Twenty-eighth Report Adapting Institutions to Climate Change Cm ...

Chapter 5
SPECIFIC INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
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Our second series of recommendations is addressed at specific institutional arrangements. We
identified in Chapter 3 some of the complex institutional arrangements involved in delivering
climate change adaptation. Some of our recommendations flow from our analysis of particular
exemplars, but many will have much wider application.
As we have noted, adaptation is often local (see, for example, 1.13, 3.3 and 4.58) but the organisations
which deliver local services or make investment decisions about projects operate within a
multi-level governance framework. Actors at all levels play a role in adaptation – as is clear from
the descriptions we have given in Chapter 3. Different places will experience climate change in
different ways, requiring locally-tailored responses and public engagement about the form that
these responses should take; however, in some circumstances there are good reasons for actors
operating at higher levels to be involved. Action at a local level may spill over and affect people
in other areas, so co-ordinated responses may be required. Equally, the capacity of local actors
to take steps to increase resilience to the effects of climate change will be determined to an
important degree by policy and fiscal frameworks put in place elsewhere.
In England, Defra has set up the Adapting to Climate Change Programme (3.9 and Figure 3-I),
which co-ordinates action across Government. As one element, Defra has engaged with the
Environment Agency, the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) and a number of regional
and local bodies to establish the Local and Regional Adaptation Partnership (LRAP) Board.
The aim of LRAP is to facilitate “at the regional and local level, a robust approach to identifying
and managing the risks and opportunities of unavoidable climate change in a co-ordinated and
consultative way”, 6 and to do so by 2011. The Commission recommends that Defra extend
the Local and Regional Adaptation Partnership Board beyond the current term of 2011 to
continue to take advantage of collaborative working across national and regional organisations.
Adaptation is a process with no definable end-point, and there will be a continuing
need for a forum to facilitate the exchange of information at a regional and local level. This is
particularly important given that the first UK-wide climate change risk assessment is not due until
the end of LRAP’s currently anticipated life.
In many places, authorities will need to work together to build adaptive capacity. For example,
neighbouring local authorities may need to co-operate where co-ordinated action is needed over
a larger geographical scale than the area of one authority. Partnerships and multi-area agreements
provide mechanisms to facilitate joint working, though these are voluntary arrangements. We
encourage the Government to require joint reporting, where appropriate, in accordance with the
terms of the Climate Change Acts.
THE LAND USE PLANNING SYSTEM
5.33 The Commission is convinced that the land use planning system will be extremely important
in delivering adaptation. We are concerned at the pressures being placed on the system, given
that we know that many planning departments are under-resourced. 7 For the planning system
to deliver adaptive capacity fully and effectively, there needs to be the opportunity for planners
to learn about adaptation, and also the organisational culture and operational mechanisms to
allow them to incorporate adaptation into development planning and planning control decisions.
The Commission recommends that local authorities ensure that planning departments
are adequately resourced and organised to enable their responsibilities in relation to
adaptation to be met.
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