Local authorities have “embedded cultural concerns” about reputation and financial risks which could pose a challenge to heat network zoning, a government report has found.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) undertook social research to inform the development and implementation of future heat networks zoning policy and has since published a report on its findings.
As part of its research BEIS assessed the views of stakeholders including local authorities across Bristol, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham.
Findings from workshops undertaken as part of the research suggest that local authorities see themselves “playing a strategic role in planning and overseeing heat network zoning, whilst also raising concerns about insufficient capacity within the public sector to deliver against the scale of the challenge”.
Among the key challenges identified by local authority representatives included the scale of investment needed and the available timescale to deliver heat networks at scale, with the report adding that they wanted to know more about central government funding to deliver zoning policies.
Participants further “expressed doubts” about the readiness of local leaders to look beyond the short-term financial risks and worries over reputation to oversee delivery of heat network zoning.
The report further added: “They raised concerns about the extent to which local authority leaders and financial controllers can overcome embedded cultural concerns about reputation and financial risks to take the necessary lead on new heat network zones.
“In workshops with local authorities and social landlords, we were told that local authorities, as social landlords, are also concerned to protect vulnerable residents from possible financial harm or harm due to disruption.”
In the report’s conclusions BEIS said evidence from the local authority workshops indicates that they consider the need for a number of factors to ensure successful implementation of heat network zones.
These include effective financing arrangements, supporting legislation such as a gas boiler ban, supportive planning policy, a “legally defensible zoning policy”, clear guidance around retrofit and transparent arrangements for sharing the associated costs.