Autumn statement 2011: environmental issues at a glance

George Osborne's message was clear: where green goals are in conflict with economic concerns, business interests will win

Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 November 2011 14.37 GMT

Overall

Although George Osborne was keen to underline his green credentials – as the chancellor who introduced the green investment bank and the carbon floor price – the overall message was clear, and designed to appeal to the right wing of the Tory party. It was that environmental aims should always come second to economic concerns, and if they are in conflict, business interests will win. Osborne set out clearly the government's new credo: "If we burden [British businesses] with endless social and environmental goals – however worthy in their own right – then not only will we not achieve those goals, but the businesses will fail, jobs will be lost, and our country will be poorer."


Help for energy intensive industries

Heavy industries to get £250m assistance in the form of relief from carbon-related taxes, measures to reduce the impact on them of the electricity market reforms, and easing of the carbon price floor. Osborne: "I am worried about the combined impact of the green policies adopted not just in Britain, but also by the European Union, on some of our heavy, energy-intensive industries. We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills, aluminium smelters and paper manufacturers. All we will be doing is exporting valuable jobs out of Britain."


Transport

Electrification of the transpennine express between Manchester and Leeds, which should be greener and cheaper than the current line. A new rail line connecting Oxford, Milton Keynes and Bedford. New rail spending amounts to £1.4bn in total. There will also be extension to the London tube – to provide a station for the new American embassy on the southbank of the Thames. Numerous major new road schemes will also go ahead, for about £1bn. But no new third runway at Heathrow, despite rumours that the Conservatives were wavering on their pre-election rejection of the runway.


Fuel duty

Cancelling the planned fuel duty rise of 3p in January, but retaining a rise of 3p in the duty from next August. Fuel duty is one of the touchstone issues of the Conservative right and a contentious issue around the country and in sections of the media. Osborne said the results of his measures would be that taxes on petrol would be 10p lower than they would have been under the original arrangements, which would mean filling up the average family car would be £144 less than it would have been by the end of next year. Note that the cost of filling up the car will still increase – just by less than it would have if the fuel duty escalator had been adhered to.


Green deal

Although the "green geal" is the government's flagship policy for helping households to cut their energy bills, through access to insulation, it rated only the barest mention. An initial £200m of public funds to kickstart the deal was already announced last week.


Biodiversity

A threat to water down some of the regulations on protected habitats for wildlife and plants, by reviewing the implementation of the EU habitat and wild birds directive between now and next March. Osborne: "We will make sure that gold-plating of EU rules on things like habitats aren't placing ridiculous costs on British businesses."


Planning

A review of the planning appeals procedures, including ways to make it easier for agricultural buildings to be converted to other uses. There was also a strong defence of the planning reforms now under way, with a vow to "go further to remove the lengthy delays and high costs of the current system", which will include new time limits on planning applications to ensure they cannot drag on, with additional costs to those applying, and new responsibilities for statutory consultees, which should also speed up the process. Osborne said: "Our planning reforms strike the right balance between protecting our countryside while permitting economic development that creates jobs."

George Osborne pumps extra £200m into science in autumn statement

Chancellor announces new investment in the space industry, green technology and research into animal disease

Isis lab funding shortfall 'damaging UK's research standing'

Ian Sample, science correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 November 2011 19.30 GMT

The chancellor injected £200m into UK science projects on Tuesday, bolstering research into animal disease, green transport and satellites that can peer at the planet's surface through cloud cover.


The extra money announced in George Osborne's autumn statement included £80m towards new high containment laboratories to study bird flu and other diseases at the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright in Surrey.


A further £21m will go to the space industry to develop a constellation of small satellites called NovaSAR, which use radar to take images of the Earth's surface in all weather conditions. The investment is expected to be matched by industry.


Large-scale demonstrations of low-carbon vehicles, smart energy grids and green buildings received £25m of the money, with £13m going to a high-performance computing facility called Archer.


The extra cash brings the government's investment in science to £495m since last year. Ministers claimed to have frozen the science budget in the 2010 spending review, but left scientists effectively £1.7bn poorer by redefining what the budget covered.


In his speech on Tuesday, Osborne said: "At a time of difficult choices, we made ours last year when we committed to protect the science budget." He went on to confirm nearly half a billion pounds for scientific projects, from "supercomputing and satellite technology to a world-beating animal health laboratory". Only £200m of the investment is new, however.


Scientists welcomed the extra funds but warned ministers that further investment was needed to put science and engineering at the heart of Britain's plans for economic recovery.


"The repeated references to science and innovation in the chancellor's speech show a commitment to science and engineering being the basis for a sustainable economic recovery, but it will only happen if we are willing to invest heavily, like many of our competitors," said Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society. "Today's announcements must be the start of that additional investment rather than just a one-off."


A further £61m has been earmarked for research councils to spend on science facilities and other crucial infrastructure.


"Politicians of all stripes keep talking about 'rebalancing the economy' and moving towards high-tech manufacturing instead of relying on consumer debt," said Imran Khan, director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering. "David Cameron discussed it at the Science Museum this month. These words have to be turned into action, so it's really encouraging for the UK economy that last year's cuts are being slowly reversed. Investment in science and engineering is vital if we're to achieve sustainable growth."


He added: "Today's extra cash is the latest in a string of announcements since the spending review, which gives me hope that the Chancellor realises we must stay ahead of the curve on research and development. It's an area that the UK is uniquely placed to benefit from if we invest wisely, and we now need to see a genuine strategy from our political leaders about how we're going to put science and engineering at the heart of our economic recovery."