Energy policy under austerity localism: what role for local authorities?

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, Local Authorities have been placed at the forefront of domestic energy reduction strategies as the responsible actors for coordinating policy in this sector. Yet, there has been little research regarding the role of Local Authorities in this policy agenda, and their abilities to bring together stakeholders in the successful design and implementation of strategies to reduce energy demands. The paper aims to fill this gap by highlighting the relevance and importance of the energy policy sphere to local government studies, building on the idea of resilient Local Authorities within the context of tensions between the localism agenda and the actual implementation of energy efficiency polices. This is achieved through multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews with Local Authority officers. Our findings reveal that LocalAuthorities operating under a localism agenda, lack the freedoms and resources from Central Government to meet the needs of multiple stakeholders, resorting to short-term policies.

Emerging linked ecologies for a national scale retrofitting programme: The role of local authorities and delivery partners

“…For some authorities, EES was simultaneously a burden requiring recruitment of people with new skills and expertise into a hard to manage, time-constrained process. The recognised need to act systematically on retrofit of buildings, coupled with the challenging reality of identifying people with the necessary skills and expertise to perform specific tasks, is symptomatic of the imbalance between responsibilities placed on local authorities and 26 resources available to enact these (Morris et al, 2017). This led most of the local authorities in this study to procure external support for pilot delivery.…”

“…The data presented are from 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with the nine local authorities and delivery partners taking part in Pilot Phase 1. Interviews are a valuable tool for capturing the perceptions and experiences of public sector organisations involved in energy and retrofitting projects (for example, see: Bale et al, 2012;Gram-Hanssen, Jensen & Friis, 2018;Morris et al, 2017). The interview schedule was informed by a series of group workshops with local authority officers; it explored project delivery; project funding; engagement and recruitment of building owners and occupants; and reflections and lessons from the pilot.…”

“…Although governed by a framework of statutory duties, no United Kingdom local authorities have any statutory powers over energy retrofitting, and they have only limited financial resources to implement schemes (Morris et al, 2017).. Indeed, the CCC (2019) have highlighted that local authorities "do not have sufficient resources to make progress on climate change mitigation or adaptation" (p.12).…”

Environmental Sustainability and Regional Competitiveness: Innovative Steps by a Local Public Authority towards Energy Saving

“…Also one of Municipality's key objectives is to set up 10 projects [3] of energy renovation in its buildings, in order for them to be implemented according to the specific conditions that characterize every one of them. The implementation will incorporate public-private investment schemes as well as other innovative funding schemes, creating growth and thousands of jobs.…”

“…Local and regional authorities play a key role in the implementation of sustainable development [1] and energy saving strategies [2]. Moreover as local authorities have been placed at the forefront for coordinating energy reduction policies they have become the responsible actors for bringing together all the relevant stakeholders [3] and hence a major actor for enhancing regional and local competitiveness.…”