• Bookstore

This year, not much in the Queen's Speech was a surprise because the Government has already published draft versions of the Bills they are proposing for the year.

There are five sections of the Government's programme that directly affect the environment: Housing, Planning, Transport, Energy, & Climate Change.

Housing
The Government announced the formation of the Homes and Communities Agency, which is designed to "support the regeneration and delivery of new social and affordable housing ... It would also make better use of surplus public sector land."

It is under the Housing and Regeneration Bill that the Government plans to implement its eco-towns agenda, proposed in the Housing Green Paper.  The Government has already begun its eco-town project with the announcement of an "ideas competition" to develop 10 new eco-towns.

Planning
One of the more controversial bills is the Planning Reform Bill.  The Government's intended aim with the Bill is to streamline the planning process.  Under the current system, the decision on planning permission can involve a number of government departments, and even involve a number of government ministers to decide the matter.  This inevitably causes incredible delays.

The plan for the Bill is that it would provide "more timely and predictable decisions on infrastructure projects which are key to economic growth, international competitiveness, tackling climate change, energy security and improving quality of life."

The concern for environmental groups is that the bill will allow the government to railroad very large planning proposals, with national and environmental importance, through the planning process.  Of particular concern is the Government's plan to build new nuclear power stations, which is currently under public consultation, and airport expansion.

Transport
The Local Transport Bill is designed to "Support the Government's strategy to improve public transport and tackle road congestion, by ensuring local authorities have the right powers to take local action to meet local transport needs."

The main tenet of the bill is to devolve power over transport infrastructure to local authorities.  Its main features are:

• to give local authorities greater local freedom and choice - with increased flexibility and powers to deliver a tailored transport system better suited to local needs;
• to give local authorities the right mix of powers to improve the quality of local bus services in order to boost bus use, reduce congestion and help tackle climate change;
• to give local authorities the power to review and propose their own arrangements for local transport governance, to support more coherent planning and delivery of local transport, especially in major urban areas; and
• to update existing legal powers so that, where local areas wish to develop proposals for local road pricing schemes, they have the freedom and flexibility to do so in a way that best meets local needs.

On top of the proposals in the bill, the Government also proposes to increase the use of biofuels.  This also is a proposal that many environmental groups are concerned about.  In particular, they are concerned that biofuels will compete with food production.  Already this year, the cost of corn, in particular, has risen sharply as a direct result of the increasing use of biofuels.

Energy
The Energy Bill forms a part of the Government's self-proclaimed "legislative pillars".  Its intent is that it meets the Government's energy policy by addressing "the need to tackle climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions both within the UK and abroad; and to ensure secure, clean and affordable energy as the country becomes increasingly dependent on imported fuel."

For the Government, Nuclear is very much part of the clean and secure energy mix.  In May the Government began a consultation called "The Future of Nuclear Power: The role of nuclear power in a low carbon UK economy".  Environmental groups are obviously concerned about the focus being placed on nuclear energy, coupled with their concerns over the planning proposals that may leave them out of the consultation process.

Besides nuclear, the Government also proposes to facilitate the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).  This is a process where the carbon dixonide emitted by fossil fuel power stations is captured and stored in cavities deep underground.  The technology is still very new.  There are not any active CCS plants in the UK yet.

Environmental groups are not great fans of CCS as it implies that the use of fossil fuels will continue, however, if the process works it will reduce emissions.

The Government also proposes an increase in renewable energy, but its emphasis does seem to rest on nuclear and CCS.

For the environmental groups, the preference is for a decentralised power production system that provides both electricity and heat in what is known as Combined Heat & Power (CHP).  The problem with a national grid system is that it is hugely inefficient, allowing large amounts of energy to be released as heat in the cooling towers.

Because Combined Heat & Power power stations are closer to point of use, the excess heat can be used for heating whilst still producing electricity.  CHP is also a proven technology that has been used across the world.

Climate Change
In the Queen's Speech, the Queen said:
"My Government is committed to protecting the environment and to tackling climate change, both at home and abroad. A Bill will be brought forward to make the United Kingdom the first country in the world to introduce a legally binding framework to reduce carbon dioxide emissions."

Specifically, the Climate Change Bill proposes:

• to enable the UK to meet its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050;
• to increase confidence and certainty for business planning and the investment in technology needed to move towards a low carbon economy;
• to create a new approach to managing and responding to climate change in the UK through setting ambitious targets, taking powers to help achieve them, strengthening the institutional framework, and establishing clear and regular accountability to Parliament;
• provide a power to pilot local authority incentives for household waste minimisation and recycling.
• to implement the Carbon Reduction Commitment (a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme covering energy use emissions from approximately 4,000-5,000 large, non-energy-intensive organisations that will save 1.1 MtC per year by 2020); and
• to provide a strong, sustainable framework for adapting to the impacts of climate change in the UK.

Of special interest during the past week is the proposal to allow local authorities to "pilot ... incentives for household waste minimisation and recycling."  In short this means that councils can pilot pay-per-throw strategies.

With Landfill Tax increasing every year, it is becoming more expensive for councils to send waste to landfill.  They have two options: recycle more or charge the council tax payers more.  Of course, there are concerns that charging for doorstep waste collection will result in an increase in fly-tipping.  This is a political hot potato that central government is happy for local authorities to play with.