Heat resilience and sustainable cooling

Environmental Audit Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 3 Jul 2023 Closed: 22 May 2024 Parliament page
The Environmental Audit Committee is undertaking a short inquiry into Heat resilience and sustainable cooling . It will look at the relationship between heat and health; examine the adequacy of current Government policies in relation to current and future need for cooling; and consider what measures could be taken to … Read more
19 Recommendations
3 Conclusions
1 Report
2 Oral sessions
1 Letter
2 Events
Activity timeline 7 events
22 May
2024
Correspondence
30 Apr
2024
Report published
31 Jan
2024
Report published
25 Oct
2023
Oral evidence
25 Oct
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
18 Sep
2023
Oral evidence
18 Sep
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 5, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions
25 Oct 2023
View on parliament.uk
panel one; panel two
Adrian Dobson · Royal Institute of British Architects Councillor Linda Taylor · Local Government Association Eleni Myrivili · UN Habitat Francis Heil · AtkinsRéalis Omar Abdelaziz · The American University in Cairo Professor Elizabeth Robinson · Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics
18 Sep 2023
View on parliament.uk
panel one; panel two
David Broom · Kensa Contracting Dr Chiara Delmastro · International Energy Agency (IEA) Dr Eric Laurentius Peterson · University of Leeds Dr Laurence Wainwright · The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford Martin Passingham · Daikin UK Professor Jason Lowe OBE · Met Office Hadley Centre Professor Lea Berrang Ford · UK Health Security Agency
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and sustainable cooling HC 279 31 Jan 2024 22 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
9 results
Clear
2 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Incorporate explicit humidity level messaging into Met Office and UKHSA weather forecasts and heat alerts.
We recommend that the Met Office and UKHSA incorporate explicit messaging and/ or metrics regarding the effects of humidity levels as well as temperature into weather forecasts and heat-health alerts. (Paragraph 20) The urban heat island effect and nature-based solutions Read more
Government Response
The government discusses its recognition of green infrastructure benefits, responsibility of local authorities for urban green spaces, and keeping green roof incentives under review, without addressing the recommendation for explicit humidity messaging in weather forecasts.
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4 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Expand urban green space by requiring local authorities to protect green spaces and use framework.
We recommend that the Government take action to expand urban green space, particularly in disadvantaged areas. At a minimum these actions ought to include: (i) introducing a statutory requirement on local authorities to protect green space; (ii) mandating local authorities … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is running a call for evidence on Part O of the Building Regulations, specifically regarding its application to material changes of use, to inform future reviews and updates. This does not address expanding urban green space, statutory requirements for protection, mandating the Green Infrastructure Framework, or incentivising green roofs.
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5 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Evaluate amending Building Regulations Part L to encourage greater use of ceiling fans.
We recommend that the Government evaluate the case for amending Part L of the Building Regulations to encourage the use of ceiling fans (for example, by including locally controlled air movement in the definition of comfort).
Government Response
The government is running a call for evidence on Part O of the Building Regulations to understand omissions or issues, which will inform future updates. This response does not address evaluating the case for amending Part L to encourage the use of ceiling fans.
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11 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Respond to consultation and rapidly introduce proposals for low-cost home energy improvement finance.
We urge the Government to respond as soon as possible to its consultation on improving home energy performance through lenders which closed in February 2021. Ministers must rapidly bring forward proposals to encourage access to low-cost finance for householders to … Read more
Government Response
The government plans to respond to the consultation in 2024. It highlights an existing 'Green Home Finance Accelerator programme' which is supporting the development and piloting of green finance products until March 2025 to inform future policy, rather than rapidly bringing forward new proposals.
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12 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Publish all interim or draft recommendations made by the Energy Efficiency Taskforce.
We further recommend that the Government publishes any interim or draft recommendations made by the Energy Efficiency Taskforce before it was disbanded.
Government Response
The government's response discusses UKHSA's position on cooling centers, noting difficulty in evaluating their impact and an absence of specific recommendations for their use, while highlighting a toolkit for local organizations to deliver and evaluate warm spaces and ongoing review of evidence. This does not address publishing Energy Efficiency Taskforce recommendations.
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13 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Set out targets for growth in competent retrofit installer supply chain or establish ambitious new ones.
We urge the Government to set out, in its response to this report, the targets (if any) which Ministers have set for growth in the supply chain of competent retrofit installers, and the progress made against these targets to date. … Read more
Government Response
The government states DESNZ will continue engaging with the Electricity System Operator and Ofgem on modelling developments and updating electricity demand forecasting, without addressing targets for retrofit installer supply chain growth or progress against such targets.
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15 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Trial the naming of heatwaves for 2024 to enhance public recognition of severe events.
The naming of heatwaves could assist in helping the public to recognise such extreme weather events as a threat to health and wellbeing in the same way as named storms. We recommend that the Met Office trial the naming of … Read more
Government Response
The government states Defra is reviewing unspecified regulations to achieve greater emissions savings for net zero targets, with proposals to be consulted upon. This response does not address the recommendation to trial the naming of heatwaves.
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16 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Evaluate cooling centre effectiveness and publish advice for authorities supporting vulnerable populations during extreme heat.
While there is potential for cooling centres to be an important part of future resilience measures for those most vulnerable to heat impacts, evidence of their effectiveness is not clear cut at present. We recommend that UKHSA evaluate the potential … Read more
Government Response
The government deferred the recommendation, stating that evidence on the efficacy of cooling centres is currently limited, which constrains the development of policy advice. UKHSA will work with research partners to address these evidence gaps and continue to review literature on cool space effectiveness.
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19 Recommendation Deferred
Fifth Report - Heat resilience and…
Evaluate merits of introducing a cooling equipment takeback scheme to minimise F-gas leakage.
We recommend that the Government evaluate the merits of introducing a takeback scheme in England to improve disposal practices regarding cooling equipment, thereby helping to minimise F-gas leakage, with a view to introducing a pilot takeback scheme in England and … Read more
Government Response
The government deferred the recommendation, stating that Defra is reviewing the F-gas Regulation and will consult on proposals for changes in due course, rather than specifically committing to evaluate and pilot a takeback scheme now.
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Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 19 classified
Accepted 7
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 1
Deferred 9
Rejected 4
Total 19 recs + 3 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
22 May 2024 To committee Letter from the EAC Chair to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, relating to the 'Heat resilience and sustainable cooling' inquiry, dated 21 May 2024
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