Archive Website of the UK government

Green Investment Bank

The Green Investment Bank will drive investment in green infrastructure and low-carbon electricity generation.

The government announced an additional £2 billion of investment in the Green Investment Bank, on top of £1 billion previously announced. The bank is to become operational a year earlier than planned – in 2012-13.

Planning

Controls on the development of greenbelt land will be maintained, but nationally imposed targets on the use of previously developed land will be removed.

In future, all bodies involved in planning will be expected to prioritise growth and jobs.

Measures announced in the Plan for Growth include:

• a 12 month guarantee for processing all applications and appeals
• a fast track for major infrastructure projects
• a new presumption in favour of sustainable development so that the default answer to development is 'yes'
• piloting new land auctions, starting with public sector land

There will also be a consultation on proposals to make it easier to convert commercial premises to residential.

• Planning permission (home and community section)

Company Car Tax

To encourage businesses to use ultra low carbon cars, Company Car Tax will be frozen from April 2013 for cars emitting less than 95g of carbon dioxide per kilometre. For vehicles with emissions from 95g/km to 219g/km, the tax will rise by 1 percentage point from April 2013.

• Greener cars and driving (environment and greener living section)

Climate Change

The Climate Change Levy discount on electricity for those who sign up will be increased from 65 per cent to 80 per cent from April 2013.

The Climate Change Agreements will also be extended to 2023.

• Climate change and protecting the environment (environment and greener living section)

• Energy saving and generation (environment and greener living section)

Carbon pricing

To drive investment in the low-carbon power sector, a carbon price floor for the power sector will be introduced. The UK is the first country in the world to do this.

The price will start at around £16 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2013 and move to a target price of £30 per tonne in 2020.

This is designed to provide the incentive for billions of pounds of new investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure.

Carbon Capture and Storage

New Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology is being pioneered, with £1 billion already provided.

Future CCS demonstration projects will be funded out of general spending rather than a new CCS levy.