewable energy in new developments. (This should be additional to the percentage carbon dioxide reduction required by the code for sustainable homes) In certain developments, where a greater potential for renewable energy has been identified, the local authority should require a higher percentage on a site by site basis. Further guidance; The London Borough of Merton was the first local authority to include renewable energy targets in its adopted Unitary Development Plan, setting the target for all new major developments in the borough to generate 10% of their energy through onsite renewable energy technologies. This became known as the ‘Merton Rule’. Planning Policy Statement 22 and the government then encouraged other local planning authorities to adopt similar policies.

The London Borough of Merton has now updated its Local Development Framework specifying that the renewable energy section within the planning policy will now encompass all new developments, both new build and conversions. The planning policy also states that onsite renewables must reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 10%. The change from generating 10% of a development’s energy to reducing the

development’s emissions by 10% ensures that developers avoid installing carbon intensive heating systems, such as electric heating.

Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) supplement on planning and climate change (December 2007) specifically requires that local and regional planners ensure local plans have strong carbon ambitions and targets; including speeding up the shift to renewable and low carbon energy.

Based on the findings of your renewable energy evidence base, there may be areas, developments or individual dwellings where there is high potential for low and zero carbon energy. In these cases, an additional condition to install renewable energy could be required on top of the requirement to meet a level of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

It is important that where a minimum renewable energy requirement is specified in addition to the Code for Sustainable Homes, it should be specified over and above the minimum percentage reduction required by the Code. Therefore, specifying Code level 4 plus 20% renewable energy would require a 64% reduction in emissions (44% + 20%). This ensures that the energy efficiency of the thermal fabric of the dwelling is addressed as well as the need for renewable energy.

If the requirement for renewable energy is set as part of the minimum CO2 requirement under the Code for Sustainable Homes, the energy efficiency of the thermal fabric of the dwelling would not be addressed to a sufficient degree.

The London Borough of Croydon requires that developments meet Code for Sustainable Homes level 4 and a 10% embedded renewables requirement covers all housing developments above ten units as well as commercial developments.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Maidstone Borough Council should encourage and require (where feasible) Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and District Heating to provide heat and electricity to new and existing buildings. Further guidance; PPS 1 Supplement on Planning and Climate Change encourages Local Planning Authorities to identify opportunities for CHP and District Heating in their area. The Energy Saving Trust recommends that planning policies actively encourage the use of CHP. There is good potential for CHP and District Heating to connect to the existing housing stock. This should be encouraged within planning policies.

Heat mapping is encouraged to determine feasibility ie mapping the demand, existing heat infrastructure and identifying target areas suitable for decentralised energy.

Energy Saving Trust provides free consultancy to explore opportunities for developing energy services companies which is a useful mechanism to set up CHP schemes.

Use the planning system to encourage improved standards in existing dwellings Maidstone Borough Council should use the planning system to encourage improved standards in existing as well as new dwellings. Further guidance; The land use planCning system is one of the most powerful tools available for supporting a move towards sustainable energy. The Planning for climate change – refurbishment briefing note explains what planners can do to reduce carbon emissions from existing housing.

Uttlesford District Council has produced Supplementary Planning Guidance specifically targeting energy efficiency in existing properties. It applies to all householders applying for planning permission for home extensions; a condition of being granted planning permission is that cost effective energy efficiency measures are installed throughout the home. The Council has also produced information for planning applicants explaining how they can meet the energy efficiency requirements of the Extensions Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Pembrokeshire County Councils guidance on ‘Building in a Sustainable Way’ includes a sustainability checklist that should be completed by applicants submitting planning applications for new build, refurbishment and alterations to existing buildings.

The Energy Saving Trust’s housing programme has set energy efficiency standards for the housing industry that go beyond current Building Regulations for both refurbishment and new build. Further information on these standards can be found here.

Provide incentives for exemplar developments Maidstone Borough Council should encourage and introduce incentives for exemplar/zero energy developments. Further guidance; Milton Keynes Council uses an innovative planning policy to encourage developers to build carbon neutral. If developers cannot meet a carbon neutral standard they are required to pay into a local carbon offset fund which is used locally to invigorate Milton Keynes standard of life.

The Energy Saving Trust has published a leaflet on the avoided costs of low-carbon development. These include the fact that there comes a point when houses are so well-insulated that they no longer need a central heating system, saving around £3,000.

Cross departmental working Maidstone Borough Council should ensure that planners, building control officers and developers are all working in partnership eg by setting up a cross departmental working group (linked to NI 186 activity).

Training for Councillors Maidstone Borough Council should ensure the planning committee is trained on sustainable energy issues/ low carbon energy. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust’s Practical help service can deliver presentations on climate change and planning, building regulations (Part L) and the Code for Sustainable Homes. These presentations can incorporate subjects such as renewables and energy efficiency in new build or refurbishment.

Training for planners Maidstone Borough Council should train and encourage planners to proactively promote sustainable energy to everyone applying for planning permission. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust has published a planner’s support pack, which includes recommendations for planners, information on the Code for Sustainable Homes and other legislative drivers and a number of case studies of local authorities tackling climate change through the planning system.

Information on training planners is available in the London Renewables toolkit. (Although this is London specific, it is applicable to other urban areas and will also have some useful information for non-urban areas). The South East England Development Agency and the Building Research Establishment have unveiled the Sustainability checklist for developments in the South East, a practical toolkit targeted at the construction industry, in particular developers, architects and planners. It aims to ensure that new and planned developments in the South East incorporate as many facets of sustainability as possible.

Disseminate sustainable energy information Maidstone Borough Council should ensure that planning officers are disseminating information on energy efficiency and renewable energy to people making enquiries or full planning applications. Further guidance; The Energy Saving Trust’s Housing programme have a variety of leaflets that can be disseminated.

3.3.8 Building Regulations enforcement

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘excellent’ in terms of Building Regulations because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

There is a systematic approach to both enforcement and review of Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of Building Regulations.

Building Control Officers are all trained in the most recent amendments to Part L and all officers are trained in energy efficiency and renewable energy issues. There are differing areas of training within the team, including Standard Assessment procedure, BREEAM and Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM). There is currently one energy assessor completing training for commercial premises and the Council hope to have another two by the end of this year (2008-2009).

The Building Control Team hope to have information on the Council website to encourages householders who are applying for Building Control approval to consider installing energy efficiency or renewable energy measures.

Recommendations It is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘best practice’.

Involve building control officers in Local Development Framework development Maidstone Borough Council should ensure Building Control Officers are integrally involved in developing policies for the developing Local Development Framework.

3.4 Community leadership

3.4.1 Overview The graph below shows that Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ for its work with transport in the community. In terms of community planning and engagement with regional stakeholders the Council scored ‘good’. For engagement with the wider community the Council scored ‘fair/good’ and in relation to schools and education the Council was rated ‘fair’.

Maidstone Borough Council Community leadership

6 Actual Best practice 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair 2 Weak 1

s ng nity der u nni cation unity la m m m du kehol ity p a st nd e un ider co a the com eg w ls in h t it r Comm w choo o S sp ng Eng with r E ran T

3.4.2 Community planning

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ in terms of community planning because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council’s Sustainable Community Strategy has eight priorities, three of which are:

Topic 2: Sustainable and integrated transport Topic 6: Homes and communities Topic 8: Environmental excellence and climate change.

Some examples of the objectives within these priorities are:

¾ Prepare the Boroughs communities and businesses to adapt to climate change – particularly extreme weather incidents such as drought, heat-waves, flooding, and the requirement for adequate drainage to minimise surface run off. ¾ Reduce fuel poverty in the Borough. ¾ Reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels across transport commerce / business and domestic use. ¾ Seek the improvement of public transport. ¾ Support people to improve the quality of the existing housing stock. ¾ Reduce the number of unfit homes with a particular focus on vulnerable households.

The plan, priorities and associated action plan show a clear commitment to action. The Council has National Indicator (NI) 186 (Per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the Local Authority area) in their Local Area Agreement (Kent Agreement 2). The target is 11.2% (+/- 2.5%).

There is not however a target for renewable energy generation.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ with regard to community planning, it is recommended that the following is explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent’.

Community leadership Maidstone Borough Council should promote its leadership role to members of the Local Strategic Partnership to ensure that key players are bought into delivering against NI 186. Further guidance; Strong local leadership will be vital to meeting the global challenge of climate change and local authorities are in an excellent position to work with other public and private agencies, voluntary groups and the wider community to encourage such action.

An initial meeting between the Council’s lead on NI 186, the Partnership Manager and the Chair of the Local Strategic Partnership is a good place to start when mapping out who in the partnership can do what to deliver area-wide carbon emissions reductions. This could then be followed with a more formal workshop to agree activities, priorities and responsibilities. Strong links to delivery of NI 186 through the Local Area Agreement should be made. The Sustainable Community Strategy should help to secure commitment.

The London Borough of Islington established a unique local climate change partnership with local businesses and organisations. Each member organisation has made a pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 15% by 2010.

3.4.3 Engagement with regional stakeholders

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ in terms of its engagement with regional stakeholders because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

On a regional level the Council works with the Regional Housing Board and Climate South East. Regional priorities are reflected in the Kent Agreement 2, the Council’s Local Area Agreement.

The Council along with the other district in Kent adopted the Kent wide carbon reduction targets agreed with the Government Office for the South East, inline with national targets (when signed).

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good’ with regard to its engagement with regional stakeholders, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent’.

Engage with ‘nearest neighbour’ local authorities Maidstone Borough Council should engage with other local authorities classified as ‘nearest neighbours’ using the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) modelling to exchange information and develop solutions. Further guidance: Following Local Government Reorganisation on 1 April 2009, the CIPFA Nearest Neighbour Model is due to be updated later this summer. Details of the update, including changes to each authority’s closest fifteen comparators can be found on the CIPFA website (you will be required to logon).

Developed to aid local authorities in comparative and benchmarking exercises, specific family groups can be generated based upon a wide range of socio-economic indicators. Each local authority is unique. Not only are its social and physical characteristics different to those of other authorities, but its traditions, organisation and practices are distinctive. The CIPFA Nearest Neighbours Model adopts a scientific approach to measuring the similarity between authorities, taking many of these issues into account. Used across both local and central government, the model has importantly been used in recent years within the Audit Commission’s value for money profiles.

Set targets Maidstone Borough Council should ensure that local strategies refer to regional priorities and targets and should press for regional targets to be in line with or exceeding national targets. Further guidance; The following case studies may be useful: ¾ The Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership, instigated by the eight counties of Cornwall, brought together over 80 organisations to address the social, environmental and economic issues of energy supply and demand. ¾ Nottinghamshire County Council and High Peak Borough Council are involved in various strategic partnerships at a national, regional and local level to promote the take up of energy efficiency and low carbon technologies.

3.4.4 Engagement/awareness raising with wider community

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of its engagement and awareness raising with the wider community because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council Climate Change Action Plan 2005-2010 did include community wide actions and targets on domestic energy SAP ratings. There was consultation on the strategy, however it was limited.

The Council partners with the Energy Saving Trust advice centre and Creative Environmental Networks to complete separate programmes of raising awareness in the wider community.

The Council has worked with the Carbon Trust and SERCO (an international services company) who manage the Council leisure centre.

The Council does not have any officers who are involved the Energy Saving Trust Green Communities programme.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ with regard to its engagement and awareness raising with the wider community, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good/excellent’.

Join the Energy Saving Trust’s Green Communities programme Council officers should actively work in partnership with local community groups and key officers should join the Energy Saving Trust’s Green Communities programme, and signpost active communities in the area to the tools and resources available. Further guidance; Green Communities is a programme from the Energy Saving Trust that was launched in July 2009. Green Communities aims to engage with 10,000 communities, leading them to take action on their carbon footprint.

The central advice service is designed to promote and facilitate local community-based energy projects. The programme provides information, support, advice and training to local authority energy professionals and members of the community.

Membership of the network is free and by joining, officers and community groups can keep up to date with news on community-based energy initiatives, funding opportunities and other news from the network.

Communities can also use the Carbon Footprint tool to find out the total emissions from their community, and plan action to reduce it.

Free training sessions for local authority energy professionals include;

Making it Happen - An opportunity for energy professionals and representatives from the community and voluntary sector to meet potential project partners and take part in hands on, practical planning exercises. It aims to examine the challenges of running a community based sustainable energy project, learn new project planning skills and refresh existing skills.

Planning for Success – A follow-up to ‘Making it happen’, this course is for members with existing community energy projects who want to make the most of their ideas and expertise, maximise help available and secure on-going funding.

A full list of training courses available can be found here.

To join the Green Communities network or to find out more call 08448 480 077 or visit online at energysavingtrust.org.uk/community

Identify a Green Community for your Energy Saving Trust advice centre The Council should nominate a Green Community to your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre who run this programme. Further guidance; As part of the ‘Green Communities’ programme, your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre will be mentoring communities to support them in lowering their carbon emissions. Communities can be nominated to take part in the programme and support from the local authority can help achieve greater carbon savings. Your Account manager can provide details of this opportunity.

All active community groups in the area should be referred to the Green Communities online tools and resources, at energysavingtrust.org.uk/community.

Set up community initiatives on energy Maidstone Borough Council should lead their community to take action on energy by setting up community energy efficiency initiatives. Further guidance; Councils have a duty to 'inform, consult and engage' local communities in everything they do. The Improvement and Development Agency offers a community empowerment resource that shows how councils and their partners can make this happen. It covers the policy and the practice of involving people in local decision-making.

There are also a number of examples of community initiatives from other councils: ¾ High Peak Borough Councils initiative to improve domestic energy efficiency through the provision of advice and information to members of local community groups. ¾ Leicester City Councils initiative to increase usage of biofuels/biomass. The initiative formed part of ProBioEnergy - a three year, European Commission funded project, aiming to increase the uptake of bio-energy. ¾ A community competition to find the most energy-conscious village in the Scottish Borders, involving six local authority areas. ¾ The ‘Energy Days’ initiative to promote energy efficiency via events in villages around Daventry, Northamptonshire. Residents visit a local venue to get advice about practical energy efficiency measures, preceded by energy efficiency teaching in local schools. ¾ Harrogate Borough Council used an energy efficiency bingo game to raise awareness, particularly amongst older residents. It encouraged home checks and pointed residents towards grants. ¾ Teignbridge, Plymouth and Devon councils were involved in an integrated community-based project in Stoke and Buckland Devon, which aims to achieve energy efficiency improvements in local schools (primary and secondary), households and businesses, through initiatives ranging from intensive, structured programmes for schoolchildren to home energy visits. ¾ Communities can bid for eligibility in Peterborough’s energy efficiency grant scheme, which targets rural areas. Successful villages are those with the highest numbers of residents in fuel poverty. Residents’ needs are matched to funding and the installation of measures is coordinated. ¾ The Cornwall Home Health Project uses a variety of funding sources to provide major energy efficiency improvements for free to communities. Initially focused on two areas - one urban, one rural – it uses existing community networks to ensure that the most difficult to reach homes are included. ¾ An initiative by Wealden District Council to raise awareness of energy efficiency, fuel poverty and energy-saving grants in the Wealden area of East Sussex. ‘Keeping Warm & Well in Wealden’ provides talks to community groups, training for community workers and uses innovative techniques to spread the word. ¾ The Warming Mendip project aims to improve energy efficiency by working with householders and voluntary and community groups in the Mendip area of Somerset. Targeting fuel poor areas, the scheme offers energy advice, home visits, presentations, grant referrals and energy awareness training. ¾ The Cheshire village of Ashton Hayes is aiming to become the first small community in England to achieve carbon neutral status. ¾ PROEFFICIENCY is a three year project, supported by Intelligent Energy Europe, which focuses

on increasing the use of energy efficient lighting, fridges and freezers. The key aim of the project is to support and monitor a number of voluntary pilot projects with both retailers and consumers to promote energy efficient lighting and cold products in a number of regions across Europe. ¾ The community led energy initiative Going Carbon Neutral Stirling aims to make Stirling the UK's first carbon-neutral city. The ambitious project, which is also supported by Stirling Council, aims to work from the grassroots up to help every Stirlingshire resident to reduce their carbon footprint, from the current Scottish average of 12 tonnes a year to just a single tonne.

Encourage microgeneration Maidstone Borough Council should encourage microgeneration on houses. Further guidance; On 6 April 2008 the Government amended the Town and Country Planning Order, allowing homeowners to install the following microgeneration equipment without planning permission (subject to size and noise level limitations): solar photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, ground and water source heat pumps, biomass heating and combined heat and power systems. The Government has made it clear that it will legislate further to allow the installation, without planning permission, of free-standing and building- mounted wind turbines, and air source heat pumps on detached properties. However, it has to await clearance from the European Commission, which is expected later this year. Information about permitted development rights can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website.

Local authorities can promote renewables in a variety of ways. A number of councils have initiated top-up or grant schemes or interest-free loans as a way of encouraging microgeneration: ¾ Guildford Borough Council offers private sector renovation grants of up to £3,000 for measures including renewable energy technologies. These grants target households living in hard to treat homes. ¾ Chichester District Council offers interest-free loans by using defunct funds originally from HECAction and recycling the money into a loan scheme for renewables. The sustainable energy initiatives are also partly funded by BERR’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme. ¾ Powys County Council uses funding from BERR’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme and the Council’s private sector renewal fund to provide grants for sustainable energy. The CO2i (pronounced ‘cosy’) scheme is open to all owner-occupiers and any private sector renting tenant homes and provides funding for energy efficiency measures and renewable technologies. ¾ South Derbyshire District Council offers residents loans of up to £4,000 towards renewable systems. A prerequisite is that they also apply for LCBP grants. ¾ South Gloucestershire Council offers grants of up to £500 and low interest loans of up to £3500 towards renewable energy technologies.

Further information about funding for renewable energy can be found in an Energy Saving Trust briefing note Funding sustainable energy.

Set up community renewable schemes The Council should encourage the local community to develop community renewable schemes and/or energy services companies (ESCos) Further guidance; There are a number of community-owned renewable technologies. Whether this is the best approach for your area will depend on a number of factors, including what and how much renewable resources you can tap into. The following information may be of interest: ¾ Mill Energy Services, a small scale, not-for-profit Energy Service Company, was set up to manage the supply of electricity, heat and water to the residents and tenants of a recently refurbished

textile mill. ¾ Kielder Community Enterprises Ltd manages a wood-fired district heating scheme for new build housing and various community buildings in the village. ¾ Powys County Council runs a rural biomass community heating in Llanwddyn. This case study demonstrates the potential of biomass as an energy source for community heating in a rural setting. It tracks the process from feasibility and funding through to implementation and, finally, the lessons learnt. It will be of special interest to local authorities that cover rural areas of the UK. ¾ Rare large scale example of an equal partnership between the local community and the private sector, which built an eight-turbine wind farm in Ferndale village in the Rhondda valleys of south Wales. Power Factory aims to generate clean electricity and long-term income to fund services for the area and create local jobs. ¾ A small farming community partially funded by the Council worked together to install a community ground source heat pump. ¾ Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership, created by Powys and Gwynedd county councils and various local partners, is the sustainable community regeneration body for the area, which enables local people to carry out small-scale schemes using various renewable energy technologies. ¾ Baywind Renewable Energy Cooperative is the first UK co-operative to own wind turbines. The six turbines, near Ulverston and Millom in Cumbria, were built by a developer and then sold one by one to the community through a series of share offers. Members of the co-operative receive profits from the sale of electricity from the turbines. ¾ Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership, working towards renewable energy targets. ¾ Assistance and potential funding is available from Partnerships for Renewables, a Carbon Trust Enterprises Limited venture, working in partnership with public sector bodies to develop and manage onsite renewable energy projects. ¾ Gloucestershire Wood Fuels Limited has been set up as a co-operative to offer secure wood fuel supply contracts at competitive prices to larger scale local end users, typically public buildings, new housing developments, and country estates that manage their own woodlands. Maidstone Borough Council may want to consider this type of venture to increase uptake of renewables in its area. ¾ Tewkesbury Borough Council is working in partnership with Severn Wye Energy Agency on a project to promote the use of renewables by community buildings, as well as helping them increase their energy efficiency. The project runs from July 2007 to March 2008 and the aim is to visit 10 community buildings and carry out detailed energy surveys. These will be followed up with a full written report, outlining key energy efficiency measures and the suitability of the building for one or more renewable technologies. The project will also offer advice on grant funding and provide post-visit support to the community building managers.

Community awareness raising campaign Maidstone Borough Council should develop a communications plan to lead the community to take action on reducing energy usage Further guidance; The Council should develop a communications plan to raise awareness of energy issues and encourage community members to take action on reducing energy usage, in order to achieve the targets set out within the community wide action plan. You can use your communications strategy to tackle carbon emissions from: ¾ Transport: Worcestershire County Councils Choose how you move project achieved a 12% decrease in car trips and a 36% increase in cycling through a combination of travel marketing and infrastructure improvements. ¾ Business: Hampshire and Isle of Wight councils offer support and advice to businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. ¾ Domestic sector: An initiative by Wealden District Council to raise awareness of energy efficiency, fuel poverty and energy-saving grants in the Wealden area of East Sussex. ‘Keeping Warm & Well in Wealden’ provides talks to community groups, training for community workers and uses innovative techniques to spread the word. (Enquiries from the domestic sector can be directed to your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre on 0800 512 012).

Your communications strategy should initially focus on behaviour change that do not require significant

investment, then low-cost measures with short payback periods and finally more expensive technologies.

The Energy Saving Trust has published Communicating at the local level - how best to communicate about climate change at the local level. This showcases good practice examples of other organisations communicating energy saving messages.

Smart meters The Council should promote domestic energy monitors to residents and businesses as a way of helping them reduce energy use. Further guidance; North West Lincolnshire District Council and London Borough of Lewisham are currently loaning smart meters to their residents through the library.

The Energy Saving Trust has produced a publication called Clever Clocks, which explains the benefits of smart meters and summarises the results of trials conducted around the work (on page eight).

The town of Växjö, in Sweden, was chosen as one of three sites for an EU-funded municipal scale trial of smart metering and reporting by equipping 20,000 households within the town with a smart meter and an innovative reporting system, ’EnergiKollen‘.logica.com/green

The government has now taken the decision to mandate smart meters for all households, although they have yet to establish how this will be rolled out. You can read about this here.

Work with the Carbon Trust Maidstone Borough Council should continue to work with the Carbon Trust to promote its services to businesses, industry and schools. The following case studies may be of interest: ¾ A case study on how energy efficient sustainable construction and renewable technologies were incorporated into the development of Kingsmead School. ¾ A project in Hampshire challenged teams from primary schools across the region to design and construct model solar powered cars that are entered into a country-wide championship race to raise awareness of solar power.

Carbon Trust has developed a guide Building Energy Efficiency in Schools – A guide to a whole school approach which has been designed to provide a step by step approach to managing energy use in a school. It covers details for setting up an energy team, producing an energy policy and associated action plan, monitoring and setting targets, how to use benchmarks, how to identify where energy is being used and wasted on a school premises and ideas for including energy activities into the curricular activities of the school.

3.4.5 Schools and education

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ in terms of schools and education because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council work with schools to help raise awareness of energy issue and promote the Sustainable Learning programme through the Kent County Councils Eco-Schools Programme.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ with regard to schools and education, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good’.

Work with schools on energy initiatives Maidstone Borough Council should continue to work with schools to help raise awareness of energy issues and signpost to existing resources. Further guidance; Energy-saving and eco-friendly school building projects have been announced as part of the government's drive for new schools to be carbon neutral. These will include using greener technologies such as wind turbines, solar power and biomass boilers.

Under the Children's Plan, there is a target for all new school buildings to be carbon neutral by 2016. There is also a separate target to make school travel less environmentally damaging by 2020 as part of a wider plan for sustainable schools. Under the projects announced by England’s Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, a typical secondary school will receive £500,000 to promote energy efficiency and to reduce carbon emissions. This could include measures such as improving insulation, using lower-energy lighting and using energy-saving devices on school computers.

Planning a Sustainable School contains thirteen participatory activities that help bridge the gap between the recommendations of the National Framework for Sustainable Schools and school improvement planning.

Ofsted has published a report which presents the findings of inspectors who visited a selection of primary and secondary schools to assess teaching about sustainability. The report concludes that higher priority should be given to sustainable schools, with further funding and support given to central and local initiatives including staff training and development.

The Carbon Trust has developed a guide Building Energy Efficiency in Schools – A guide to a whole school approach which has been designed to provide a step by step approach to managing energy use in a school. It covers details for setting up an energy team, producing an energy policy and associated action plan, monitoring and setting targets, how to use benchmarks, how to identify where energy is being used and wasted on a school premises and ideas for including energy activities into the curricular activities of the school. The guide also provide a few hints and tips on how a school can quickly become more efficient and provides examples of how the suggestions have been successful elsewhere with the use of case study material.

The Carbon Trust has also developed a Schools sector overview, which outlines low and no-cost measures with quick paybacks allowing managers and staff to assess the potential for energy saving and to raise awareness amongst staff and students without compromising teaching conditions. The following case studies may be useful: ¾ A project to install one of the UK's first wind turbines in a school - Nidderdale High School and Community College, near Harrogate - is in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is the hub of activity in the dale. The turbine meets part of the school's energy needs and also provides an educational resource both for pupils and the wider community. ¾ An Energy Saving Trust case study on Kingsmead School in Cheshire describes how energy efficient sustainable construction and renewable technologies were incorporated into the

development of the school. ¾ A project in Hampshire challenged teams from primary schools across the region to design and construct model solar powered cars that are entered into a country-wide championship race to raise awareness of solar power. ¾ Two turbines form part of Balfron High School's sustainable energy initiative, set up by students and staff. The two free-standing 6 kW turbines will generate 22,000 kWh a year, saving Balfron High School approximately £2,000. The total energy produced and carbon savings from the turbines can be monitored daily by pupils, using a display in the school's central atrium. ¾ Severn Wye Energy Agency developed the School Energy Diary to involve pupils in the monitoring process so that they could learn about the importance and application of energy efficiency in a real context, using their own school as the case study. The energy diary was distributed along with additional supporting documents to 7 – 11 year olds at 12 pilot schools.

Encourage school to travel plan The Council should consider working with schools to develop school travel plans. Further guidance; Guidance on school travel plans has been produced by the Department for Transport, including increasing bus use.

Department for Transport grants for walking buses is a series of grants awarded to schools for encouraging walking to school. The current round is closed but there may be more in future.

3.4.6 Transport in the community

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ in terms of transport in the community because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council is a partner in the Maidstone Quality Bus Partnership (QBP), which has been in existence since 1980. The QBP targets the partner’s investment into key corridors, to improve the standard and frequency of services.

In addition, the Council funds the operation of three Park and Ride services and the contract encourages the use of alternative fuels, at present the buses are to Euro 3 standard and use a 5% bio fuel diesel mix.

Investment for the QBP has continued through the Local Transport Plan, and a new forward plan is due to be developed this year (2008-2009), which will identify the longer term transport strategy to support the Local Development Framework. The forthcoming Air Quality Action Plan will be seeking for the QBP to push for more fuel efficient options and the Plan will recommend the guidance outlined in the report1 produced by Air Quality Consultants for DEFRA which carried out a review of bus fleet composition and implications for emissions reductions.

The Council has both a Transport User Group and Disability Focus Group which consider transport issues. The Council has also discussed transport with the Local Strategic Partnership.

Travel Plans are required for all major development proposals (residential and commercial). These are identified as conditions on planning permissions.

It is hoped that the Council’s membership of the Low Emissions Peer Group (which includes the Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies) will help guide the Council in accessing future low emission infrastructure grants and Low Emission Vehicle grants that could be available from 2011. There is also hope the Low Emission Toolkit, which is currently being developed by the Low Emissions Peer Group, will help provide a framework for potential carbon taxes on differing technologies if this approach is taken.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ with regard to transport in the community, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent/best practice’.

Modal shift Maidstone Borough Council should continue to work to reduce car dependency and increase use of public transport, cycling and walking. Targets and timescales should be identified. Further guidance; The Department for Transport has produced a publication called Meeting Targets through Transport in collaboration with the Local Government Association, Sustrans and the Campaign for Better Transport. The booklet is designed to help councillors and senior officers to understand how well planned transport services can help councils to achieve wider objectives, such as stronger and safer communities, healthier children and young people, sustainability and better local economies.

New research, commissioned by Cycling England, shows how local authority planners can apply conventional cost benefit modelling to ensure a better return on investment for every pound spent on cycling. The study presents for the first time a Cycling Planning Model that will help local planners to better assess the number of additional cyclists required to generate a return on investment. The model shows how a surprisingly small number of additional cyclists will pay for investment in new cycling infrastructure. The model suggests: ¾ An investment of £10,000 requires one additional regular cyclist. ¾ An investment of £100,000 requires 11 additional regular cyclists.

1 airquality.co.uk/reports/cat05/0906110919_Bus_Emissions_Report_Final_220409.pdf

Useful case studies include: ¾ Car clubs can be an effective way of reducing levels of car ownership. Launched in March 1999, Edinburgh CityCarClub is the largest in Britain and is operated by Smart Moves with the support of the City of Edinburgh Council. Smart Moves, now known as CityCarClub also runs car clubs in Edinburgh, London, and Brighton and Hove. ¾ ‘Velib: help-yourself cycle scheme’ is a free bike scheme in Paris that aims to encourage people to give up their cars for short journeys in favour of pedal power. It is based on a smaller initiative that has been operating in Lyon for the last two years called Cyclocity. Future plans are to develop this scheme in London, Dumfries and Dundee.

The Environment Advisory Service website’s section on transport includes links to best practice, advice etc for local authorities.

There is also information on the Department for Transport sustainable transport demonstration towns scheme where the Council provided individual travel planning to residents in Worcester, Darlington, Peterborough.

The following information may also be useful: ¾ A case study on Accessibility Planning for Public Transport: High Peak Borough Council. ¾ Over 50 case studies from the Department of Transport on successful walking/cycling plans. ¾ Information on developing cycling and walking is also available from Sustrans. ¾ Cycling national body: Cycling England. This website also has information on one city and eleven demonstration towns for cycling best practice. ¾ The Association of Community Rail Partnerships may be useful for community rail projects. ¾ Local Transport Planning Network – access to key contacts from other local authorities together with best practice examples etc. ¾ Case studies from safe routes to schools. ¾ Unison has produced a publication (2002) which includes case studies on different local authority green travel schemes (from page 13 onwards). ¾ The London Borough of Sutton is working with Transport for London to tackle behavioural change in transport. ¾ A project by Argyll and Bute Council, funded by the Scottish Government, sought to promote public transport through local media, travel guides and local transport action forums; fill public transport gaps with cost effective and innovative solutions; retain population levels within the remote Argyll and Bute areas; reduce energy use by increased utilisation of existing vehicles and reduction of car journeys; benefit tourists through increased opportunities for using public transport; and create a blueprint for inter-agency working. Targets also included a minimum reduction of 500 unnecessary journeys per year. ¾ Haydock Industrial Estate is one of the largest employers in St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. Due to the types of businesses on the estate, working hours were out of kilter with public transport provision. Enter the 920 bus service – a hail and ride service – designed to accommodate shift workers.

Smarter driving Maidstone Borough Council should seek to reduce CO2 from cars though promoting efficient driving and low carbon car choice. Targets and timescales should be identified. Further guidance; Your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre provides free advice on smarter driving techniques and low carbon car choices. You can promote this free service to your residents – 0800 512 012. Smarter driving can save drivers between £200 and £250 per year in fuel as well as reducing CO2 emissions.

Additionally the Energy Saving Trust can organise subsidised private smarter driving lessons for £25 per person.

The following case studies may also be useful ¾ Vehicles emitting more CO2 will have to pay higher parking fees in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

¾ Bristol City Council promotes smarter driving techniques through a leaflet signposting residents to the website. This includes a fuel consumption calculator and log. ¾ Eco driving film on Devon County Councils website.

Bus operators Maidstone Borough Council should encourage local bus operators to purchase lower carbon vehicles. Further guidance on lower carbon vehicles; ¾ Transport for London are actively rolling out a hybrid bus fleet with the aim of 300 hybrid buses to be in operation by 2011. It is expected to be the largest roll out of hybrid buses in Europe. ¾ The Green Bus Fund is a new £30 million fund from which bus companies and local authorities in England can compete for funds to help them buy new low carbon buses Further guidance on lower carbon fuel; ¾ Nottingham City Council are currently trialing the use of ethanol-powered buses. ¾ London Borough of Camden has its own bio-methane processing plant to provide fuel to power street cleansing vehicles.

Work with local businesses to promote travel plans Maidstone Borough Council should work with local businesses to promote travel plans. Further guidance; The following information may be useful: ¾ The National Business Travel Network set up by the Transport 2000 Trust is a national forum for employers that meet regularly to share best practice and promote ideas. Its aim is to be a one-stop shop for information and advice on Travel Plans for business. ¾ Lancaster City Council has an example of the advice that can be provided for employers on travel plans. ¾ The Department for Transport offers a one-stop shop providing guidance on work place travel plans, includes resources kit and evaluation tool. ¾ The Commission for Integrated Transport is an independent body advising the Government on integrated transport policy. It provides evidence based reports on Best practice amongst local authorities/delivery agencies to encourage improved performance and to highlight barriers to best practice. ¾ The Scottish Government has developed a website about promoting more sustainable travel choices. It includes information on walking, cycling, smarter working and responsible car use. The ‘tools and resources’ section has links to a variety of websites that can help with the development and monitoring of a travel plan. ¾ The City of Gothenburg is facing significant congestion. Lundby Mobility Centre aimed to create more sustainable freight patterns by targeting small to medium-sized enterprises in the area by increasing their awareness. More information on how the city achieved a 41% decrease in freight transport with the companies it targeted can be found here.

Promote green fleet advice service Maidstone Borough Council should promote the Energy Saving Trust’s free green fleet review and vehicle carbon footprinting services to local businesses. To register for a review, the businesses can call 0845 602 1425.

Fiscal measures Consider introducing fiscal measures to encourage reduced car use and cleaner car purchase such as congestion charging or carbon-based residents parking permits. Further guidance; Many UK vehicle taxes including vehicle excise duty and company car tax are now based on vehicles’ CO2 emissions. The UK’s car environmental label is also based on cars’ CO2 emissions.

Several local authorities are looking to continue this trend by linking the price of residents’ car parking permits to their cars’ CO2 emissions, such as the London Borough of Richmond. It is hoped that this will increase drivers’ awareness of car CO2 emissions and will provide further incentives for drivers to choose cleaner cars.

Drivers of “gas guzzling” cars face higher on-street parking charges under plans from Richmond-Upon- Thames Council.

3.5 Own estate

3.5.1 Overview

Maidstone Borough Council Own estate

6 Actual 5 Best practice Excellent 4 Good 3 Fair 2 Weak

ment ings e ld cur bui Transport o Resources n Pr w O

The graph above shows that the Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ in relation to energy efficiency in its own buildings, ‘fair/good’ in terms of procurement and ‘fair’ with respect to resources and transport.

Please note that the Carbon Trust is the main agency offering help and support in terms of energy efficiency in non- domestic buildings. In particular, it offers: ¾ Through the local authority carbon management programme, the Carbon Trust provides councils with technical and change management support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings specifically from their estate and operations. The primary focus of the work is to reduce emissions under the control of the local authority such as buildings, street lighting and landfill sites. Participating councils benefit from consultant support in the form of workshops and limited dedicated support tailored around a systematic process. This process guides authorities through a systematic analysis of their carbon footprint, the value at stake and the opportunities available to help them manage carbon emissions in a strategic manner. Each phase of the local authority carbon management programme kicks off at the beginning of April of each year. Being a true partnership, the programme on average requires a minimum council commitment of two days a week for the programme's ten-month duration. For details of how to apply visit the Carbon Trust’s local authority webpage. ¾ A free energy survey to organisations with annual energy bills of over £50,000. Consultants can identify energy saving opportunities and offer practical advice on how to achieve these. ¾ A design advice service. ¾ A local authority network for discussing best practice etc.

3.5.2 Procurement

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of procurement because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council uses energy efficiency standards in the procurement of electrical goods and Maidstone House (the Council main office building) were both required to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.

The Council also uses procurement to drive higher energy efficiency standards and lower emissions from transport in service providers through specific requirements within Tender Documents.

The Council purchases its energy through Kent County Council Laser Energy Buying Group. The Council do not however purchase green electricity nor have a written policy for purchasing green electricity.

Recommendations It is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good/excellent’.

Ensure sustainable procurement policies are in place Maidstone Borough Council should introduce procurement policies that ensure sustainable energy is maximised, including introducing: ¾ High energy efficiency standards in the procurement of electrical goods for example energy saving recommended certified products. ¾ A policy of procuring local items where possible and items manufactured with minimal energy usage and environmental impact. ¾ A policy of buying green electricity. Further guidance; Defra’s Buy Sustainable – Quick Wins guide is specifically designed for procurers. It is a set of sustainable specifications for a range of commonly-purchased products, such as IT equipment, white goods, paper (including tissue), etc. The products assessed were chosen for their environmental/financial impact, scope for environmental improvement and political or example-setting function.

The Sustainable Procurement and Information Network provides a 'one-stop' website containing the very best information relating to the sustainable procurement agenda. Local authorities and public sector organisations can contribute content to the website, which was launched as part of an East Midlands Centre of Excellence sustainable procurement project. It has since received the backing of the East of England and North West Centres of Excellence and is well on the way to becoming a national resource for sustainable procurement information.

In June 2006 the Greater London Authority group adopted a Responsible Procurement Policy and in February 2008 the Mayor of London published a Responsible Procurement report. This highlights progress in ensuring that London gets the maximum benefit from the way in which the GLA group makes its £3 billion plus annual purchases of goods, works and services. It sets out what has been delivered in the first year of implementation with specific case studies and summarises how the group plans to take forward responsible procurement. Further information is available on the Responsible Procurement website.

Local government spends more than £40 billion each year undertaking capital projects and buying in goods and services and many local authorities are adopting 'green' procurement policies. The Local Government Sustainable Procurement Strategy sets out how local authorities can do more. Examples of councils that are already working on sustainable procurement include: ¾ Wakefield Council asks would-be suppliers what added value they could bring to the district in terms of social, economic and environmental benefits. ¾ Leicester City Council has had an environmental purchasing policy for the last ten years. It has recently created a new post to deliver sustainable procurement for the authority through its existing EMAS environmental management system.

¾ Through its Local Business Initiative, Thurrock Council aims to increase the amount of work, goods and services which are awarded to local business. Nearly two thirds of its annual budget was spent within the county in 2008.

The BREEAM Awards recognise and reward those involved in the design and construction of the highest scoring buildings certified under BREEAM.

The BREAM Bespoke Award Winner in 2007 was Swindon Central Library. Roderick Bluh, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, commented “Swindon Borough Council is gaining support for its borough wide sustainable strategy and is aspiring to become an exemplar in this field. BREEAM is a step towards this aim. The BREEAM assessment process ensures high standards of environmental performance and challenges the design team to arrive at innovative solutions. The new central library is an exciting new construction in the heart of Swindon that embraces the Council’s desire to provide high quality sustainable developments”.

In addition, BREEAM Offices is the most widely used means of reviewing and improving the environmental performance of office buildings and these assessments can be carried out on both new and existing office buildings.

In the 2008 budget, the Government announced its intention that all new non-domestic buildings will be zero carbon from 2019. Progress towards this target will be reviewed in 2013. The Government is also taking action to reduce the CO2 impact of public sector buildings. All new schools are to be zero carbon from 2016, and the Government has set an ambition for all new public sector buildings to be zero carbon from 2018. The Government intends to establish a taskforce to advise on the timeline, how to reduce carbon emissions in the intervening period, and the particular challenges faced in some sectors such as hospitals, prisons and defence establishments.

The London Borough of Lewisham’s environmentally responsible purchasing policy aims to provide best value services while incorporating the sustainability agenda. One way of achieving this has been to achieve accreditation from the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. The Council has developed an environmentally responsible purchasing policy to help it meet these wider social, economic and environmental targets. Green procurement is being pushed in Lewisham by key councillors and officers who are requesting improved systems and further action to green the supply chain. Green procurement policy development followed on from the Council’s 100% green energy purchasing initiative agreed in 2000. The Council’s key policy statement on environmentally responsible purchasing is: “The Council aims to deliver services that are resource efficient, that minimise the generation of waste and which contribute to a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable society, whilst meeting current needs.”

The Carbon Trust’s local authority sector overview demonstrates the best energy saving opportunities available in many local authority buildings by focussing on low and no-cost measures and actions with the quickest payback. Information on procurement can be found from page 27 onwards.

The following resources may also be useful: ¾ Green Street helps housing associations and local authorities improve the environmental performance of their housing stock, including information on procurement. ¾ Buying Green - A handbook on environmental public procurement is a step-by-step guide to help develop a strategic approach to sustainable procurement. It is peppered with useful facts, legislative context and plenty of case studies. ¾ OGC has produced a leaflet called Buy green and make a difference: how to address environmental issues in public procurement. It is designed to help procurers in the public sector to consider the consequences of their spending decisions on the environment.

3.5.3 Resources

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair’ in terms of resources because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council currently has one officer who spends 50% of her time on energy management. This is equivalent to one member of staff per £1 million spent on energy.

There is currently no specific funding for energy efficiency measures, although proposed schemes can attract Invest- to-save funding.

The Council also do not re-invest savings from energy efficiency measures into investments in further energy work.

Recommendations It is recommended that the following is explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good’.

Reinvesting savings from energy efficiency investments into further energy action Maidstone Borough Council should look to reinvest all financial savings from energy efficiency into further energy action including renewables. Further guidance; This is covered in section 3.2.3.

3.5.4 Own buildings

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘good/excellent’ in terms of its own buildings because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

Maidstone Borough Council owns approximately 82 buildings and sites. All the heating is from natural gas, except for a small amount of oil used in the Council depot. The Council’s current offices were built in 1976 and were refurbished in 2008 to a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.

The approximated total energy consumption in the year 2008-2009 was 14,065,123 kilowatt hours (kWh) and the total energy spend was £477,108.55.

The Council used 8,567,272 kWh of gas at cost of £85,851.63 (excluding Maidstone House, Mote Park and London House gas costs). 5,343,801 kWh of electricity was used at a cost of £383,313.36 (excluding Mote Park costs) and 154,050 kWh of oil was used at a cost of £7,943.56.

The building that was the largest energy consumer overall is Mote Park leisure centre (which is managed by SERCO, an international services company). The largest energy consumer that the Council directly manages is Maidstone House. The largest user of gas is the Council Crematorium. The energy usage in 2008-2009 from street lighting is 18,548 kWh.

Energy efficiency is also always considered during refurbishment and plant replacement programmes. Buildings are not classified based on energy consumption, but buildings that have high energy usage are prioritised and energy use data is available. Plans are in place to use the European Union Energy Performance Directive to highlight energy performance to staff.

The Council have a target of a 3% annual reduction in CO2 and some training has taken place to highlight this to staff, more training is being planned. The Council also have a biomass boiler in Maidstone House and the Maidstone Gateway.

The Council do not forecast energy prices and intelligent metering is not used.

Recommendations It is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘excellent/best practice’.

Take Carbon Trust’s advice Maidstone Borough Council should continue to seek advice and support from the Carbon Trust. Details are provided in section 2.5.1, above. Further guidance; A case study is available on Nottingham City Councils corporate plan to reduce energy consumption in its own estate.

Prioritise energy efficiency in existing buildings. Maidstone Borough Council should forecast future price rises when calculating payback periods.

Consider producing own energy. Maidstone Borough Council should continue to consider generating renewable energy. Further guidance; Assistance and potential funding is available from Partnerships for Renewables, a Carbon Trust Enterprises Limited venture, working in partnership with public sector bodies to develop and manage

onsite renewable energy projects.

The Carbon Trust offers Biomass heating: a practical guide for potential users as well as information on small scale wind to help businesses and public sector organisations to use these technologies.

Set reduction targets Maidstone Borough Council should assign energy costs to departments or buildings, based on actual use. Targets for energy reduction should be set and staff trained to use less energy. Publicising the results will help to raise awareness further. Meter readings should be used to prioritise work. Further guidance; The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), scheduled to begin operation in 2010, is a mandatory emissions trading scheme that will cover around 5,000 public and private organisations, including supermarkets, banks and local authorities. It is hoped that the scheme will save at least four million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020 - the equivalent of taking more than a million cars off the road.

The LGA and Nabarro LLP have developed a short introductory guidance on the CRC to help raise awareness within local authorities about the scheme. Cutting through the green tape II: Preparing for the Carbon Reduction Commitment introduces the scheme and covers some of the policy and budgetary implications and also suggests some of the fundamental actions that your local authority needs to take now, to prepare for it.

Appoint energy champions in each department or building Maidstone Borough Council should appoint energy champions in each department or building and ensure they are responsible for keeping staff informed of energy saving tips and can keep an eye on simple things such as lights and monitors being left on. Further guidance: The briefing note What are energy champions and how can they benefit your organisation provides an overview of the potential role of an energy champion and the activities they can undertake to benefit the local authority.

Use smart meters Maidstone Borough Council should consider using smart meters and feed back data to users. Further guidance; Intelligent meters: ¾ Measure the quantity of energy consumed. ¾ Measure the time interval over which it was consumed. ¾ Record ‘billing-level’ readings. ¾ Support two-way communication. ¾ Store interval-data and transfer it remotely to a data collector/utility. ¾ Store and display consumption and tariff information.

Such meters provide consumers with better information on the fuel they are consuming and allow more innovative tariffs and services from suppliers in addition to providing support for the implementation of new technologies such as microgeneration and smarter networks.

Exemplar projects Maidstone Borough Council should consider developing more exemplar projects, eg using funding from the Low Carbon Buildings programme. Further guidance; The following case studies may be useful: ¾ Worcestershire County Councils wood-fired boiler, which supplies heat to the Council’s offices. ¾ A case study on how energy efficient sustainable construction and renewable technologies were incorporated into the development of Kingsmead School. ¾ A case study looking at the replacement of an oil fuelled heating system at the Oakengates Leisure Centre in the Borough of Telford and Wrekin, with a wood fuelled heating system.

There is a joint Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, Energy Saving Trust and Local Government Association publication called Leading the way: How local authorities can meet the challenge of climate change. This document is a statement on climate change and sustainable energy and how local government can achieve the target of reducing greenhouse emissions by 60%. There is an appendix entitled ‘Examples and initiatives’ (page 43 onwards) which provides a small selection of case studies that illustrate the work being done by local authorities, including renewable energy use in council buildings.

Berlin has offered its roofs to private investors to become solar power generators through its Solar Roof Initiative. This project illustrates the opportunities for renewable energy that Maidstone Borough Council could take without large investment on its part. Not only are investors interested but the project has helped to educate staff and the public.

Kent County Council has been accredited under The Carbon Trust Standard. The Carbon Trust Standard is awarded to organisations that measure, manage and reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, further information on other councils that have been accredited can be found here.

Integrating renewable energy into new developments: toolkit for planners, developers and consultants is a London Energy Partnership document which aims to support interested parties with planning policies in London that require renewable energy.

The Carbon Trust’s low-carbon building accelerator initiative focuses on gathering data and demonstrating expertise in the energy-efficient refurbishment of non-residential buildings. Further information on the Carbon Trust’s services can be found in section 2.5.1 above.

3.5.5 Transport

Current situation Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ in terms of transport because of the following activities that it has undertaken in this area.

The Council incorporated their Travel Plan into their Climate Change Action Plan.

The Council encourage the use of public transport through offering discounted bus travel in partnership with Arriva. They also encourage cycling and provide showers, lockers and secure storage facilities in their new building. The Council also restrict the number of parking spaces to encourage the use of other modes of transport. The Kent Car Share scheme is promoted to staff and mileage is monitored through the Council’s Payroll system. There is not however a formal system for challenging use and it is up to individual line managers to authorise claims.

The Council do not have a Travel Coordinator and there are no targets for reducing car use. The Council has also not worked with unions to revise financial incentives around travel and there are not any measures in place to encourage staff to use more efficient cars for work. The Council do however have two low emission pool cars and two pool bikes for business travel use. Discussions have also taken place with StreetCar, which currently operates in Maidstone.

With regards to the Council own fleet, the Council own 38 vehicles and lease 140 vehicles. The lease cars are limited to 180 gCO2 /km and the Council hope to reduce this to 160 gCO2 /km on all cars ordered from 2009.

Fuel use is monitored as part of financial monitoring at Maidstone Borough Services and there are no targets for reducing fuel use other than as part of the Council target to reduce CO2 emissions by 3% annually. There are currently no vehicles using alternative fuels and there is no green fleet management policy.

Recommendations As Maidstone Borough Council was rated ‘fair/good’ with regard to transport, it is recommended that the following areas are explored to bring the Council up to the standard of ‘good/excellent’.

Green fleet review Maidstone Borough Council should apply to the Energy Saving Trust for a Green Fleet Review or vehicle carbon footprinting service which are offered free of charge to any organisation with more than 50 vehicles (including leased vehicles). Further guidance; The Green Fleet Review usually takes three to four days but can be up to 20, and looks at how to run fleets efficiently as well as providing training and seminars. It focuses primarily on all aspects of business travel for the local authority and not on how staff travel to work. It covers all council vehicles apart from trucks. The Green Fleet Review will result in a comprehensive report covering: ¾ Maidstone Borough Council’s fleet’s carbon footprint. ¾ Vehicle allocation policy. ¾ Fuel economy. ¾ Mileage reimbursement policy. ¾ Driver education. ¾ Reducing mileage - journey planning, satellite navigation, telematics. ¾ Health and safety and Duty of Care issues.

With the help of an Energy Saving Trust Green Fleet Review, Sandwell Borough Council is in the process

1 lowemissionstrategies.org/index.html 2 lowemissionstrategies.org/newsitems/news_low_emissions_toolkit.html

of implementing a range of measures to reduce carbon emissions and potentially cut its fuel bills by half. These include vehicle downsizing and training staff on eco-driving techniques.

The vehicle carbon footprinting service will provide clients with their carbon footprint from fleet operations and business travel in private vehicles along with an indication of how accurate it has been possible to calculate it. It will also comment on areas needing data improvement and provide a variety of benchmarks. For local authorities which have selected NI185, the Energy Saving Trust anticipates the output from this work will fulfil reporting requirements, and the service will include data entry in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) spreadsheet. We are currently seeking formal verification from DEFRA that the output of this footprinting service can feed directly into NI185.

Information from the Energy Saving Trust on effective fleet management is also available.

Green travel plans Maidstone Borough Council should: ¾ Introduce a travel plan focusing initially on commuting. ¾ Expand the travel plan to look at business use. ¾ Expand the travel plan to include visitors. ¾ Include plans for working with public transport providers to ensure that, where possible, public transport provision is convenient for staff. ¾ Ensure that the travel plan includes provision to promote cycling and public transport as well as providing facilities for cyclists. ¾ Include a target for reducing car use. ¾ Encourage car sharing. Further guidance; Fife Council’s travel plan 'Way Ahead to Work' was created in 1999 to encourage a reduction in car dependency for travel to and from work and at work. It puts a number of mechanisms in place that cover the Council’s 22,000 employees and is reviewed every two years.

Another success stemming from the travel plan is an internal car sharing scheme operated through Fife Councils intranet. As well as reducing emissions, car sharing can ease congestion and parking problems at work. Where the car sharing scheme has been combined with a car parking regime (limiting available parking spaces so that only visitors, operational users and those using the scheme) at one council office, there has been a 13.5% decrease in car use. Through an initiative by SEStran (South East of Scotland Transport Partnership) and Liftshare, the internal car sharing scheme is being rolled out into a larger scheme whereby employers can have their own private group or use the free community-wide scheme. The Council will be promoting this community-wide scheme to local businesses and residents.

The following information may also be useful: ¾ North Yorkshire County Council uses GIS to encourage staff to think about taking up more sustainable transport options. The Council mapped staff travel routes with the existing bus routes which revealed large gaps in routes served by buses. The bus routes were re-routed to serve main areas where staff, who wanted to use the bus service, lived. ¾ The Department for Transport has produced a publication Making travel plans work – lessons from UK case studies. This contains a wealth of information on different councils transport plans. ¾ Unison has produced a publication (2002) which includes case studies on different local authority green travel schemes (from page 13 onwards). ¾ The Scottish Government has developed a website about promoting more sustainable travel choices. It includes information on walking, cycling, smarter working and responsible car use. The ‘tools and resources’ section has links to a variety of websites that can help with the development and monitoring of a travel plan. ¾ There is a recent press release relating to the Greater London Authority’s budget to tackle climate change which includes £8 million from Transport for London to establish a climate change mitigation fund mainly to support energy efficient technology in transport (£25 million over three financial years). ¾ The London Borough of Islington’s green travel plan 2006-2008. ¾ Staffordshire County Councils green travel plan.

¾ Stafford Borough Councils green transport plan for staff and members. ¾ West Oxfordshire District Councils green transport plan for staff. ¾ The Department for Transport’s own travel plan for its staff. ¾ Advice is available from the ACT Travelwise, the association for travel planning expertise. Please note that this may include reference to private consultants. ¾ Leicester City Councils initiative to increase usage of biofuels/biomass. The initiative formed part of ProBioEnergy - a three year, European Commission funded project, aiming to increase the uptake of bio-energy. ¾ The London Borough of Southwark makes a difference with greener fuels.

Use procurement to encourage a cleaner fleet Maidstone Borough Council should set targets for vehicle emissions and fuel use in the procurement of transport services.

Appoint a Travel Coordinator Maidstone Borough Council should appoint a full time travel coordinator.

Next steps

This report constitutes stage three of the seven stage local authority one-to-one support process. Your Account manager will be on hand to guide you through the remaining stages.

The next stage is to develop an action plan. This will focus on developing a strategic approach to the reduction of energy use across the local authority area – this action plan will encompass both internal operations and importantly Maidstone Borough Council’s role as a community leader.

Supported by your Account manager, Maidstone Borough Council will take the lead on translating the recommendations in this report into a prioritised action plan. This should include targets, timelines and responsibilities.

Once the action plan is signed off by senior management, the Energy Saving Trust’s Account manager will support implementation and review of the action plan for one year. After this year, Maidstone Borough Council can use Energy Saving Trust Practical help service and their local advice centre for further support.

4.0 Recommendations table

Recommendation National Carbon impact Indicator STRATEGY Strategic Ensure that a cross-council system is in place for gathering data 185 Underpins other approach relating to sustainable energy (including energy use in the 186 activity Council’s estate, the energy efficiency of public and private 187 sector housing stock, planning applications relating to the use of microgeneration etc). Resources Ensure that a member of staff within each service area is 185 Underpins other internal allocated time to promote the integration of sustainable energy, activity with performance reviewed through the Council’s appraisal system or equivalent. Ensure that any savings made from investing in energy 185 Underpins other efficiency are reinvested in sustainable energy. activity Political Include a climate change impact assessment for all major 185 /corporate projects/decisions at committee level. 186 support Conduct a scrutiny review of energy. 185 Underpins other 186 activity Staff ¾ Ensure that frontline staff who visit tenants are aware of 185 Underpins other training/engag issues associated with poor energy efficiency and are 186 activity ement either able to provide advice there and then, or refer the 187 tenants to the Energy Saving Trust advice centre. ¾ Introduce energy training on energy issues for all new staff as part of their induction. ¾ Introduce detailed training for all staff with regular refresher courses and follow up with email bulletins. Embark upon a staff awareness campaign. The Council can 185 Low/medium assign energy costs to each department and set targets for 186 (depends on reduction. This could be linked to a personal climate change 187 amount of energy pledging system at work and home. used by council) SERVICES Regeneration ¾ The Council should ensure regeneration team 186 Medium recognises value of energy efficiency improvements as part of regeneration. ¾ The Council should ensure renewal/regeneration schemes actively seek projects delivering energy efficiency advice and improvements, with specific targets. ¾ Ensure a core focus of economic development activity is to secure high sustainable energy standards in projects and businesses targets. Continue to ensure acknowledgement of energy efficiency as a 186 Medium factor in business performance and look at opportunities to improve business efficiency. Social housing Strengthen partnerships with RSLs with a named officer lead. 186 Potentially – other This would enable the Council to continue to obtain energy domestic significant including ratings and data for HECA/NI 186 returns, and would give the 187 LSVT Council a better overall picture of the social housing stock. It may be possible to set up joint energy efficiency schemes to help achieve minimum standards across all social housing or link up on advice and awareness campaigns to tenants.

Encourage RSLs to develop a work plan to raise average SAP 186 Impact of all of by several points, prioritising the poorest performing housing and domestic these depends on ensuring that all properties with cavities are insulated and all 187 the current level lofts insulated with at least 270mm of insulation. of energy efficiency of the stock. Likely to be significant Encourage RSLs to introduce minimum SAP targets. Encourage 186 Potentially RSLs to introduce a programme of improving hard to treat domestic significant properties to achieve this target. This may include renewable 187 energy technologies. Encourage RSLs to specify integrated packages of improvement 186 Medium measures where possible and ensure opportunistic energy work domestic is included in repair and maintenance programmes and void 187 repairs. Encourage RSLs to set targets for improving sustainable energy 186 Underpins other in own stock and monitor progress against this. This should domestic activity include a plan to achieve the Decent Homes standard. 187

As part of this, the Council should establish a dedicated database of public sector domestic properties with energy ratings. Ensure this is updated continuously (eg using surveys and inspections) and annually with improvements to heating and insulation standards. Encourage RSLs to ensure they are set up to implement the EU 186 Underpins other Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by ensuring EPCs domestic activity are issued each time a dwelling changes tenancy. 187 Work with RSLs to introduce a proactive programme to secure 186 Required to external funding to improve sustainability in social housing in the domestic implement other area. 187 actions

Encourage RSLs to ensure that adequate energy efficiency 186 Potentially advice and signposting to the Energy Saving Trust advice centre domestic significant is provided for their tenants. 187 Encourage RSLs to ensure that fuel poverty is considered when 186 Small allocating properties to tenants. domestic 187 Encourage RSLs to consider establishing an affinity deal with an 186 Small energy supplier to cover void council properties and ensure that domestic any revenue (via commission payments) obtained through this is 187 ring fenced for other energy efficiency improvements. Private sector Consider implementing an area based insulation scheme as an 186 Very significant housing – effective way of delivering significant carbon reductions in the domestic rented and Local authority area. owner occupied Ensure sufficient officer time is made available to influence 186 home owners and landlords to invest in measures and instil domestic changes in energy usage behaviours. 187 Continue to implement programmes for tackling privately owned 186 housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable domestic energy technologies where possible. 187 Continue to implement programmes for tackling privately rented 186 Very significant housing, including energy efficiency measures and renewable domestic energy technologies where possible. 187

Consider setting up a bulk discount, council tax rebate or loan 186 scheme to help persuade private sector householders to invest domestic in sustainable energy. 187 Work with the regional HECA/Carbon Action Network forum to 186 share best practice. domestic 187 Use the Homes Energy Efficiency Database to monitor progress 186 against targets, understand energy efficiency in your area and domestic allocate resources effectively. 187 The Council should continue to target those dwellings 186 Underpins other considered to be ‘hard to treat’. domestic activity 187 The Council should consider introducing a programme of 186 Underpins other marketing sustainable energy measures to private sector domestic activity householders. This could include promotion of national grant 187 programmes such as Warm Front and the Low Carbon Building Programme. The Council should benchmark its progress in terms of referrals to these programmes. Promote HIPs to householders, working with estate agents NI186 where appropriate and ensuring the Council is set up to answer any questions on this. Consider setting up a fuel poverty referral network, which can 186 put residents in touch with a variety of networks that can assist domestic them with insulation and heating grants, as well as debt 187 counselling and income maximisation.

Energy advice Continue to offer a community energy advice programme 186 Medium involving community talks and face to face advice. domestic/tr ansport Ensure that staff follow the domestic energy efficiency advice 186 Underpins other code of practice. domestic activity Resources – Maintain a proactive programme to secure external funding and 186 Required to levering in access support services. domestic implement other external actions funding Signposting to Continue to set up and promote own grant schemes to fill gaps 186 Impact depends external grant in national grant funding. domestic on what is offered schemes and how effectively it is marketed. Could be significant. Planning Within the LDF, specify a minimum level of the Code for 186 Impact depends policy Sustainable Homes which encourages energy efficiency on quantity of standards beyond building regulations across all new new development development as follows; in the Council. ¾ Code level 4 (44% reduction in CO2) from 2010-2013, For those ¾ Code level 5 (100% reduction in CO2) from 2013-2016 and councils targeted ¾ Code level 6 (zero carbon standard) from 2016 onwards as areas for development by the government, this recommendation would probably have a greater

carbon impact than any other To inform the LDF development, develop an evidence base to 186 Underpins other identify the potential for renewable energy in new developments. activity

Include a policy in their LDF to require a target for CO2 186 Potentially high emissions reduction through the use of renewable energy in all new developments. (This should be additional to the percentage carbon dioxide reduction required by the code for sustainable homes) In certain developments, where a greater potential for renewable energy has been identified, the local authority should require a higher percentage on a site by site basis. Encourage and require (where feasible) Combined Heat and 186 Potentially high Power (CHP) and District Heating to provide heat and electricity to new and existing buildings. Use the planning system to drive higher standards in existing 186 Medium dwellings. domestic Introduce incentives for exemplar/zero energy developments. 186 Medium Ensure that planners, building control officers and developers 186 Underpins under are all working in partnership eg by setting up a cross activity departmental working group. Ensure the planning committee is trained on sustainable energy 186 Underpins under issues/ low carbon energy. activity Train and encourage planners to proactively promote 186 Underpins under sustainable energy to everyone applying for planning activity permission. Ensure that planning officers are disseminating information on 186 Small energy efficiency and renewable energy to people making enquiries or full planning applications. Building Ensure Building Control Officers are integrally involved in 186 Underpins other Regulations developing policies for the developing Local Development activity enforcement Framework, to ensure that it has weight once approved. COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP Community Maidstone Borough Council should promote its leadership role to 186 planning members of the Local Strategic Partnership to ensure that key players are bought into delivering against NI 186. Engagement Engage with other local authorities classified as ‘nearest 186 Underpins other with regional neighbours’ using the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and activity stakeholders Accountancy (CIPFA) modelling to exchange information and develop solutions. Ensure that local strategies refer to regional priorities and targets 186 Underpins other and should press for regional targets to be in line with or activity exceeding national targets. Engagement/ Council officers should actively work in partnership with local 186 Medium awareness community groups and key officers should join the Energy domestic raising with Saving Trust’s Green Communities programme, and signpost wider active communities in the area to the tools and resources community available. Nominate a Green Community to your local Energy Saving Trust 186 Underpins other advice centre. domestic activity Lead the community to take action on energy by setting up 186 Medium community energy efficiency initiatives domestic Encourage microgeneration on houses. 186 Medium

domestic Encourage the local community to develop community 186 Medium renewable schemes and/or energy services companies. domestic Develop a communications plan to lead the community to take 186 Medium action on reducing energy usage. domestic /transport Promote domestic energy monitors to residents and businesses 186 Potentially as a way of helping them reduce energy use. domestic/ significant industry Link to community sustainable energy work to wider work on 186 Medium education and behavioural change. domestic/ transport Work with the Carbon Trust to promote its services to 186 Medium businesses, industry and schools. industry Schools and Continue to work with schools to help raise awareness of energy 186 Medium Education issues and signpost to existing resources. domestic. 185 Work with schools to develop school travel plans. 186 Medium transport

Transport in Continue to work to reduce car dependency and increase the 186 High the community use of public transport, cycling and walking. Targets and transport timescales should be identified.

Seek to reduce CO2 from cars though promoting efficient driving 186 High and low carbon car choice. Targets and timescales should be transport identified. Encourage local bus operators to purchase lower carbon 186 High vehicles. transport Work with local businesses to promote travel plans. 186 High transport Promote the Energy Saving Trust’s free green fleet review and 185, 186 Medium vehicle carbon footprinting services to local businesses. To transport register for a free review, the businesses can call 0845 602 1425. Consider introducing fiscal measures to encourage reduced car 186 Medium use and cleaner car purchase such as congestion charging or transport carbon-based residents parking permits. OWN ESTATE Procurement Introduce procurement policies that ensure sustainable energy is 185 Impact depends maximised, including introducing: on size of council ¾ High energy efficiency standards in the procurement of and quantity of electrical goods for example energy saving goods procured/ recommended certified products. whether any new ¾ A policy of procuring local items where possible and council buildings items manufactured with minimal energy usage and are planned/ how environmental impact. much electricity ¾ Introduce a policy of purchasing green electricity. the Council uses. Resources Reinvest all financial savings in further energy work including 185 Medium renewables. 186 industry Own buildings Continue to seek advice and support from the Carbon Trust 185 Impact depends ¾ Local authority carbon management programme. 186 on the size of the ¾ Design advice service. industry Council’s estate.

¾ Free energy survey. Likely to be quite small compared to housing and transport in the community. Forecast future price rises when calculating payback periods. 185 Medium 186 industry Continue to consider producing own renewable energy. 185 Impact depends 186 on the size of the industry Council’s estate. Likely to be quite small compared to housing and transport in the community. Assign energy costs to departments or buildings, based on 185 Medium actual use. Targets for energy reduction should be set and staff 186 trained to use less energy. Publicise the results and use them to industry raise further awareness further. Meter readings should be used to prioritise work.

Appoint energy champions in each department or building and 185 Low/medium ensure they are responsible for keeping staff informed of energy (depends on saving tips and can keep an eye on simple things such as lights amount of energy and monitors being left on. used by council) Use smart metering and feedback to energy users. 185 Underpins other 186 activity industry Develop more exemplar projects, eg using funding from the Low 185 Underpins other Carbon Buildings programme. 186 activity, ‘setting a industry example’ Transport Apply to the Energy Saving Trust for a green fleet review or 186 Impact of all of vehicle carbon footprinting service which are offered free of transport these will depend charge to any organisation with more than 50 vehicles (including 185 on the size of the leased vehicles). Council and the size of the fleet. Likely to be quite small though The Council should: 185 Medium ¾ Introduce a travel plan focusing initially on commuting. 186 ¾ Expand the travel plan to look at business use. transport ¾ Expand the travel plan to include visitors. ¾ Include plans for working with public transport providers to ensure that, where possible, public transport provision is convenient for staff. ¾ Ensure that the travel plan includes a provision to promote cycling and public transport and provide facilities for cyclists. ¾ Include a target for reducing car use. ¾ Encourage car sharing.

Encourage staff to use more efficient vehicles for work and 185 Probably quite consider prohibiting high polluting vehicles. 186 small transport

Set targets for vehicle emissions and fuel use in procurement of 185 Medium transport services. 186 transport Appoint a full time Travel Coordinator. 185 Medium 186 transport