Mr. Brian Carroll:

On the first question, which related to what will happen if a local authority does not provide a climate action plan, I would be surprised if any authority did not. When the Bill is enacted, that will be a statutory requirement. Over recent years, local authorities have already shown themselves to be willing and capable of producing climate adaptation plans which look at the impacts of climate change that are already locked in and at how to respond to them. The Bill is expanding this requirement to include mitigation measures to deliver a reduction of greenhouse gases in addition to the adaptation planning authorities are already carrying out.

With regard to the standard and supports, different local authorities are resourced in different ways to take on this work, but over recent years we have developed climate action regional offices, CAROs. The country is divided into four distinct regions. These have been set up to support local authorities and to bring a level of expertise and uniformity of approach to the preparation of plans. These CAROs will support local authorities and try to bring a set standard to the plans they produce. These are the supports available.