Local authority capacities for strategic action on energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation – a Scottish case study

Panel: 7. Policies and programmes for better buildings

Authors:
Faye Wade, United Kingdom
Jan Webb, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Existing approaches to energy efficiency and low carbon heat in buildings are failing to deliver change at the speed and scale necessary to meet climate targets. Local and regional planning is a potential route to faster action, but innovative policy instruments are needed. We examine the emerging innovation in Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) in Scotland. The intention is to create area-based, costed and prioritised, 20-year strategies for upgrading energy efficiency and decarbonising heat in all buildings. Scottish Government have positioned local authorities as key agents of change through the proposal to make LHEES a statutory duty, with all councils having a comprehensive Strategy by 2023. This paper analyses empirical material collected in a 3-year (2017-2020) evaluation of LHEES pilots. It presents original data from interviews with local authority officers coordinating the pilots, alongside analysis of the LHEES reports generated. A capacities framing is used to explore the potential for effective institutional innovation through this proposed local responsibility. The analysis considers how political authority, finance, personnel and knowledge capacities shape and constrain local authorities’ ability to deliver. The paper highlights the inter-linkages between different local authority capacities and the tensions that may restrict councils’ ability to deliver LHEES. This shows that innovations in governance are essential to achieving net zero emissions from buildings, and area-based strategies are likely to be one effective instrument. However, central government intention to innovate through new local responsibilities is insufficient when local capacities are weakened by long term reductions in public finances. Only through concerted interaction across central and local governments, and across sectors and building owners, to plan, and to organise the essential resources, will innovation happen.