Stephen Ottewell, Director of Planning and Building Control at Capita, interviews planning experts - this Q and A focuses on sustainable development.

In this series of local government Q&As, Stephen Ottewell, Director of Planning and Building Control at Capita Local Public Services, interviews planning experts on hot topics in the sector, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Were you unsuccessful in the round 2 levelling up fund, there are still plenty of funding routes out there and support is available to help you bring your projects to fruition.

Tackling a challenge on the scale of the global climate emergency will require collective action and for every part of society – from governments, to businesses, organisations and citizens – to come together, galvanised by the one, common goal of reaching Net Zero.

Against a backdrop of varying policy support and shifting funding commitments, the rise of empowered communities across the UK is even more notable.

For the past five years the number of homeless people in the UK has been rising, with Crisis estimating that up to 200,000 families and individuals are now experiencing the most severe forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping.

It’s been a few months since the long awaited Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was published, with some early signs of reform already being introduced, such as the recent launch of new flexible tickets for commuters.

Hannah Dunkerley, Capita business case consultant for local public services, explains how the public sector can fund its role in achieving net zero carbon emissions targets.

The climate change crisis, caused mainly by emission of greenhouse gases and burning fossil fuels for energy use, is accelerating at a rapid rate and having catastrophic impacts on our weather, environment and the future of our planet.

Energy Day at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was dominated by the message: ‘consign coal to history’.