Impetus Consulting Ltd has published a report on the implementation of NI 186.  The report is the culmination of a research project funded by the Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust and the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes.

NI186 measures carbon emissions from the whole community.  Two thirds of the 150 Local Area Agreements in England include NI 186, compared to only 35 that include NI 185 (council¿s carbon emissions) and 56 that include NI188 (adapting to climate change). 
 
Most officers regard their NI 186 target as ambitious and opinions differed greatly, both between and within authorities, as to whether the targets are achievable.

The study found that there are gaps in local authority understanding of local carbon emissions and of the most cost-effective ways to reduce these. 

In particular, authorities would like more tailored help, and assistance with selection of useful tools.  Meanwhile, potential commercial delivery partners are unable to access information about local authority delivery plans, and find it difficult to locate the most appropriate officers to talk to. 

There remains scope for better sharing of information and expertise within a local authority, and also between similar authorities: peer group learning is not as well used as it could be and many existing peer groups are based on geography rather than similarities between authorities.

The study concludes that it will be some time before the full impact of NI 186 can be seen.  However, at the very least it has raised the profile of carbon emissions reduction, within local authorities and also amongst members of their Local Strategic Partnerships. 

Authorities that have not included NI 186 gave three main reasons for this: having other priorities that were more important; wanting to set their own house in order first; and having concerns about control and/or achievability.

Perhaps the greatest barrier to NI 186¿s effectiveness stems from a lack of confidence within local authorities ¿ including in some of those that have included it in their Local Area Agreements - in their ability to deliver emissions reductions.  This could develop into a major barrier to progress.  More needs to be done to build the capability and confidence of local authorities.  For example, officers would welcome more tailored help, and assistance with selection of useful tools.  Resources available for climate action at the local authority level should also be increased, perhaps by asking local authorities to manage the use of CERT money or PAYS schemes.  Making NI 186 a mandatory, statutory indicator would also increase the resources allocated to it from within local authorities.

To access the full report, please click here: http://www.impetusconsult.co.uk/LAAclimatechangereport.pdf
Or to access just the executive summary, please click here: http://www.impetusconsult.co.uk/LAAclimatechangeexecsummary.pdf