Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Localisation of Labour Party combined heat and power/district heating policy: 1977-87 Thesis How to cite: Marvin, Simon (1991). Localisation of Labour Party combined heat and power/district heating policy: 1977- 87. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1990 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.00010169 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk D;c nos16 LOCALISATION OF LABOUR PARTY COMBINED HEAT AND POWER/DISTRICT HEATING POLICY: 1977- 87 SIMON MARVIN SEPTEMBER 1990 PHD. SUBMISSION TECHNOLOGY FACULTY THE OPEN UNIVERSITY MILTON KEYNES he^l^- nK.t.'aeu-rd t I I \ ProQuest Number: 27758397 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. in the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 27758397 Published by ProQuest LLC (2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. Ail Rights Reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the impact of local political units of the Labour Party on the development of national party policy for Combined Heat and Power/District Heating (CHP/DH) energy production technology over the period 1977-87. Three particular localities, Newcastle, Sheffield and London, were selected for study because they had an important role in advocating the local development of CHP/DH. But the local implementation of CHP/DH in these Labour controlled local authorities was severely constrained by the policies of the Conservative Government and the institutional constraints imposed by the Electricity Supply Industry. One response by these localities has been the localisation of national party policy for CHP/DH. This refers to a local role in the formulation of national party policies by using the local-national party interface to transmit local policies and demands to the centre. Localisation is a complex process, it varies overtime, particular localities have different roles, a wide variety of structures linking the local-national party are utilised, different types of localisation are advocated by particular local groups and there are varying national party responses to the local demands. It would be impossible to understand the development of national Labour Party policy for CHP/DH without an analysis of the role of particular Labour controlled local authorities in national policy formulation. The three cities examined in this study have provided an important axis of support for CHP/DH. They ensured that CHP/DH was placed on the national party policy agenda, provided local demonstrations of potential national policies, attempted to give policy a spatial dimension and develop a commitment to the municipal development of CHP/DH. But the national response to these demands was ambiguous. The national policy has reformulated and selected from the local demands and national party support for CHP/DH sits uncomfortably alongside other contradictory energy policies. However the local units of the party have ensured that CHP/DH was kept on the national party policy agenda, built up a body of support for CHP/DH and tried to ensure that the technology is incorporated into alternative strategies which could be implemented if a Labour government is elected. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this thesis. I am grateful for the help of all the people who made the time available to be interviewed; the staff and students of the Open University who provided a supportive and exciting environment for research, and; the members of the Technology Policy Group for their encouragement. Several people deserve special thanks: Dave Elliott and Rose Armson for their support; Dave Wield and Doreen Massey for their sensitive and inspirational supervision; my parents for their help and encouragement during many years of study, and; Rowena for several happy years in MK. Of course the usual disclaimers apply. CONTENTS Abstract / Acknowledgements // Contents Hi List of Figures iv List of Tables iv Abbreviations v Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Local Politics and the Labour Party 9 Chapter 2 Towards a New Localism 31 Chapter 3 Research Issues and Methodology 49 Chapter 4 Combined Heat and Power/Dlstrlct Heating 61 Chapter 5 Tyneside and CHP/DH 89 Chapter 6 Sheffield and CHP/DH 125 Chapter 7 London and CHP/DH 157 Chapter 8 Joint Local Authority Action and CHP/DH 193 Chapter 9 National Labour Party CHP/DH Policy 205 Conclusions 255 Appendices 267 References 283 III FIGURES Figure 2.1 Local Authority Technology Policy Issues 38 Figure 9.1 Periods of Labour Party CHP/DH Policy Formulation 206 Figure 9.2 Typology of Localisation 242 Figure 9.3 Forms of Localisation 243 Figure 9.4 Periods of Localisation 250 TABLES Table A Local Authorities Responding Favourably and Short-listed in 1981 273 Table B Local Authorities Contacted But Not Short-listed 274 Table C Local Authorities Contacted But Declined to Participate 275 Table D Local Authorities Listed in Energy Paper 34 as Possible Sites for CHP/DH But Not Contacted 277 IV ABBREVIATIONS AGR Advanced Gas cooled Reactor AMA Association of Metropolitan Authorities CGCC Coal Gasification Combined Cycle CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP/DH Combined Heat and Power/District Heating CHPA Combined Heat and Power Association DEED Department of Employment and Economic Development DEn Department of Energy DH District Heating DHA District Heating Association EEC European Economic Community ESI Electricity Supply Industry GLC Greater London Council HDHL High Density Heat Load HO Heat Only boilers IRR Internal Rate of Return JAC Joint Advisory Committee for CHP JVC Joint Venture Company LAA Local Authority Associations LEEN London Energy and Employment Network LIS London Industrial Strategy MW Megawatt MW(e) Electrical power production MW(th) Thermal energy production NCB National Coal Board NCHPLG National CHP Liaison Group PEITUC Power Engineering Industry Trade Union Committee PWR Pressurised Water Reactor RDF Refuse Derived Fuel TUSIU Trade Union Studies Information Unit INTRODUCTION Introduction 1 Interests and Challenges 1 Issues and Themes 3 Scope and Emphasis 5 Layout and Organisation 6 1 Introduction INTRODUCTION This thesis examines the role of local political units of the Labour Party in the development of national party policy. The main emphasis is the extent to which local demands, ideas and information stemming from local experience and needs can be transmitted through the local - national party interface, to influence the formulation, development and content of national party policy. The research focuses on a case study of a technology policy issue. Combined Heat and Power and District Heating (CHP/DH), linking the local and national party, and constructs an analysis of the role of local political units of the party in three localities, Newcastle, London and Sheffield, on the development of national party CHP/DH policy over the period 1977-87. INTERESTS AND CHALLENGES ] The research question developed from a recognition that the emergence of a new form of left-wing Labour local council in the late 1970s and early 1980s appeared to offer an opportunity for developing localised forms of technology policy within the Labour Party. In this period local government became a major focus of Labour Party political activity, as a means both of opposing the Conservative Government and of generating new ideas about the future direction of socialism. Local socialism represented a varied form of politics lacking an authoritative centre but becoming a set of ideas and associated practices "largely developed from the bottom up rather than the top down"i. New issues were placed on the agenda of these local authorities and old issues were looked at in new ways. In the early 1980s a limited number of these Labour local authorities began to develop policies with an important technological component. This included policies for infrastructural technologies such as light rapid transit systems, energy production and distribution and cable communication technology, but also included the more general role of technology in economic and employment policy^. Local authorities took an interest in these technologies to promote locally based economic development in accordance with their social objectives and to maintain local control over the form and organisation of the technology’s development. The formation by a number of Labour local authorities of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) in 1986 provided a example of the new interest in the role of locally based economic strategies in this period. These initiatives were in policy fields in which local authorities had not been active since the late 1940s when responsibility for 1 Gyford 1985p ix 2 Wield, 1986 p20 Provides examples of policies with a technological dimension raised by Labour local authorities. 2 Introduction these functions passed to central government and the nationalised industriess. Consequently in the 1980s it was not surprising that local authorities lacked the necessary resources, powers and legislation to implement their technology policies. They were also operating in a hostile political environment with increased Conservative Government controls over local authority spending, the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) and Metropolitan Counties.