Updated – CBI chief slams coalition's energy and planning record

The CBI yesterday continued its attack on the government's energy and climate change policy, warning members that the coalition has failed to show a sufficient sense of urgency towards the need to develop low-carbon infrastructure during its first 100 days in office.

In an open letter to CBI members, the business group's director general Richard Lambert offered a mixed assessment of the coalition's performance to date, arguing that while the business community had been impressed with the government's overall performance and its efforts to tackle the deficit, there were growing concerns about its actions on a number of other fronts, including its approach to the low-carbon economy.

Lambert said that based on feedback from business leaders around the country, the government deserved a green light for its policies on tackling the deficit and reforming corporation tax. But he added that it had received an amber light for its policies regarding energy security, skills development and climate change, and a red light in response to its proposed reforms to regional development and the planning regime.

The letter comes just a week after the CBI issued a report warning that uncertainty surrounding the coalition's energy policies was delaying up to £150bn-worth of investment in low-carbon energy infrastructure.

Lambert offered a blunt assessment of the government's early attempts to develop a low-carbon policy, arguing that it has "not yet shown a sufficient sense of urgency about the need to develop a diverse supply of low-carbon energy at competitive prices over the next decade".

He added that while ministers had signalled their commitment to cutting carbon emissions, they had failed to address many of the policy uncertainties that the coalition inherited from the last government.

"Rather than vague promises to make even further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, the priority should be to provide certainty and consistency in policy making underpinned by clear economic analysis, and to set out a pathway to establish the kind of robust price for carbon that will be required if the £150bn investment needed in low-carbon generation is to go ahead in a timely way," he said.

Lambert also said that business leaders were concerned about proposed cuts to skills development funding, the planned scrapping of regional development agencies (RDAs) and reforms to planning policy, all of which could have a major impact on low-carbon projects.

"Most CBI members do not want to die in a ditch in defence of the RDAs," he wrote. "But there is real concern about the approach so far to the proposed local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) between business leaders and local councils that are intended to take on some of the RDAs' role. Although the government says they are to be business-led, it is not clear where the real power will lie, and nor do we know how many LEPs there will be or how they will be funded."

He voiced similar concerns around the government's decision to scrap the Independent Planning Commission and replace it with a major infrastructure unit that allows ministers to have the final say on large projects such as power plants and wind farms – a move many developers fear will "repoliticise" planning decisions.