Solar Panels
Lord Bach Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)
My Lords, the Future Homes and Building Standards consultation, setting out proposals for new energy efficiency standards, was published at the end of 2023. It included proposals for fitting new, non-domestic premises with solar panels. The consultation received over 2,000 responses. We have carefully considered the feedback received and, while I do not want to pre-judge our detailed policy announcement, I can say that this Government recognise the vital role of rooftop solar in contributing to the clean energy mission and that we are therefore keen to see solar panels deployed on all buildings where it is appropriate and practical. We intend to publish the government response in the coming months.
Lord Bach (Lab)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her reply; I know how passionately she feels about this issue. Is she aware that only a ridiculously small number of industrial and commercial premises are fitted with solar panels? There has been just too little urgency for many years to change that outrageous state of affairs. I live near what is called the largest logistics park in Europe and have been informed that there are no solar panels on any of the vast number of buildings that make up the park. Can the Government ensure that this national scandal is treated as a matter of urgency?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for his comments. Of course, it is vital that we get on now and get this moving as quickly as possible. The future buildings standards consultation outlined a number of proposals for new non-domestic buildings and we need to expand that to existing non-domestic buildings. We are ambitious and believe that the standards we set are technically achievable and affordable across all sites. We are working very closely with colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to confirm the technical detail of these standards. As soon as we can, we will make sure that we do what is necessary to get this out to as many non-domestic buildings as possible. Your Lordships have my personal commitment to that, as the noble Lord kindly said.
English Devolution and Local Government
Lord Bach Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I can give the noble Lord a very straightforward answer to that. No, we will not delay it, because we have a number of partners in local government coming to us who want to take part in this process. The proposal put forward on 21 March is an outline proposal; where there are new Administrations elected in May, there will be several months until the final proposal is due, which is at the end of November, where they can continue engagement with the Government and other partners, including the districts, to develop those final proposals.
If a new administration is elected in May, it is of course within their gift to depart from the interim plans set out by a previous administration, but we will continue working with all partners until we get to the 28 November deadline, when we expect final proposals to come in.
Lord Bach (Lab)
My Lords, as police and crime commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland for five years, I very much enjoyed working with two unitary authorities in Leicester and Rutland, Leicestershire County Council and seven districts. It was hard work. I do not think we have yet heard enough—maybe it will take time to develop—about what the, hopefully, advanced role will be for parish councils and town councils once the districts disappear in areas in counties. It is a vital role. It may well be that the Government are thinking of increasing their powers to a limited extent—obviously that would require funding as well. If the districts are to disappear, there should be an advanced and improved role for town councils and parish councils.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My noble friend makes a very good point. I have been working with the parish and town councils and their organising bodies: NALC and the society of town council treasurers. We started on a process of working out their role in this new model. I think it is a very interesting opportunity for them. I know my honourable friend in the other place is very keen on developing the role of community councils, so they definitely have a role to play in this new system.
The other exciting opportunity is for community councillors in this new picture, because they will have exciting opportunities in their local area to drive forward local issues. They will be working with one council, instead of having the split responsibilities that I have experienced during my council life in a two-tier area. So there are great opportunities for both town and parish councils and community councillors.