The noble Lord is entirely right to be suspicious and to make sure that this is properly scrutinised, particularly an umbrella Bill such as this. I in no sense criticise him for raising a number of important points.
This is in no sense intended to lower standards; it is intended to continue the process of raising energy efficiency standards and to achieve zero-carbon aims. I was already briefed to make the point that the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, just helpfully made. This is not intended to commence until it replaces the other standards. The code on which representation has been made is a fairly complex piece of legislation. Those parts will not be abandoned; they will be incorporated into the building regulations. I stress that we are raising standards, not lowering them. I will make sure that I can say that with confidence again on Report, because I recognise the concerns of noble Lords.
By 2016, the Government plan to have tightened building regulations to deliver zero-carbon housing. I repeat that the Section 1(1)(c) amendment will not be commenced until then; meanwhile there will be no dip in standards. We intend to consolidate necessary standards to ensure that sustainable housing can be built. The current situation means that insufficient housing is being built because authorities are applying too many different standards, making sites unviable. This is a rationalisation, not a deregulation of the sort that lowers standards and enables people to move further away from the zero-carbon housing that we all very much want.
Clause 33 amends the Planning and Energy Act 2008 to ensure that local authorities in England will no longer be able to set energy efficiency standards via local planning policies for new homes in excess of the building regulations. It does so by disapplying Section 1(1)(c) for dwellings in England where government policy is that such a requirement should be found only in national building regulations. However, local authorities will still play an important strategic role in delivering carbon reductions and the Act will continue to enable them to do so.
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Authorities are best placed to decide the wider energy needs of an area and will be able to require that developers connect, for example, to off-site low-carbon or renewable energy infrastructure, or district heating schemes. This role is an important element of planning authorities’ responsibilities and will not be affected by the proposals to amend the Planning and Energy Act. In this way, authorities will still be able to seek local goals to promote sustainable energy development and
reduce emissions. We are not removing those powers; we are consolidating and raising the level of the building regulations.
Local authorities will also play an important role in shaping the allowable solutions scheme. Although the proposal is to develop a nationally-led scheme, local authorities are encouraged to come forward with their specific ideas and work with developers on delivering them. These provisions, if the House agrees with them, will be commenced by order. I know that there is a widely shared view that the Government should not commence the amendments until such time as the zero-carbon policy is in place, and the Government accept that.
The Government issued a consultation on 12 September, which covered the implementation of the housing standards review and set out the transitional and implementation requirements that will apply. The consultation says that,
“local planning authorities will continue to be able to set and apply policies”,
imposing reasonable requirements for,
“development in their area to comply with energy efficiency standards that exceed the energy requirements of building regulations until the zero carbon home policy has been put in place … alongside the commencement of the amendment to the Planning and Energy Act 2008, which … we anticipate would be in late 2016”.
The Minister for Government Policy underlined this commitment by stating in the Commons that the amendment to Section 1(1)(c) of the Planning and Energy Act would be made so that it,
“knits properly with the start of the operation of”,—[Official Report, Commons, 23/6/14; col. 153.]
zero-carbon homes regulations.
In the interim, we would expect local planning authorities to take a sensible approach to setting energy-efficiency requirements for new homes and not set conditions above a level equivalent to the Code for Sustainable Homes energy level 4. This will ensure that the industry continues to be pushed to deliver more energy-efficient homes to the code level 4 standard nationally, while the national zero-carbon policy on allowable solutions and the strengthened building regulations are prepared and come into effect from 2016. I hope that that provides the reassurance that the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and others were looking for. I am happy to talk further off the Floor with the noble Lord if he needs further assurance.