Part 8: Public Authority Land Section 210: Reports on improving efficiency and sustainability of buildings owned by local authorities
This section is intended to ensure local authorities are focused on improving the efficiency and sustainability of their estate; and that progress towards that objective is made transparent. It contains a duty on local authorities which is similar to the duty contained in the Climate Change Act 2008 requiring the MCO to publish a report in respect of the central government civil estate.
	The new duty requires local authorities listed in Schedule 20 to prepare an annual report containing a buildings efficiency and sustainability assessment. All the authorities listed in Schedule 20 are local authorities in England. Such an assessment must set out the progress made by the authority towards improving the efficiency and contribution to sustainability of the buildings that are part of the authority’s estate. In particular, reports must include an assessment of the authority’s progress towards reducing the size of the authority’s estate and ensuring that buildings which are part of the authority’s estate fall within the top quartile of energy performance. If a building that does not fall within the top quartile of energy performance becomes part of a local authority’s estate in the year to which a report relates, the report must explain why the building has nevertheless become part of the estate.
	This section gives the MCO a power to specify in regulations the kinds of building that must be treated as being, or as not being, part of an authority’s estate for the purpose of preparing a report. In carrying out its functions under this section, any local authority must have regard to guidance issued by the MCO. The guidance could make detailed provision about the form and content of the report. The power also leaves the MCO flexibility to address technical questions about how contributions to efficiency or sustainability should be assessed in the report.