Corporate Social Responsibility

Energy and planning white papers

In terms of corporate responsibility issues facing UK companies, the two by far grabbing the lion’s share of the headlines are climate change and the activities of supermarkets. The latter is subject of an on-going Competition Commission enquiry, and looks set to take another turn with the release of the government’s latest white paper on planning.

The white paper will bring in a new system designed to simplify major infrastructure decisions by having an independent commission of leading experts take decisions on individual projects. Among the measures the government claims will ensure the planning system supports town centres is a new test requiring councils to scrutinise any proposal for shopping developments outside the town centre. This will require them to carry out an assessment of any unplanned out-of-town developments and refuse any application that may have a negative impact on the local high street.

High Ellis, planning co-ordinator at environmental campaigning group Friends of the Earth (FoE), was not impressed, noting that the white paper is seeking to remove the “need” test by which supermarkets must justify new out-of-town stores by demonstrating that they need additional floor space. Ellis warned that a recent FoE survey of local planning officers suggests that such a move would threaten attempts to promote town centres.

James Lowman, Association of Convenience Stores chief executive, agreed, arguing that the government cannot on the one hand claim a commitment to the “town centre first” policy and on the other strip the policy of its most important component – the “need” test. He added: “We are extremely sceptical any replacement to the ‘need’ test can be effective. Where there is no ‘need’ test, for example in Scotland, there is evidence of an increase in out-of-town developments which harm the town centre”.

Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, cautioned that the devil will be in the detail of the new plans: “Ensuring a level playing field for our smaller shops is vital. Before we scrap the current planning protections for our high streets we need to ensure the Government has got it right with its new proposals … The Government would like us to think they’re concerned about consultation but these proposals are all about streamlining the planning process – making it easier to push through decisions they know people will object to”.

On the heels of this came the government’s energy white paper, designed, as trade and industry secretary Alastair Darling put it, to create a long-term framework to address “two big challenges – climate change and maintaining stable and affordable energy in an increasingly unstable world”.

Among the white paper’s pledges are to triple the amount of the energy the UK gets from renewable sources by 2015, to strengthen the EU emissions trading scheme, and to consult on the role nuclear power stations can play in cutting emissions and diversifying the UK’s energy supply. To this end, large businesses such as supermarkets and banks will be required to adhere to a “carbon reduction commitment” – a policy the government predicts will save over a million tonnes of carbon a year by 2020.

This won the praise of the TUC, with the trade union body’s general secretary Brendan Barber calling the introduction of a mandatory trading scheme for large businesses “a bold and necessary step”.

However, Alan Duncan, Conservative shadow secretary of state for trade, industry and energy, accused the white paper of being “content free, not carbon free”. He argued that the paper offers little or no prospect of hitting renewable targets and retains a climate change levy that amounts to “keeping a dirty tax on a clean process”.

June 2007