Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: May 19, 2025

Purpose:

Content: RESOLVED:   Considered the objections raised during the engagement period and approved the decision to postpone extending the smoke controls to include moored vessels at this time. This was in recognition of the concerns raised about the financial impacts on those dependent on solid fuel for domestic heating, and that funding from central Government to help the Council provide support had not yet been awarded.   Approved the draft Smoke Control Order (SCO) attached to this report at Appendix 4.   Set the date for coming into force of the Revocation Order as 30 November 2025 and the date for coming into force of the new SCO as 1 December 2025.   REASONS FOR DECISION   There is a need for smoke controls to be in place in order to minimise the effects of emissions from domestic heating on air quality and health. Burning solid fuel, such as wood and coal, causes air pollution. Emissions from burning for domestic heating is estimated to be the second biggest contributor to levels of fine particulate matter in London. SCOs have been in place for many years and significant air quality benefits have been achieved as a result of their introduction. Having a SCO in place will help to retain the air quality benefits that have been achieved by continuing to control emissions from the burning of solid fuel.   Approval was granted at Cabinet in February 2024 to start the process for introducing a single boroughwide SCO. This was to replace the 27 separate SCOs that have been in place for around 60 years. A statutory process must be followed which involves revoking all of the existing SCOs and publishing a draft new SCO, on which anyone who might be affected can raise objections.   A Revocation Order was made and published, with people having the opportunity to raise objections to it. The Secretary of State advised that no objections were received and confirmed the Revocation Order on 3 December 2024. The approval of the Revocation Order should be noted and a date now needs to be set when the Order will come into force and all Smoke Control Areas in the Borough will cease to exist. The date needs to be after 3 June 2025 but it can be dated later to align with the introduction of any new SCO.   To ensure that emissions from solid fuel burning continue to be controlled, a new Order is required to replace those that have been revoked.   A draft SCO was published and an opportunity was provided for people to object. A number of objections were received and the Council has a duty to consider all objections. Concerns were raised about the financial impacts on people who are dependent on solid fuel for heating their homes. Funding from central Government was to be provided to local councils to assist them with providing financial support to those affected, but this funding has not yet been made available. Therefore, the decision is to introduce a new SCO, which consolidates the previous Orders into one single boroughwide Order, but which does not extend the controls to cover waterways at this time.   When funding from DEFRA is made available to the Council, the decision on whether to amend the SCO to include moored vessels can be revisited. This will be a decision for the local authority, following another period of engagement with those who may be affected.   DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED   Revoke existing SCOs without replacing them: As the revocation of the historic SCOs has been approved by the Secretary of State, we need to set a date when this will come into effect. This needs to be after 3 June 2025. Once the Revocation Order comes into effect, there will be no Smoke Control Areas in the Borough and the option to retain this position exists. The offence associated with emitting smoke from a chimney would no longer apply in Hackney and people would be able to legally burn wood in an open fireplace. The types of fuel that can be sold or supplied would continue to be controlled under the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) Regulations 2020. This requires wood to be dried and for solid fuel to be certified as ‘Ready to Burn’.   Introduce a new boroughwide Smoke Control Order which includes moored vessels: This would consolidate the historic Orders into a single Order but would also extend the scope to include vessels which moor on the Borough’s waterways. Moored vessels were not covered by the previous Orders so this would introduce a change to the regulatory provisions. This was proposed in the draft Order on which people were invited to comment. Through the engagement period, a number of objections were received which the Borough needs to consider when making its decision. If this is introduced, the Regulations require the local authority to reimburse 70% of the costs incurred by any vessel meeting the eligibility criteria to upgrade their heating appliance to comply with the new requirements. Funding for the local authority is not currently available to cover these costs so the objections raised regarding financial concerns can not be adequately addressed.