With reference to the Future Homes Standard 2019 Consultation on changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new dwellings (consultation closed 7th Feb 2020):-
This Council deplores:-
1. That the Government wishes to take away from local government and planning authorities their already very limited powers to require energy efficiency standards higher than national minimum standards embodied in Part L of Building Regulations (now subject to revision).
2. That following revision, the proposed new Future Homes Standard will not be in force until 2025
3. That regarding transitional arrangements, of the two options consulted upon, this Government is promoting the option with the least focus on raising the insulation standards of building fabric.
4. That transitional arrangements will allow these already limited building fabric requirements to be side-stepped by the installation of green energy add-ons such as heat pumps and solar PV, masking a poor standard of insulation.
This Council urges Government to listen to and act upon the concerns raised nationally by professional planners, architects and engineers and by responsible developers alike; concerns being articulated, for example, by the London Energy Transition Initiative (LETI), representing the views of over 1000 built environment professionals.
When the Government scrapped the Zero Carbon Homes policy in 2015 it not only delivered a huge windfall to developers but also set back progress towards a low carbon future by many years. This Government is doubling down on that error by proposing a new standard that will not come into force until 2025. Transitional arrangements will allow developers to largely escape building to higher standard of fabric until that date so that 10 critical years will have been lost. Insulation standards proposed beyond 2025 are inadequate. At the same time, local planning authorities will be prevented from intervening. This policy direction will simply add to our stock of poorly insulated homes needing to be expensively upgraded in future with retrofit insulation.
The ‘fabric first’ approach to reducing emissions from dwellings is a central plank of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and Construction SPD, adopted by SCDC 8th Jan 2020. Whilst green energy add-ons are to be encouraged, their operational lifetime is perhaps 25 years and they are more readily retrofitted. High quality building fabric would deliver its benefits for 100 years or more but is extremely costly when installed as a retrofit upgrade. The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce heat loss at source as the first priority.
It is a national scandal that the Government, having announced a 2050 zero carbon target, is now consulting on plans effectively allowing poorly insulated homes to be built for another five years at least whilst further limiting the ability of local authorities to intervene. If building regulations are to have primacy in setting sustainability standards, these must encourage a ‘fabric first’ approach and the highest possible standards of insulation.
This Council authorises officers to write to the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities to express these concerns.
Decision:
Council AGREED the following motion:-
With reference to the Future Homes Standard 2019 Consultation on changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new dwellings (consultation closed 7th Feb 2020):-
This Council deplores:-
1. That the Government wishes to take away from local government and planning authorities their already very limited powers to require energy efficiency standards higher than national minimum standards embodied in Part L of Building Regulations (now subject to revision).
2. That following revision, the proposed new Future Homes Standard will not be in force until 2025
3. That regarding transitional arrangements, of the two options consulted upon, this Government is promoting the option with the least focus on raising the insulation standards of building fabric.
4. That transitional arrangements will allow these already limited building fabric requirements to be side-stepped by the installation of green energy add-ons such as heat pumps and solar PV, masking a poor standard of insulation.
This Council urges Government to listen to and act upon the concerns raised nationally by professional planners, architects and engineers and by responsible developers alike; concerns being articulated, for example, by the London Energy Transition Initiative (LETI), representing the views of over 1000 built environment professionals.
When the Government scrapped the Zero Carbon Homes policy in 2015 it not only delivered a huge windfall to developers but also set back progress towards a low carbon future by many years. This Government is doubling down on that error by proposing a new standard that will not come into force until 2025. Transitional arrangements will allow developers to largely escape building to higher standard of fabric until that date so that 10 critical years will have been lost. Insulation standards proposed beyond 2025 are inadequate. At the same time, local planning authorities will be prevented from intervening. This policy direction will simply add to our stock of poorly insulated homes needing to be expensively upgraded in future with retrofit insulation.
The ‘fabric first’ approach to reducing emissions from dwellings is a central plank of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and Construction SPD, adopted by SCDC 8th Jan 2020. Whilst green energy add-ons are to be encouraged, their operational lifetime is perhaps 25 years and they are more readily retrofitted. High quality building fabric would deliver its benefits for 100 years or more but is extremely costly when installed as a retrofit upgrade. The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce heat loss at source as the first priority.
It is a national scandal that the Government, having announced a 2050 zero carbon target, is now consulting on plans effectively allowing poorly insulated homes to be built for another five years at least whilst further limiting the ability of local authorities to intervene. If building regulations are to have primacy in setting sustainability standards, these must encourage a ‘fabric first’ approach and the highest possible standards of insulation.
This Council authorises officers to write to the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities to express these concerns.
Minutes:
Councillor Geoff Harvey moved the following motion, as set out in the agenda:
“With reference to the Future Homes Standard 2019 Consultation on changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new dwellings (consultation closed 7th Feb 2020):-
This Council deplores:-
1. That the Government wishes to take away from local government and planning authorities their already very limited powers to require energy efficiency standards higher than national minimum standards embodied in Part L of Building Regulations (now subject to revision).
2. That following revision, the proposed new Future Homes Standard will not be in force until 2025.
3. That regarding transitional arrangements, of the two options consulted upon, this Government is promoting the option with the least focus on raising the insulation standards of building fabric.
4. That transitional arrangements will allow these already limited building fabric requirements to be side-stepped by the installation of green energy add-ons such as heat pumps and solar PV, masking a poor standard of insulation.
This Council urges Government to listen to and act upon the concerns raised nationally by professional planners, architects and engineers and by responsible developers alike; concerns being articulated, for example, by the London Energy Transition Initiative (LETI), representing the views of over 1000 built environment professionals.
When the Government scrapped the Zero Carbon Homes policy in 2015 it not only delivered a huge windfall to developers but also set back progress towards a low carbon future by many years. This Government is doubling down on that error by proposing a new standard that will not come into force until 2025. Transitional arrangements will allow developers to largely escape building to higher standard of fabric until that date so that 10 critical years will have been lost. Insulation standards proposed beyond 2025 are inadequate. At the same time, local planning authorities will be prevented from intervening. This policy direction will simply add to our stock of poorly insulated homes needing to be expensively upgraded in future with retrofit insulation.
The ‘fabric first’ approach to reducing emissions from dwellings is a central plank of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and Construction SPD, adopted by SCDC 8th Jan 2020. Whilst green energy add-ons are to be encouraged, their operational lifetime is perhaps 25 years and they are more readily retrofitted. High quality building fabric would deliver its benefits for 100 years or more but is extremely costly when installed as a retrofit upgrade. The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce heat loss at source as the first priority.
It is a national scandal that the Government, having announced a 2050 zero carbon target, is now consulting on plans effectively allowing poorly insulated homes to be built for another five years at least whilst further limiting the ability of local authorities to intervene. If building regulations are to have primacy in setting sustainability standards, these must encourage a ‘fabric first’ approach and the highest possible standards of insulation.
This Council authorises officers to write to the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities to express these concerns.”
The motion was seconded by Councillor Dr. Claire Daunton.
Councillor Graham Cone proposed and Councillor Heather Williams seconded a number of amendments to the motion, to include the text underlined and remove the text struck through, as shown below:
“With reference to the Future Homes Standard 2019 Consultation on changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new dwellings (consultation closed 7th Feb 2020):-
This Council is
concerned deplores:-
1.
That the Government may wishes to take away
from local government and planning authorities their already
very limited powers to require energy efficiency standards higher
than national minimum standards embodied in Part L of Building
Regulations (now subject to revision).
2. That following revision, the proposed new Future Homes Standard will not be in force until 2025, and would like reassurance that the government’s motive is to reduce this timescale if possible.
3.
That regarding transitional arrangements, of the
two options consulted upon, this Government is promoting the option
with the least focus on raising the insulation standards of
building fabric and would like to
impress the importance of selecting the option with the most focus
on raising insulation standards of building fabric.
4.
That transitional arrangements shall be proposed in
a manner that will not allow these already limited building
fabric requirements to be side-stepped by the installation of green
energy add-ons such as heat pumps and solar PV, which potentially
could mask masking a poor standard of insulation.
This
Council urges Government to listen to and act upon take into
consideration and give due weight to the concerns raised nationally
by professional planners, architects and engineers and by
responsible developers alike; concerns being articulated, for
example, by the London Energy Transition Initiative (LETI),
representing the views of over 1000 built environment
professionals.
When
tThe
Government scrapped decided not to proceed
with the Zero Carbon Homes policy in 2015. it not only delivered
a huge windfall to developers but also set back progress towards a
low carbon future by many years. This Government is doubling down
on that error by proposing a new standard that will not come into
force until 2025. The council is concerned that the proposed
transitional arrangements if continued to 2025 would mean that
will allow developers to largely escape building to higher
standard of fabric until that date so that 10 critical years will
have been lost. Insulation standards proposed beyond 2025 are
inadequate. At the same time, local planning authorities will
be prevented from intervening. This policy could impact the
insulation quality of our district homes, this is concerning due to
the additional expense of upgrading and retro fitting insulation,
we would welcome any measures that the government is proposing to
help mitigate this issue. direction will simply add to our stock
of poorly insulated homes needing to be expensively upgraded in
future with retrofit insulation.
The
‘fabric first’ approach to reducing emissions from
dwellings is a central plank of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable
Design and Construction SPD, adopted by SCDC 8th Jan
2020. Whilst green energy add-ons are to be encouraged, their
operational lifetime is perhaps 25 years and they are more readily
retrofitted. High quality building fabric could
would deliver its benefits for 100 years or more but
is extremely costly when installed as a retrofit upgrade.
The One of the most effective ways to reduce carbon
emissions is to reduce heat loss at source as the first priority.
It
is a national scandal that the Government,hHaving announced a 2050 zero
carbon target, we hope the government will understand our concerns
and work with authorities such as ours to achieve a zero-carbon
target as soon as possible. is now consulting on plans
effectively allowing poorly insulated homes to be built for another
five years at least whilst further limiting the ability of local
authorities to intervene. If building regulations are to have
primacy in setting sustainability standards, these must encourage a
‘fabric first’ approach and the highest possible
standards of insulation.
This Council authorises officers to write to the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities to express these concerns.”
Councillor Graham Cone stated that the Government were more likely to respond to the amended version of the motion above. Councillor Geoff Harvey did not accept these amendments.
Councillor Steve Hunt spoke against the amendment, as he opposed the Government’s proposals which he believed would lead to a large amount of unnecessary and expensive retro-fitting.
Councillor Heather Williams explained that the Government’s proposals were at the consultation phase and a reasonable cross-party response would be more likely to receive a positive response from the Government, than a motion that used emotive language and could be construed as an attack.
Councillor Deborah Roberts supported the proposed amendments, as she considered that experience showed that the motion in its unamended form was unlikely to receive a response from the Government. She suggested that the Council should approach its MPs on this matter. Councillor Sue Ellington stated that a unanimously agreed motion would be more likely to receive a response than an aggressive letter.
Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of Council, explained that she was due to have a phone conversation with the MP for South Cambridgeshire on 20 March and bi-monthly phone calls had been arranged for the future. She suggested that, if passed, the letter to the Minister would need to express the concerns stated in the Motion, but not necessarily use the same wording.
Councillor Brian Milnes spoke against the amendment, by stating that the Council should use strong language to condemn proposals that would benefit developers.
Councillor John Williams stated that the proposed amendment reduced the meaning and impact of the original motion. In response to request from legal guidance, the Head of Legal Services stated that in his opinion the amendment did not negate the original motion, which Council could vote on.
Council voted on the amendment and votes were cast as follows:
In favour (8):
Councillors Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Tom Bygott, Graham Cone, Sue Ellington, Mark Howell, Deborah Roberts, Heather Williams and Nick Wright.
Against (20):
Councillors Philip Allen, Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Anna Bradnam, Dr. Martin Cahn, Gavin Clayton, Dr. Claire Daunton, Clare Delderfield, Neil Gough, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Steve Hunt, Tony Mason, Brian Milnes, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer, John Williams and Eileen Wilson.
Abstain (0):
The Chairman declared the amendment LOST.
Council then voted on the substantive motion and votes were cast as follows:
In favour: (21):
Councillors Philip Allen, Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Anna Bradnam, Dr. Martin Cahn, Gavin Clayton, Dr. Claire Daunton, Clare Delderfield, Peter Fane, Neil Gough, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Steve Hunt, Tony Mason, Brian Milnes, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer, John Williams and Eileen Wilson.
Against (8):
Councillors Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Tom Bygott, Graham Cone, Sue Ellington, Mark Howell, Deborah Roberts, Heather Williams and Nick Wright.
Abstain (0):
Council
RESOLVED
With reference to the Future Homes Standard 2019 Consultation on changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations for new dwellings (consultation closed 7th Feb 2020):-
This Council deplores:-
1. That the Government wishes to take away from local government and planning authorities their already very limited powers to require energy efficiency standards higher than national minimum standards embodied in Part L of Building Regulations (now subject to revision).
2. That following revision, the proposed new Future Homes Standard will not be in force until 2025
3. That regarding transitional arrangements, of the two options consulted upon, this Government is promoting the option with the least focus on raising the insulation standards of building fabric.
4. That transitional arrangements will allow these already limited building fabric requirements to be side-stepped by the installation of green energy add-ons such as heat pumps and solar PV, masking a poor standard of insulation.
This Council urges Government to listen to and act upon the concerns raised nationally by professional planners, architects and engineers and by responsible developers alike; concerns being articulated, for example, by the London Energy Transition Initiative (LETI), representing the views of over 1000 built environment professionals.
When the Government scrapped the Zero Carbon Homes policy in 2015 it not only delivered a huge windfall to developers but also set back progress towards a low carbon future by many years. This Government is doubling down on that error by proposing a new standard that will not come into force until 2025. Transitional arrangements will allow developers to largely escape building to higher standard of fabric until that date so that 10 critical years will have been lost. Insulation standards proposed beyond 2025 are inadequate. At the same time, local planning authorities will be prevented from intervening. This policy direction will simply add to our stock of poorly insulated homes needing to be expensively upgraded in future with retrofit insulation.
The ‘fabric first’ approach to reducing emissions from dwellings is a central plank of the Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and Construction SPD, adopted by SCDC 8th Jan 2020. Whilst green energy add-ons are to be encouraged, their operational lifetime is perhaps 25 years and they are more readily retrofitted. High quality building fabric would deliver its benefits for 100 years or more but is extremely costly when installed as a retrofit upgrade. The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce heat loss at source as the first priority.
It is a national scandal that the Government, having announced a 2050 zero carbon target, is now consulting on plans effectively allowing poorly insulated homes to be built for another five years at least whilst further limiting the ability of local authorities to intervene. If building regulations are to have primacy in setting sustainability standards, these must encourage a ‘fabric first’ approach and the highest possible standards of insulation.
This Council authorises officers to write to the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities to express these concerns.