Basic Carbon Tool (Local Authorities)

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Norman Baker)]

To complement the local transport White Paper “Creating Growth, Cutting Carbon”, my Department has been working on a basic carbon tool for local authorities to assist them in demonstrating the carbon benefits of transport interventions in their areas.

Today, I am pleased to announce the publication of the draft basic carbon tool for local authorities on my Department’s website¹.

The tool fully supports local authorities in making their own decisions about the carbon benefits of small-scale interventions and enables them to input their own assumptions and data from best estimates of take-up and effects for their areas. The tool also brings together in one place central research on local transport and carbon, improves access to national transport data which can impact on emissions and simplifies carbon appraisal guidance.

The tool can assist authorities in demonstrating the carbon benefits of bids to the local sustainable transport fund, but it is for local authorities to decide what tools and evidence best meet the criteria and objectives of the fund in the context of their overall bids.

My Department plans to publish the final tool in the summer.

My officials have sent a letter to all local authority chief executives inviting views on the tool. A copy of this letter has been placed in the House Library.

¹The web address is: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/policy/carbon-tool/xls1/tool.xls