Policy and Politics 5 November 2012

Policy & Politics Update
Property, Transport, Environment and Infrastructure

5th November 2012
Property, planning and regeneration

Lord Heseltine calls for faster planning to boost growth Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative cabinet minister, has presented a report to government with 89 recommendations aimed at creating better conditions for economic growth, including calls for changes to speed up the planning process. No stone unturned in the pursuit of growth, commissioned by the government and published on 31 October, calls for the Planning Inspectorate to be able to call in applications which remain undecided after six months if it considers an authoritys determination process to be inefficient. In addition, the government should consider consulting on the greater use of local and special development orders to specify types of development that can go ahead without planning permission, while Local Enterprise Partnerships should also be strengthened and given greater resources to boost local economies. (Source: BIS) Red Tape Challenge to tackle house building standards The government has established an independent panel of property experts and a housing standards review group tasked with simplifying the mass of rules imposed on developers and housebuilders. Launched on 31 October by the Rt Hon Don Foster MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the two bodies were created as part of the governments Red Tape Challenge to reduce bureaucracy and regulation for business. The four person panel will look at how the current housing standards and building regulations work together and the potential for greater efficiency. The housing standards review group, consisting of agencies and bodies representing the public and private sectors, will specifically review the standards that apply to house building. Both bodies will report in the spring. (Source: DCLG) Government to encourage new parish councils The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, has announced a consultation on plans to make it easier to set up parish and town councils. Launched on 31 October, the aim is to simplify the regulations and process for establishing new parish councils to enable local communities to take a greater role in local decision making, as part of the governments localism agenda. A number of options are being considered, including amending the existing guidance, changing the law, and making it easier for neighbourhood forums to create new parish councils. (Source: DCLG) Housing supply up 11 per cent Annual housing supply is up 11 per cent in 2011-12 compared with 2010-11, according to figures published by CLG on 1 November. 134,900 net additional dwellings were added in 2011-12, including 128,160 new build homes, compared with a six per cent fall in net supply between 2009-10 and 2010-11. (Source: DCLG) Construction sector woes continue The construction sector continued to struggle in October, according to the latest Markit/Cips Purchasing Mangers Index published on 1 November. The Index registered 50.9 in October, marginally up from 49.5 in September but only just above the 50.0 no-change value. (Source: Markit/CIPS) Infrastructure Act to unlock billions of investment Legislation that paves the way for up to 40 billion of investment in new infrastructure and 10 billion of new homes received Royal Assent on 31 October. The Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act will enable the government to underwrite major infrastructure projects under the UK Guarantees scheme. (Source: HM Treasury)
New call for estate agents to be regulated Estate agents should be subject to compulsory regulation to provide better safeguards for buyers and sellers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). A new survey published on 1 November by RICS found that 91 per cent of homebuyers support statutory regulation of all estate agents. (Source: RICS) Developers should be penalised for land banking Developers should be penalised with council tax charges if they fail to develop land granted planning permission, according to a new report by Jake Berry MP (Conservative, Rossendale & Darwen). The report, published on 31 October, highlights the 250,000 homes with permission but not currently being built and argues that, by charging full council tax on vacant plots, developers would be forced to build rather than land bank waiting for values to rise. According to Mr Berry, the last peak in permissions was 2007-08, meaning that the five-year cycle for renewals is imminent. Mr Berry was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP when he was Minister for Housing at CLG. (Source: 24dash) Construction industry to agree best way for lobbying government Up to ten proposals have been drawn up by the construction industry to create a new pan-industry body to lobby the Government, according to recent reports. The raft of proposals follow the call by the governments chief construction adviser, Paul Morrell, to remodel the Strategic Forum for Construction into an industry-wide body that could give a coherent message to government. Agreement is expected over how to proceed later in November. (Source: Building) Commercial construction wont recover for a decade Commercial sector construction is not set to recover from the recession until 2023, according to a study published on 30 October by insurance firm RSA. The study, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, found that the commercial construction industry has seen annual output values fall 32 per cent, from 41 billion in 2007 to 28 billion in 2011. The decline has been most pronounced in Scotland and the North West and less severe in London and the South East. (Source: Building)
Transport
New proposals for Vehicle Excise Duty A two-tier Vehicle Excise Duty with a lower rate for those avoiding motorways is one of the options being considered by the government for generating investment in the road network, according to recent reports. Cameras using number plate recognition technology would be used to catch motorway users who had not paid the higher rate. Other options being considered include changes to payment bands or making the tax a oneoff up-front charge on new vehicles, instead of charging annually. (Source: BBC) Airports Commission membership announced The government has announced the membership of the Airports Commission set up to examine the options for the expansion of UK airport capacity. The six member panel will be chaired by Sir Howard Davies, former head of the Financial Services Authority. The other members are Sir John Armitt CBE, former Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority and former Chief Executive of Network Rail; Professor Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics and director of the LSE Cities research centre; Vivienne Cox, former CEO and Executive Vice President of BP Alternative Energy and a former member of the BP Executive Management Team; Professor Dame Julia King, Vice Chancellor of Aston University and a member of the Committee on Climate Change; Geoff Muirhead CBE, former CEO of the Manchester Airport Group. (Source: DfT) Industry calls for longer term thinking on airport capacity The Government should adopt a twin track approach to UK aviation capacity which pushes ahead with long term and shorter term solutions, according to the Institution of Civil Engineers and Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. In a statement issued on 2 November, the two bodies argue that the Airports Commission should look beyond a third runway at Heathrow and assess longer term needs, including whether there is capacity for a fourth runway. If not, then a new hub airport will be needed in the South East in the
long term regardless of Heathrow expansion. In addition, a special, time-limited delivery body like the Olympic Delivery Authority should be established to push through the Commissions recommendations. (Source: Cambridge Network)
Energy and environment

Strong wind blows for renewable energy Renewable energy capacity will overtake nuclear power in the UK by 2018, if current rates of growth continue, and will provide enough power for one in ten British homes by 2015, according to research by RenewableUK. The study, published on 30 October, found UK wind energy capacity grew by a quarter in the last year, with new wind turbines providing 1,825 Megawatts (MW) of new capacity between June 2011 and September 2012. The UK also saw a significant rise in the number of local approvals for new onshore wind farms (below 50MW), up from 25 per cent in 2010-11 to 40 per cent in 2011-12. In the last quarter of 2011, the proportion of electricity in the UK coming from renewables reached more than ten per cent, the highest proportion ever, with seven per cent provided by wind. (Source: RenewableUK) Government announces CCS competition shortlist Four bids have been shortlisted for the next phase of the UKs 1 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) competition which will provide funding to support the development of CCS technology in the UK. Selected from eight initial bids, the successful projects, announced on 30 October, will be subject to commercial negotiations with the government before a decision on which projects to take forward next year. The projects shortlisted are Captain Clean Energy, led by Summit Power, Petrofac, National Grid and Siemens in Grangemouth; Peterhead led by Shell and SSE; Teeside Low Carbon, led by Progressive Energy and GDF SUEZ, Premier Oil, and BOC; and White Rose at Drax, led by Alstom and involving Drax, BOC and National Grid. (Source: DECC) Lifeline for the Governments nuclear plans Hitachi has confirmed that it will seek to build up to six new nuclear reactors in the UK by taking over Horizon Nuclear Power from E.On and RWE. Announced on 30 October, the news is vital to the future of the governments energy policy, with the Japanese firm intending to build up to three reactors each at Wylfa, Anglesey and Oldbury, Gloucestershire. The company announced its 696 million takeover of Horizon on 30 October. (Source: The Telegraph) Confusion over government wind policy Questions are being asked about the governments energy policy after a series of contradictory statements from ministers at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. On 31 October, the Minister for Energy, John Hayes MP, speaking to the Telegraph, declared that "enough is enough" when it comes to new wind farm developments. However, this was contradicted by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt Hon Ed Davey MP, who stated that there would be no change in government policy towards wind farms. The situation was blurred further by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who suggested that there would need to be a debate about the future of wind power beyond 2020. (Source: Business Green) Worlds largest offshore wind farm powers up The London Array offshore wind farm has begun delivering power to the national grid and will provide 630MW of new capacity when construction of the first phase of the project is completed this year. The wind farm is being developed by DONG Energy, E.On and Masdar who recently submitted an application for the second phase to increase capacity to 870MW. (Source: The Guardian) Energy investment hits 20-year high Investment in the UK energy sector is running at a 20-year high, according to a new report by Ernst & Young for Energy UK published on 29 October. Total investment exceeded 10 billion in 2011, with over 43 billion of investment over the past four years according to the report Powering the UK. About half of the investment in 2011 was directed to renewable energy projects which also led to a growth in employment in the sector, from 83,000 in 2008 to 137,000 by the end of 2011. The findings suggest energy investment is currently close to the 15bn-plus a year rate that will be required to deliver the investment that the government sees as necessary by 2020 to meet carbon emissions and renewable energy targets. However, the report also suggests that investment is being put at risk by continued uncertainty and confusion over government energy policy. (Source: Business Green)
New best practice for energy auditing The British Standards Institution has developed a new standard for best practice energy auditing which will apply to commercial, industrial, residential and public-sector organisations. The new standard complements the internationally recognised energy management system standard ISO 50001 and is intended to ensure a consistent and reliable approach, such that recommendations can be implemented with total confidence. (Source: Edie)
Other news
CBI growth forecast up, if only slightly UK growth will be flat this year and should show a modest pick-up throughout 2013, according to the latest forecast by the CBI published on 1 November. The forecast for 2012 is slightly up on the previous estimate of 0.3 per cent, while growth of 1.4 per cent is forecast in 2013, again fractionally more positive since the last forecast (1.2 per cent), and up to two per cent in 2014. However, the CBI cautions that outlook risks remain on the downside, with concern about the impact of inflation and the continued Eurozone crisis. (Source: CBI)
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Policy & Politics Update

Property, Transport, Environment and Infrastructure

Property, planning and regeneration

Energy and environment

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