Budget Highlights - Carbon Reduction, Housing & Energy

Budget Highlights  - Carbon Reduction, Housing & Energy

Green Deal

• The Government is committed to the success of the Green Deal and will act to encourage and incentivise take-up so that the Green Deal will appeal to households, businesses and prospective providers alike, before it is introduced in 2012.

 Green Investment Bank (GIB)

• The initial capitalisation of the GIB will be £3 billion and it will start operation in 2012-13, a year earlier than previously anticipated. The Spending Review allocated £1 billion for the GIB and the Government is aiming for the remaining £2 billion to be funded from the sale of assets
• Government investment alongside private finance should mean that there is in the region of an additional £18 billion of investment in green infrastructure by 2014-15 as a result of the GIB
• The Government will enable the GIB to have borrowing powers from 2015-16, once the target for debt to be falling as a percentage of GDP has been met.

 Planning

• Choice over the use of previously developed land is to be localised, removing nationally imposed targets while retaining existing controls on green belt land
• A 12 month guarantee is to be introduced for the processing of all planning applications, including any appeals, to streamline and speed up the planning process
• The Government will work with local authorities to expedite planning decisions for surplus military land and other public sites suitable for housing, also testing ’build now, pay later’ techniques to quicken delivery. Together with the new presumption in favour of sustainable development, these proposals will potentially allow the Ministry of Defence to realise up to £350 million of estate disposals and enable delivery of up to 20,000 new homes by 2014-15.

First time buyers

• £250 million is to be provided to support first time buyers to purchase new-build properties. The FirstBuy programme will assist over 10,000 households with equity investments jointly funded with house builders
• Demand for residential property will be strengthened by reforming the stamp duty land tax rules applied to bulk purchases. This will reduce a barrier to investment in residential property, promoting private rented housing supply.

Carbon tax

• Following consultation, a carbon price floor for electricity generation will be introduced from 1 April 2013
• The carbon price floor will start at around £16 per tonne of carbon dioxide and follow a linear path to £30 per tonne in 2020. The carbon price support rates for 2013-14 will be equivalent to £4.94 per tonne of carbon dioxide.

 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

• Government will not proceed with the CCS levy. It will instead fund its commitments to CCS demonstration from general taxation
• The Government intends to introduce relief for carbon capture and storage and combined heat and power (CHP), and remove an existing exemption in the climate change levy for electricity CHP plants to supply indirectly to energy consumers. Anti-avoidance provisions will be introduced to prevent forestalling with effect from 23 March 2011.

Climate Change Agreements (CCAs)

• Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) will be extended to 2023. The climate change levy discount on electricity for CCA participants will be increased from 65 to 80 per cent from April 2013 to continue to support energy intensive businesses exposed to international competition. A consultation on proposals to simplify the agreements will be published by summer 2011.

Apprenticeships/Skills

• £180 million for up to 50,000 additional apprenticeship places over the next four years. 40,000 places will provide additional capacity to support young unemployed people, in particular through progression from the work experience programme. To address the specific barriers faced by SMEs in accessing apprenticeships, the Government will support business consortia to set up and maintain advanced and higher apprenticeships schemes, supported by grants, creating a further 10,000 apprenticeships
• The Government will expand the University Technical Colleges programme to establish at least 24 new colleges by 2014. Formed through partnerships between universities, colleges and businesses, University Technical Colleges will provide technical training opportunities for 11 to 19 year olds. The sponsors will help set curricula to match the needs of the local economy and of their sectors, provide high quality work placements, and allow the colleges to use their specialist facilities.

To access the complete Budget document visit: http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_complete.pdf

To access all other Budget documents visit: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_documents.htm

 Plan for Growth

Budget 2011 saw the launch of the Government's 'Plan for Growth’ and below is a relevant item in this document:

It was announced that the regulatory requirements for zero carbon homes will apply from 2016. To ensure that it remains viable to build new houses, the Government will hold house builders accountable only for those carbon dioxide emissions that are covered by Building Regulations, and will provide cost-effective means through which they can do this.

To read the whole document visit: http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_growth.pdf

The Low Carbon section is on pages 81 to 83 and the Construction section is on pages 115 to 117.

Transport

Fuel duty cut by 1p and fuel duty escalator scrapped. Further Information