News analysis Political parties
The colour of their money
How green are the policy pledges of the three main political parties in the UK when it comes to the built environment? Bob Cervi offers a guide on what to expect from the winner(s) of the general election
Carbon targets
There is little to choose between the three main parties when it comes to overall carbon targets. Whilst Labour and the Conservatives support the targets set out in the Climate Change Act of a 34 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and an 80 per cent cut by 2050, the Liberal Democrats have gone further and proposed targets of 40 per cent by 2020 and 100 per cent by 2050. Labour says it would aim to
create 400,000 new ‘green’ jobs by 2015, but doesn’t specify in its manifesto how this could be achieved. The Lib Dems pledge to allocate £400m for refurbishing shipyards to make them capable of manufacturing offshore wind turbines. The Tories say they would
All three main parties want to encourage the development of renewables and set up a system of ‘feed-in tariffs’ for householders.
encourage private-sector investment to put Britain at the forefront of the green technology revolution. They would also reform the Climate Change Levy to provide a floor price for carbon, delivering the right climate for investment in low carbon energy production and longer-term certainty to investors.
Green homes
Labour and the Conservatives have some similar approaches when it comes to persuading householders to become more energy efficient. The buzz word here is ‘pay as you save’. The Tories propose giving homeowners up £6,500 to pay for energy improvement measures. This sum would be recouped out of savings made on fuel bills over
25 years. Labour is committed to having all household lofts and cavity walls in Britain insulated by 2015 ‘where practical’, according to the manifesto. Its Warm Home Standard for social housing, already announced, would bring in regulation of landlords so that privately rented accommodation is properly insulated. Labour appears to retain its commitment to achieving ‘zero carbon’ homes (and non-domestic buildings), and to implementing key changes to the Building Regulations, in particular Parts L, F and G. The Tories also seem to want to continue with the goal of achieving zero carbon buildings, but we await details of how and when they would achieve this. The Lib Dems pledge a 10-year programme of home insulation that would offer up to £10,000 per property. Savings from fuel bills would, again, pay for this scheme. The manifesto makes a commitment to spending £400m in the coming year on ‘insulating public buildings’. None of the other two parties’ manifestos spell out spending plans in such detail. The Lib Dems also propose an
‘Eco Cash-Back’ scheme worth £335m in the same period that would fund home improvements such as installation of double- glazing, a new boiler and micro- generation, to the tune of £400 per household. Both the Tories and the Lib
Dems would scrap the home information packs (Hips) introduced by Labour, but would retain the requirement for energy performance certificates (EPCs) to be produced for properties that are sold.
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CIBSE Journal May 2010
Public sector
When it comes to social housing, the Lib Dems say they would bring 250,000 empty homes back into use. Grants would be available for renovations aimed at providing social housing, plus loans for private use. Local authorities would be allowed to keep 100 per cent of the capital receipts from the sale of council homes. Labour is committed to building
200,000 new houses a year until 2016, then 240,000 a year until 2020. Councils would have a greater role in building affordable housing, via new local authority housing companies. In addition, its manifesto
makes a pledge to extend the minimum design standards that have been introduced for schools to all new government-funded building programmes. The aim is to ‘promote excellence in architecture and [building] design’. The Tories want to scrap house-
building targets but incentivise building by matching pound for pound the council tax receipts that local authorities receive from new homes to encourage ‘sensitive’ local development. They would also create local housing trusts to develop homes where there
Labour wants to re-
prioritise funds away from new buildings to frontline services
is strong community backing. Longer-term social housing tenants would be given a 10 per cent equity stake in their homes. The Lib Dems say they would
set aside money to loan to schools to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. This cash – not specified in the manifesto – would be repaid from energy savings. This, says the manifesto without elaboration, would create ‘a rolling fund to help insulate every public building’. Labour says it plans to re-
prioritise spending on health away from new buildings and onto frontline services.
Commercial sector
The Lib Dems say they would improve energy efficiency in the commercial and public sectors by strengthening the Carbon
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