Key information
Executive summary
To ensure that environment planning policies are being properly implemented we propose to assess strategic development proposals that are referred to the Mayor across the policy areas outlined above. Currently each year the GLA Environment and Planning Units jointly procure expert consultants to undertake this assessment for energy related aspects of new developments, resulting in circa 350-400 planning applications and their energy strategies being assessed. Approximately 150 of these are approved per year which equates to around 40-50,000 homes and over 2 million m2 of non-domestic floor area.
The current energy consultancy support contract expires on 31st March 2018. To provide on-going consultancy support for energy and the other environment policy areas outlined above approval is sought to procure consultancy services for the period from 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2022 up to a maximum value of £1m. The consultants would assess planning applications, monitor and report upon commitments secured in approved applications and input to guidance and training. Approval is also required to vary and extend the current contract with AECOM to ensure continued provision of specialist support for energy while procurement for the new contract takes place between April and July. Budget for this extension (estimated to be up to a value of £30,000) would be sourced from the total £1m.
The new contract will be let by way of a mini competition under the Engineering and Project Management Framework let by TfL under the Environmental Services section.
Decision
• expenditure of up to £1m on environment planning assessment consultancy services from 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2022; and
• expenditure of up to £30k – from within the overall £1m approval – on energy consultancy support until 30th June by way of extending the existing contract with AECOM
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
The London Plan is the Mayor’s Spatial Development Strategy. It brings together the Mayor’s other strategies, such as those dealing with housing, transport, economic development and environment and explores how the policies put forward in these separate strategies can be coordinated to complement one another through new development. It also provides London’s planning authorities with an overarching framework for their local plans. It ensures, for example, that boroughs identify enough land to meet local as well as strategic housing needs, and provides guidance on how new build can tackle challenges like climate change and air quality. Legally, all local plans must be in ‘general conformity’ with the London Plan.
The Mayor’s draft Environment Strategy was published for public consultation in August 2017. New development has an important role to play in achieving the Mayor’s ambitions for London’s environment set out in the draft Strategy. These include:
• London to be a zero carbon city by 2050.
• 50 per cent of London to be green by 2050 and for tree canopy cover to increase by ten per cent.
• London to be resilient to severe weather and longer-term climate change
• London to have the best air quality of any major world city by 2050.
• to make London a zero waste city by 2026.
Each year around 350-400 planning applications for new developments are referred to the GLA for consideration by the Mayor. GLA officers in the Environment Team evaluate applications to ensure compliance with London Plan policies and ensure development (where appropriate) contributes to the long-term plans for decentralised energy in London and the Mayor’s environmental targets around zero carbon, increased green cover and climate resilience. The evaluation requires specialist technical knowledge and expertise, recognising the particular circumstances of individual developments and the constraints that apply in each case.
Climate change mitigation and energy
London Plan policies on climate change mitigation and energy are designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily those from new developments, and support the installation of low carbon infrastructure to produce and use energy more efficiently and exploit sources of energy that would otherwise be wasted.
The introduction of a zero carbon target for major residential developments (consisting of ten or more dwellings) in October 2016 was an important step on the journey to a zero carbon London. A zero carbon target for non-domestic buildings is proposed for 2019, which will align with the current timeframe for the publication of the next London Plan.
The London Plan (current and draft) requires developers to submit an energy strategy demonstrating how greenhouse gas emissions reductions from major developments will be achieved against targets set in London Plan policies. The London Plan has set increasingly stringent carbon reduction targets with each iteration. As a result, developers’ commitments to reducing carbon emissions have, when normalised to earlier targets, progressively increased.
The Environment Team does not have the in-house resource capacity to evaluate the volume of applications received. Aspects of the evaluation are highly specialised, requiring in-depth, up to date knowledge of energy engineering technologies and so the GLA has in the past procured energy assessment consultancy support.
In May 2013, AECOM in partnership with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) was appointed following a competitive tendering procurement to provide support to the GLA from 20th May 2013 to 31st March 2014. This support was delivered on a call-off basis for up to 4 days per week. Their appointment was approved under DD1049.
In March 2014 MD1288 approved the procurement of on-going energy engineering consultancy support (for energy related policies only) from 1st June 2014 to 30th March 2018, with a value of up to £440,000. A procurement exercise was completed, appointing consultants AECOM from TfL’s Engineering Project Management Framework under the environmental services section.
By assessing the energy related aspects of each application we are able to work with developers to influence design and specification at several stages in the planning process and encourage carbon savings and low carbon energy opportunities to be maximised. This also allows the GLA to capture data to a more detailed level than borough planning officers are required to submit through the London Development Database. For 2016 we estimate that the Mayor’s planning policies secured regulated CO2 emission reductions of 35.7 per cent more than required by Part L of the Building Regulations across applications considered by the Mayor, and cumulative regulated CO2 emission reductions of over 48,000 tonnes per annum against the relevant Part L baseline.
Flood risk, drainage and water use
London Plan policies on flood risk, drainage and water use are designed to reduce the impact of the changing climate on developments and ensure they are resilient for the lifetime of the development. As the impacts of climate change including flooding and drought are set to increase it is vital that new developments meet the requirements of the London Plan policies. This is not only for the longevity of the developments but also for the health and well-being of occupants.
Through the flood risk assessment, environment statement and drainage statement developers set out how they will meet the relevant policies and the measures they will take.
Officers in the Environment Team currently assess selected referred applications in house. The Environment Team does not have the in-house resource available to evaluate all of the applications received for flood risk and drainage issues and currently have insufficient resource to assess the water supply and consumption policies. Additional expert resource would increase the number of applications reviewed by the GLA, including the review of the water supply and consumption policies, to provide monitoring of the impact of the application reviews including how developments are complying with the London Plan policies.
Green infrastructure and urban greening
London Plan policies on London’s network of green and open spaces, and green features in the built environment such as green roofs and street trees, state that these features should be protected, planned, designed and managed as integrated features of green infrastructure. This includes the protection of Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land (MoL) and the conservation of biodiversity. GLA Planning Decision Unit case officers assess impacts on Green Belt, MoL and designated public open space. The Environment team does not have the in-house resource available to evaluate all of the applications received and additional support is required to determine whether the development would have an adverse impact on nature conservation sites, if it is contributing to urban greening, and to recommend areas for improvement.
The green infrastructure opportunities for new developments require consideration at the early design stages, since these features are difficult to retrofit once key design decisions have been made. The Environment team currently lacks the resource to attend pre-application meetings on a regular basis. Data on loss or gain of some green infrastructure features through new development is recorded through the London Plan Annual Monitoring Report, but this does not include all urban greening elements at a building scale, such as sustainable urban drainage systems or trees.
The draft new London Plan, which could be adopted in 2019/20 proposes that boroughs should develop an Urban Greening Factor (UGF) to identify the appropriate amount of urban greening required in new developments. If adopted this new policy will require additional monitoring to ensure that it is being implemented properly, as planning officers become more familiar with it.
Air quality
MD2096 in April 2017 approved a separate air quality support contract with expenditure of up to £500,000 over 4 years to procure consultants on a call off basis to provide technical modelling, planning and policy support to the Air Quality Team. This includes reviewing technically complex planning applications to ensure that ‘air quality neutral’, and if appropriate ‘air quality positive’, are fully incorporated into the proposed development. The consultants will also be required to provide specialist technical advice and input to manage and mitigate the potential air quality impacts of major infrastructure, such as Heathrow.
Separately to the above contract, it is increasingly important that energy strategies are assessed alongside air quality elements of referred planning applications, to ensure that low carbon energy technologies are also designed to meet air quality targets.
Waste and Circular Economy
Through the London Plan the Mayor has set challenging waste targets including zero recyclable waste to landfill by 2026, and recycling rates of 95 per cent for construction waste by 2020. The Mayor has also proposed a 65 per cent municipal waste recycling target by 2030 in the draft London Plan and draft Environment strategy. To achieve this it will be vital to ensure there are significant reductions in waste during the construction phase of new developments and suitable storage space is provided in new developments for recycling. The Environment Team at the GLA does not have the in-house resource available to evaluate the volume of applications received each year to effectively assess waste reduction, recycling and circular economy aspects. Support for the assessment of the implementation of waste policies in the London Plan will enable officers to assess a greater number of applications.
An integrated approach to environment planning policies
Based on the success of the current energy engineering consultancy support we are now proposing that this consultancy support should be extended to other environmental policies in the London Plan. This includes: green infrastructure, flood risk, drainage and water use, air quality (where not covered by the separate air quality support contract) and waste. These are priority policies to ensure the Mayor’s ambitions for the environment in London are achieved and we believe expanding this planning support would provide consistency across the range of environmental policies and also provide additional valuable technical expertise in these policy areas to inform the work of the GLA Environment and Planning teams.
In addition to evaluating and commenting on planning applications and related assessments, consultants could also champion the Mayor’s environment policy priorities for new developments in pre-application meetings at City Hall. In this regard consultants would work closely with the Planning Development Unit, enabling the Environment Team to influence applications early, ensuring that London Plan environment policies are considered in the early stages of design. This can help prevent fundamental changes in development proposals being required at later stages in the planning process. This advice and specialist input is particularly important during the current uncertainty around the most appropriate methods to deliver long term carbon savings as the new draft London Plan is finalised. This includes issues that lack a clear national approach such as the Government’s developing approach to Building Regulations and carbon factors in the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).
The Environment Team will also use consultancy support to help provide training to borough planning/environment officers. This is vital to ensure that borough officers have the latest knowledge and fully understand the Mayor’s priorities for the new development and specific guidance such as the GLA’s Energy Planning Guidance and the Sustainable Design and Construction SPG.
Finally, consultancy support also allows the GLA to analyse and publicly report on impact of the implementation of London Plan policies on the environment. Currently, each year the Environment Team work with consultants to produce an Energy Planning Monitoring Report . This report focuses on the reduction in carbon emissions and low carbon energy infrastructure commitments secured the previous calendar year as a result of implementing the Mayor’s London Plan energy policies for new development. It covers all approved strategic planning applications that have been referred to the Mayor and sets out case studies of best practise. It is primarily aimed at developers and their consultants, planning case officers, and local planning authorities. Planning support for policy areas of green infrastructure, flood risk drainage and water use and (where applicable) air quality and waste would allow similar information on implementation of the Mayor’s policies wider environment planning policies to be captured and assessed. This will not only help monitor performance, but will importantly help GLA officers to identify where efforts should be targeted to help improve performance.
Approval is therefore sought for:
• the procurement, award of, entry into and the execution of energy assessment consultancy services from 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2022 up to a value of £1m with a break clause after two years (31st March 2020). The contract will be let on a call-off basis subject to caseload. This is based on an estimate of up to £255,000 per year. The budget will need to be applied in a flexible manner, to reflect peaks and troughs of planning applications that are referred to the Mayor and also potentially changing requirements following the adoption of the new London Plan during the lifetime of this contract.
• varying and extending the current contract with AECOM (Contract TfL90001 Task: 186) to provide further energy engineering consultancy until the 30th June 2018 whilst a new 2018/2022 contract is procured. Budget for this extension (estimated to be up to a value of £30,000) would be sourced from the total £1m requested in this MD. Should any delays occur during the procurement process it may be necessary to undertake another contract variation to ensure continued consultancy support until the new contract starts.
Objectives
Securing technical environment planning consultancy support will achieve the following objectives:
1) Ensure that planning applications comply with the London Plan policies on climate change mitigation and energy, air quality, flood risk, drainage, water use, green infrastructure and waste and best practice is identified and promoted.
2) Ensure that progress against the policies in the London Plan is monitored and reported on.
3) Help to secure the delivery of sustainable buildings and infrastructure investment in new developments that contribute effectively to the Mayor’s ambitions as set out in the draft Environment Strategy.
Outcomes
The appointed consultant will be required to:
a) Attend the Mayor’s Pre-planning application meetings (pre-apps) - this will be done on an ongoing basis for the duration of the contract - approximately 150 pre-apps per year. Where applicable pre-app meetings should cover environment policies in an integrated manner.
b) Provide pre-application, Stage I, post Stage I and Stage II energy comments for all referable planning applications and resolve issues through liaison with GLA planning officers, consultants employed by developers and borough planning officers. This will be done on an ongoing basis for the duration of the contract - approximately 350-400 individual applications per year for energy issues (and where relevant air quality impacts) and around 200 for other policy areas.
c) Provide monitoring on an ongoing basis for the duration of the contract. This includes maintaining records of CO2 savings, infrastructure commitments, greening measures, flood risk and drainage measures and water use targets achieved from pre-application, Stage I and Stage II strategic planning applications.
d) Draft required GLA assessment guidance (including energy strategy guidance) for planning applicants and update as necessary.
e) Prepare an annual monitoring report to assess the implementation of Mayoral planning policies on key environmental areas.
f) Provide input into policy development and implementation related to existing and emerging environment policy, including following the Examination in Public of the draft new London Plan.
g) Provide training to GLA and borough planning and/or sustainability officers on a regular basis. This will be undertaken 3-4 times a year for the duration of the contract.
Further details will be set out in the specification let by way of a mini competition under the Engineering and Project Management Framework let by TfL under the Environmental Services section.
Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
The process of reviewing development proposals and their associated activities does not have a direct link to the promotion of equality, but it is directly linked to the implementation of the GLA’s environment policies which will have been reviewed to ensure they are legally compliant, including with the equality duty. As presented in the Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, some environmental issues (such as air pollution) disproportionately affect certain groups. These include the very young and very old, some disabled Londoners and those living in poverty. The poorest areas of London also typically fare worse in terms of the quantity and quality of green space.
The London Plan sets policies that will ensure new developments are suitable for their particular location, for example taking into account local environmental issues such as air quality or flood risk. Consultants reviewing planning applications on behalf of the GLA will have due regard to the Environment Strategy and the objectives of the Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. By reviewing strategic planning applications we ensure that a diverse range of Londoners will benefit from the Mayor’s policies, for example by tackling risks of overheating or local flooding no matter the type or value of development. Assessing the implementation of the Mayor’s environment planning policies will ensure developments contribute to providing benefits such as protecting and enhancing green space in London and reducing areas of deficiency for access to open space and nature.
With regards to energy and air quality in particular an indirect link concerns the impact of proposed energy strategies on consumers bills’. Meeting our minimum carbon standards is expected to reduce energy demand and therefore energy bills which supports our fuel poverty objectives, but we will need to ensure that as new low carbon technologies emerge that these don’t adversely impact on bills. Energy strategies will be required to provide an assessment of expected costs on occupants.
The consultants procured will be required to have suitable equality and diversity policies in place.
The contract is let on a call-off basis subject to caseload. This provides a safeguard, allows flexibility and ensures value for money as consultant input can be reserved for busy periods, contentious applications or where specific expertise not available in house is required.
The contract will be let on a call off basis for a maximum of 4 years, based on an initial 2 year term with an option for a two year extension. This will ensure that the GLA is not bound for the full £1m budget (approx. £250,000 per annum), should full support not be required (e.g. after the publication of the new London Plan anticipated 2019/20) or if the work undertaken is not consistently high quality across all environmental areas.
The London Plan is the Mayor’s spatial development strategy for London. It sets out a comprehensive range of policies for new developments. Until the final version of the new London Plan is published, the existing London Plan will act as the basis for the consultants’ review. However, latest evidence will be included as part of our assessments and discussions with developers to ensure that a reasonable approach is taken which is aligned with the Mayor’s (currently draft) London Environment Strategy.
This decision relates to achieving the objectives set out in London Plan policies. The development of the London Plan includes a public consultation process and integrated impact assessment incorporating sustainability, community safety, health and equalities assessments. There is no requirement to further consult or undertake an impact assessment specific to this decision.
Mayoral approval is sought for the procurement, award of, entry into and the execution of environment planning assessment consultancy services from 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2022 up to a value of £1m. Approval is also requested for the extension of the existing contract with AECOM for provision of energy consultancy support until the 30th June 2018.
The profile of the spend is expected to be
• £235,000 – 2018/19
• £255,000 per annum from 2019/20 to 2021/22.
It should be noted that as this is a call-off contract and planning application caseload can vary from year to year the profile above may change therefore budgets may need to be reprofiled across the 4 years depending on the work requirements.
The £1m expenditure is expected to be funded from the following budgets;
• £440,000 Zero Carbon Policy - Energy Planning (£110,000 per annum)
• £340,000 GLA Planning team contribution (£85,000 per annum)
• £220,000 from Environment Programme budget (combination of Waste, Flood risk and Drainage programme budgets).
The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:
- The decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and
- The decisions requested of the Mayor (in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code) concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
• consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
• consult with appropriate bodies.
- In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.4 the services required must be procured by Transport for London Procurement who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services.
Signed decision document
MD2257 Environment Planning Consultancy Support