London CRC Performance

April 2013: The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Performance Table was published a few weeks ago and attracted some media attention on who had gone up and down the table (see Guardian article here). The CRC is a complex mechanism and Government has had to return to tweak the policy time and again to simplify it. Along with the performance table, it appears the Chancellor’s view of simplification is, as set out in his Autumn Statement (December 2012), to get rid of the CRC altogether.

“1.127 The CRC’s Performance League Table will be abolished, to simplify the scheme further. A full review of the effectiveness of the CRC will be held in 2016 and the tax will be a high priority for removal when the public finances allow.”

For those new to the CRC, they should be made aware the original plan of the policy was to recycle the funds obtained from participants purchase of carbon permits, into sector-wide energy efficiency funding. The incoming Government however changed plans in 2010 and the Chancellor simply took all the funds into Government. It’s more than likely the Government would like to see the back of the CRC sooner, however, it does bring in close to £1bn to the Exchequer a year and this will increase again, as  the 2012 Autumn Budget highlights:  “2.88 The forecast allowance price remains unchanged at £12 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2013-14 and £16 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2014-15. From 2015-16 onwards, the allowance price will increase in line with the RPI.”

Back to the performance table: how did London do?

The full list of 2,000 participants and their ranking in the CRC performance table can be viewed on the Environment Agency’s website here. Culled below are details of some of the London local authority and other public sector participants, their ranking in the table, and links to further information on data submitted. The best review of the table and what it reveals is in the following – excellent – ENDS journals article ‘CRC’s results laid bare‘ [subscription needed]. I’ve copied below just a bit of the text from the article related to the public sector results.

“The public sector emissions reduction was both deeper and wider, averaging 9.5%, involving 85% of organisations. Just 15% increased emissions compared with 28% of firms.
So why has the public sector outperformed the private sector?
A spokesman for the Local Government Association told ENDS: “The reason why councils have performed so well is primarily the drive to be more efficient in light of the government’s austerity measures.” These have seen budgets slashed by a third, putting more pressure on the public sector.

“As part of this process councils have had to rationalise lots of their buildings and this will have helped to bring down the emission totals quite significantly.”
But on emissions mitigation measures he points out that councils have led by example through early action on solar panels: “Councils have been working in this area for a number of years, so a lot of the easy wins have already been achieved, which is why councils come lower down on the early action metric.”

Pete Chasmer is CRC auditor for the Local Government Information Unit. He points out that a major reason for the higher reductions has been a loophole in the rules covering street lighting. Many of the most successful councils were those in charge of street lighting, usually county councils and unitary authorities, that were able to reclassify this as passive, unmetered supply.
Chasmer estimates this could have knocked down the absolute metric by some 20% across the board, while others that already did this in the first year saw no change.
The loophole has since been acknowledged by the Environment Agency, and it will be closed from the scheme’s second phase starting in April 2013 to restore mitigation incentives.
Chasmer also attributes large cuts to councils reducing their estates. He estimates this could have cut councils’ emissions by a further 20% at least. “

Rank Organisation Name
31 London Borough of Redbridge
64 City University London
66 London Borough of Harrow
99 London Metropolitan University
100 Cabinet Office
166 London Borough of Ealing
171 HM Treasury
194 London Borough of Haringey
203 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
206 The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
217 London Borough of Havering
218 Ministry of Justice
240 London Borough of Bromley
251 London Borough of Brent
264 University for the Creative Arts
265 Westminster City Council
268 London Borough of Waltham Forest
280 London Borough of Bexley
288 South West London and St George”s Mental Health NHS Trust
291 London Borough of Camden
322 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
324 London School of Economics and Political Science
339 London Borough of Hackney
343 London Borough of Hillingdon
344 Northern Health & Social Care Trust
345 The University of Reading
355 london Borough of Sutton
368 South London Healthcare NHS Trust
405 The National Gallery
408 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
414 Southwark Council
420 LB Lambeth
429 London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames
451 London South Bank University
452 Institute of Education, University of London
514 Mayors Office for Policing and Crime
529 University of East London
616 Imperial War Museum
678 Middlesex University
680 City of London Corporation
688 London Borough of Merton
705 Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London
706 The Hillingdon Hospital Trust
708 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
715 The London Borough of Enfield
734 London Borough of Hounslow
740 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
745 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
767 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
840 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
858 Barnet & Chase Farm NHS Trust
864 St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust
923 Royal Academy of Music
926 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
979 King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
981 Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London
994 University of the Arts London
998 London Borough of Islington
1030 LONDON BOROUGH OF CROYDON
1037 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
1061 The Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames
1062 London Borough of Greenwich
1066 West London Mental Health Trust
1072 ROYAL OPERA HOUSE,COVENT GARDEN LIMITED
1085 Transport for London
1119 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
1131 Zoological Society of London
1160 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust
1171 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
1192 Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
1199 Southbank Centre
1229 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust
1244 Wandsworth Borough Council
1334 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
1335 Guys and StThomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
1338 British Museum
1344 London Business School
1348 University Hospital Lewisham
1386 University of London
1398 London Borough Tower Hamlets
1399 North Middlesex Hospital Trust
1483 School of Oriental and African Studies
1556 The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
1581 University College London (University of London)
1633 London Borough of Lewisham
1634 Natural History Museum
1637 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
1638 Nuffield College
1699 London Borough of Barnet
1729 King’s College London
1741 Goldsmiths, University Of London
1768 The Royal National Theatre
1823 Kingston University
1850 London Borough of Newham
1892 Birkbeck, University of London
1896 British Film Institute
1927 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
1988 Imperial College
2030 Victoria and Albert Museum
2081 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust

 

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