Most of yesterday’s budget was about raising taxes and cutting spending, but not everything in it was bad news for landscape architecture. The budget reaffirmed David Cameron’s commitment to making his administration the greenest government ever, and it contained a number of proposals that made it ‘moderately green’. None of them has a direct impact on landscape architecture but their cumulative effect is to continue the drive towards green procurement. They will steer developers and local authorities in the direction of lower energy inputs, less intensive use of construction materials, lower management and maintenance costs and less waste.
All of these tendencies are a positive context for landscape architects to work within, especially where they are able to show how a landscape-led solution delivers measurable savings to the bottom line as well as other benefits. Specific changes include an increase in fuel duty, aggregates levy and landfill tax. A new method of carbon pricing is also trailed for later this year.
Right after the election, the Government announced that the new Infrastructure Planning Commission was to be abolished, but the budget set out plans for a new unit called Infrastructure UK to be set up inside HM Treasury to improve the long-term planning and delivery of key infrastructure. It will be chaired by Terry Hill (Chair of Transport Market, Arup). The LI will make the case of a focus on green infrastructure and for procurement methods that enhance rather than retard the ability to develop sustainable solutions. The commitment to setting up a Green Investment Bank is repeated, and the LI will be arguing for this to serve as a funding vehicle for major green infrastructure projects.
There will be £32bn in spending cuts across government departments up to 2014-15. Most government departments are expecting a 25% cut in spending over the next four years. No further reductions in capital spending will be imposed for 2010-11 beyond what had been announced previous to the budget. Departmental Expenditure limits for Westminster departments have been set out, but until the autumn budget statement, we will not know what the impact of these will be on programmes and initiatives that relate to landscape architecture. Equally, the frontline impact of cuts on devolved governments and on local authorities has yet to fully emerge.
The budget included a number of measures that will be helpful to many landscape architecture practices: corporation tax rates are to be reduced, with the small company rate dropping to 20%. There is a small rise in National Insurance thresholds and exemption for some NI payments for new businesses outside London and the south-east of England. Rates relief for small businesses doubles in value and there is a new Regional Growth Fund to support new business start-ups in target areas.
Government has also pledged to open up all central government contracts to SMEs by publishing them all online and free of charge for the first time. Other measures to encourage small firms to tender for public contracts may appear in due course, and the LI will be arguing in particular for the removal of burdensome and unnecessary requirements for high levels of PI cover, which can often prevent smaller practices from bidding for work.
Aside from advocacy on issues related to the budget, the LI is currently focused on two major areas of advocacy work with government. The first concerns Northern Ireland, and the future of the landscape architects working within the Northern Ireland Planning Service. First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness have written to LI President Neil Williamson confirming that ministers recognise the importance of the Landscape Architects Branch within the Planning Service and their commitments under the European Landscape Convention. The LI will be undertaking further work over the summer to ensure that the Northern Ireland Executive retains its core of specialist landscape expertise.
We are also delighted that a new group has been formed in the Westminster Parliament that gives us an excellent platform to spread the word about the value of landscape architecture. Tony Baldry MP has established the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Excellence in the Built Environment, and it is to be supported in its work by the Construction Industry Council, of which the LI is a member.
There are a number of existing APPGs focusing on buildings, architecture, plumbing, fire safety, but until now, none that looks at the overall big picture. One of the new group’s aims will be to take MPs on site visits, so we encourage any LI members with interesting sites to get in touch so we can try and add them to the itinerary.