House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Climate change and local, regional and devolved Government Eighth Report of Session 2007–08 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 8 July 2008 HC 225 Published on 28 July 2008 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £23.00 The Environmental Audit Committee The Environmental Audit Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider to what extent the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development; to audit their performance against such targets as may be set for them by Her Majesty’s Ministers; and to report thereon to the House. Current membership Mr Tim Yeo, MP (Conservative, South Suffolk) (Chairman) Gregory Barker, MP (Conservative, Bexhill and Battle) Mr Martin Caton, MP (Labour, Gower) Mr Colin Challen, MP (Labour, Morley and Rothwell) Mr David Chaytor, MP (Labour, Bury North) Martin Horwood, MP (Liberal Democrat, Cheltenham) Mr Nick Hurd, MP (Conservative, Ruislip Northwood) Mark Lazarowicz, MP (Labour/Co-operative, Edinburgh North and Leith) Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP (Conservative, Bridgewater) Mr Shahid Malik, MP (Labour, Dewsbury) Mrs Linda Riordan, MP (Labour, Halifax) Mr Graham Stuart, MP (Conservative, Beverley & Holderness) Jo Swinson, MP (Liberal Democrat, East Dunbartonshire) Dr Desmond Turner, MP (Labour, Brighton, Kempton) Joan Walley, MP (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent North) Mr Phil Woolas, MP (Labour, Oldham and Saddleworth [ex-officio] Powers The constitution and powers are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally Standing Order No. 152A. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee. cfm. A list of Reports of the Committee from the present and prior Parliaments is at the back of this volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are: Gordon Clarke (Clerk); Sara Howe (Second Clerk); Richard Douglas (Committee Specialist); Oliver Bennett (Committee Specialist); Susan Monaghan (Committee Assistant); Stella Kin (Secretary); Elizabeth Gardner (Sandwich Student); and Ray Kennedy (Sandwich Student) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk, Environmental Audit Committee, Committee Office, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is: 020 7219 6150; the Committee’s e-mail address is: [email protected] Climate change and local, regional and devolved government 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 The role of local, regional and devolved government 5 The local government response 8 Barriers to action 9 3 The policy and performance management frameworks 10 Policy and policy coherence 10 Local Government Performance Framework 13 Local Area Agreements and indicators for local government 13 Comprehensive Area Assessment 16 Targets 17 4 Putting climate change on the agenda 20 The Nottingham Declaration 20 Engaging political leaders and senior staff 22 Making it part of the decision making process 23 Powers 24 The case for a statutory duty 24 Using existing powers effectively 25 Building knowledge and skills 27 Improving regional co-ordination 29 Regional structures and strategies 29 Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration 31 Devolved administrations 32 Adaptation 33 5 Conclusion 35 Conclusions and recommendations 36 Formal Minutes 40 Witnesses 41 List of written evidence 41 List of unprinted evidence 42 Climate change and local, regional and devolved government 3 Summary Local, regional and devolved government all have distinctive roles to play in tackling climate change. A step change in the level of activity is needed at all levels and the Government has put in place a number of changes in the policy framework and performance management of local government that should help to bring this about. Having a coherent and co-ordinated approach to climate change policy from the centre will help, especially when balancing short-term economic pressures with longer-term questions about sustainable development. It is too early to say how effective the new performance management framework will be but the early indications are good. It will be vital to get the right targets in place to deliver the kind of action needed on both mitigation and adaptation. The Nottingham Declaration, and its Scottish and Welsh equivalents, has been useful in raising awareness but more could be done to make sure that public commitments result in action. Spreading best practice and providing advice and guidance are also important. Making carbon impact assessments part of the decision making process could throw light on some of the issues around longer-term sustainability questions, particularly in relation to investment and planning decisions. The climate change agenda is a challenging one, especially for local authorities, and will depend on having people with the right skills and knowledge in place. Advice is available from a number of sources but the capacity of local authorities to respond is limited; the Government will need to think about how skills gaps are addressed and what support is needed. A great deal of attention is being paid to efforts to reduce emissions; much less is paid to adaptation. Even if we are successful in reducing emissions we will face changes in our climate and much more needs to be done to prepare for these. The Government will bring forward a national framework on adaptation; it will need to ensure that greater attention is paid to adaptation at all levels of government in the UK. Climate change and local, regional and devolved government 5 1 Introduction 1. The UK is unlikely to meet its domestic targets for reducing carbon emissions without greater emphasis on the behaviours of individuals and communities.1 Defra has recognised that action by local, regional and devolved bodies will be crucial to the achievement of targets.2 Local authorities, regional government and devolved administrations are well placed to play a significant part in reducing emissions; they manage large estates, provide services and act as community leaders. We welcome the final report from the Local Government Association’s Commission on Climate Change, published in December 2007, which said that local government was uniquely placed to tackle climate change.3 It recognised that local government had a democratic mandate for action, close proximity to citizens and a strategic role in leading public, private and voluntary sector partners. Local, regional and devolved governments will also have a key part to play in ensuring that the UK adapts to a changing climate; even if efforts to reduce emissions are successful some climate change is inevitable. The Governance of Britain Green Paper said, ‘The devolution settlement across the United Kingdom reflects the Government’s wish to ensure that decision-making is done at the right level: whether national, regional or in the local community’.4 The key question, within the context of the devolutionary agenda that is being pursued, is whether the policy framework the Government has put in place will deliver the step change in action on climate change needed in local, regional and devolved government. 2. We launched our inquiry on 28 November 2007 to assess the Government’s efforts to create the conditions in local, regional and devolved government where measures to address the challenge of climate change can be effectively supported and rewarded; we are grateful to all those who contributed and have acknowledged them at the end of our Report. The evidence we received and our Report deal mainly with the areas where there has been significant change and thus focus to a great extent on local authorities in England. The general principles underpinning our recommendations are more widely applicable. 2 The role of local, regional and devolved government 3. It is clear that the different levels of government in the UK all have distinctive roles to play in driving forward action to reduce emissions, supporting the move towards a low- carbon economy and adapting to changes in climate. In this part of our report we look at the role of local, regional and devolved government, and in particular at the response of local government. We identify some barriers that inhibit effective action and look briefly at the relationship between central and local government in this policy area. 1 Ev 109 2 Ev 55 3 Final Report of the LGA Climate Change Commission, a climate of change, December 2007 4 Ministry of Justice, The Governance of Britain, CM 7170, July 2007 6 Climate change and local, regional and devolved government 4. While the UK Government remains responsible for Kyoto targets and the programmes to deliver it, many of the policies implementing the UK’s climate change strategy are devolved matters.5 Devolution in the UK is asymmetric; there are different powers devolved to the administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This inevitably means that each of the devolved administrations has a slightly different role to play with regard to climate change and a slightly different relationship with central Government. In England, regional government continues to