{"id":52870,"date":"2019-02-21T14:58:31","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=52870"},"modified":"2019-02-21T14:58:58","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:58:58","slug":"ccc-homes-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/","title":{"rendered":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theccc.org.uk\/\">Committee on Climate Change<\/a> (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions<\/h2>\n<p>In a new report\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theccc.org.uk\/www.theccc.org.uk\/publication\/uk-housing-fit-for-the-future\">\u2018UK housing: Fit for the future?\u2019<\/a>\u00a0the Committee on Climate Change has warned that the UK\u2019s legally-binding climate change targets will not be met without the near-complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings.<\/p>\n<p>The report found that emissions reductions from the UK\u2019s 29 million homes have stalled, while energy use in homes \u2013 which accounts for 14% of total UK emissions \u2013 increased between 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to adapt the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/zero-carbon-home\/50394\/\">UK\u2019s housing stock<\/a> to the impacts of the changing climate: for higher average temperatures, flooding and water scarcity, are also lagging far behind what is needed to keep us safe and comfortable, even as these climate change risks grow.<\/p>\n<p>Around 4.5 million homes overheat, even in cool summers; 1.8 million people live in areas at significant risk of flooding; and average UK water consumption is higher than in many other European countries. Cost-effective measures to adapt the UK housing stock are not being rolled-out at anywhere near the required level, the report finds.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theccc.org.uk\/www.theccc.org.uk\/publication\/uk-housing-fit-for-the-future\">The report<\/a>\u00a0identifies five priorities for Government action:<\/p>\n<h3>Performance and compliance<\/h3>\n<p>The way new homes are built and existing homes retrofitted often falls short of stated design standards. This deceives householders and inflicts new costs in the future. Closing the \u2018performance gap\u2019 could save households in new homes between \u00a370 and \u00a3260 in energy bills each year. In addition, widespread inspection and enforcement of building standards is needed, with stiffer penalties for non-compliance.<\/p>\n<h3>Skills gap<\/h3>\n<p>The chopping and changing of UK Government policy has led to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/hr-skills-news\/skills-shortage-in-construction-sector\/43629\/\">skills gap<\/a> in housing design, construction and in the installation of new technologies. Important steps in reducing emissions are being held back as a result. The UK Government should launch a nationwide training programme and use initiatives under the Industrial Strategy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/construction-sector-deal\/43242\/\">Construction Sector Deal<\/a> to plug this gap.<\/p>\n<h3>Retrofitting existing homes<\/h3>\n<p>Ensuring existing<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/clean-energy-construction\/47320\/\"> homes are low-carbon<\/a> and resilient to the changing climate is a major UK infrastructure priority, and must be supported as such by the Treasury. Homes should make use of low-carbon sources of heating such as heat pumps and heat networks. Upgrades and repairs to existing homes should include plans for shading and ventilation, measures to reduce indoor moisture, improved air quality and water efficiency and, in homes at risk of flooding, property-level flood protection.<\/p>\n<h3>Building new homes<\/h3>\n<p>New homes should be built to be low-carbon, energy and water efficient, and climate resilient. The costs of building to tight specifications are not prohibitive, and getting the design right from the outset is far cheaper than retrofitting later. From 2025 at the latest, no new homes should be connected to the gas grid.<\/p>\n<h3>Finance and funding<\/h3>\n<p>There are urgent funding gaps which must be addressed, including secure UK Government funding for low-carbon sources of heating beyond 2021, and better resources for local authorities \u2013 particularly \u2018building control\u2019 departments. The UK Government must implement the Green Finance Taskforce recommendations around green mortgages, such as preferential rates for owners of energy-efficient and low-carbon homes and green loans to cover the upfront costs of home sustainability improvements.<\/p>\n<p>Baroness Brown, Chair of the CCC\u2019s Adaptation Committee, said: \u201cThis report confirms what we have long-suspected: UK homes are largely unprepared for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/buildings-operate-net-zero-carbon\/33469\/\">climate change<\/a>. The Government now has an opportunity to act. There must be compliance with stated building designs and standards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need housing with low-carbon sources of heating. And we must finally grasp the challenge of improving our poor levels of home energy efficiency. As the climate continues to change, our homes are becoming increasingly uncomfortable and unsafe. This will continue unless we take steps now to adapt them for higher temperatures, flooding and water scarcity. Our report shows that this work has barely begun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMajor improvements in how we design, build and use our homes are needed to meet these challenges. We have highlighted the need for appropriate sources of finance and funding \u2013 and a national training programme to ensure we have the building and construction skills required in the UK. Climate change will not wait while we consider our options \u2013 the nationwide shift we need to make UK homes climate-ready must start today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Alker, Director of Policy and Places at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukgbc.org\/\">UKGBC<\/a> added: \u201cWe welcome the CCC\u2019s wide-ranging report which looks unflinchingly at the breadth and depth of the challenge we face in decarbonising UK homes. With the Government rightly intent on delivering more and more properties to address the housing crisis, these homes must be delivered to high environmental standards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must start by not making the problem worse, which is why UKGBC is calling for an urgent step-change in the energy performance of our homes, and all new buildings to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ukgbc-net-zero-carbon-buildings\/49621\/\">net zero carbon by 2030<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[307],"tags":[566,693,430,673,569,656,831],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-52870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-energy-news","7":"tag-air-quality","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-energy-efficiency","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-housing-standards","12":"tag-housing","13":"tag-hvac"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/CCC-report-says-UK-homes-unfit-for-climate-change-challenges-\u00a9-Darius-Sulcius-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steph Blundell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steph Blundell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb\"},\"headline\":\"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\"},\"wordCount\":808,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Air Quality\",\"Climate Change\",\"Energy Efficiency\",\"Energy Sector\",\"Housing Standards\",\"Housing system\",\"HVAC\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Energy News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\",\"name\":\"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today\",\"description\":\"The Latest Planning, Building &amp; Construction News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"alternateName\":\"PBC Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb\",\"name\":\"Steph Blundell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steph Blundell\"},\"description\":\"Steph is the Senior Digital Editor here at PBC. When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges","description":"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges","og_description":"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/","og_site_name":"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","article_published_time":"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1499,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/CCC-report-says-UK-homes-unfit-for-climate-change-challenges-\u00a9-Darius-Sulcius-.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steph Blundell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges","twitter_description":"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday","twitter_site":"@PBC_Today","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/"},"author":{"name":"Steph Blundell","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb"},"headline":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges","datePublished":"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/"},"wordCount":808,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Air Quality","Climate Change","Energy Efficiency","Energy Sector","Housing Standards","Housing system","HVAC"],"articleSection":["Energy News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/","name":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-02-21T14:58:31+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-21T14:58:58+00:00","description":"The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the Government to improve the quality of UK homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/ccc-homes-climate-change\/52870\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CCC report says UK homes unfit for climate change challenges"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today","description":"The Latest Planning, Building &amp; Construction News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","alternateName":"PBC Today","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Planning, Building & Construction Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb","name":"Steph Blundell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steph Blundell"},"description":"Steph is the Senior Digital Editor here at PBC. When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-02 20:00:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52870"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=52870"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=52870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}