Q1: The Council should not go beyond national policy/regulations in addressing climate change. National policy and regulations are continually changing adapting to new and different concerns.

For example, the Future Homes Standard (FHS) is anticipated to launch in 2025. The technical consultation on the proposed specification of the FHS took place in Spring 2023; further consultation is to take place throughout 2024, followed by the adoption of the regulations in 2025. From 2025, compliance with the FHS will become mandatory and will ensure that new homes built from 2025 will produce 75-80% less carbon emissions than those constructed under current Building Regulations. The FHS seeks to decarbonise new homes by improving heating and hot water systems and reducing heat waste.

Notwithstanding the above, it is noted that the FHS has yet to be adopted. Significant concerns and risks were raised in the technical consultation relating to the impact of the increased costs of implementing the FHS on house prices and building costs. In turn, there is a chance that the full impact of achieving net zero could filter through into the viability and subsequent delivery of new schemes. It would, therefore, be prudent for the viability assessment to be re-run, including the scenario within which the FHS is implemented and considering any government funding to ensure that new development is able to achieve net carbon zero and remain viable.

Given the reasons set out above and the example of the FHS we consider that the Council should work policy S1 in a way that is flexible and adaptable enough to meet the ever-evolving requirements of national policy when it comes to meeting the challenges of climate change. The Council do not want to be over reliant on her policy in the future that is out of date with the current national policy at any particular one time.