The Government is taking the first steps to making every new school building zero carbon from 2016, Children's Secretary Ed Balls has announced.

Mr Balls confirmed that architect Robin Nicholson will chair an expert task force to advise ministers. He also announced the group's formal terms of reference.

The Children's Plan, published last December, set out the Government's long-term ambition for all new school buildings in England to produce no carbon emissions at all from their day-to-day use within eight years.

The Zero Carbon Task Force will launch a call for evidence later this summer and report to ministers by the end of year on overcoming the technological and cost barriers.

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Mr Balls said: "We have already made significant steps to cutting carbon use in schools - backed by our unprecedented capital investment in schools, as well as other initiatives giving local authorities a statutory responsibility to cut car use on the school run.

"The Children's Plan goes a lot further and sets out our long-term goal that all new schools buildings should be zero-carbon from 2016.

"This will be the most ambitious design and building initiative the school system has ever faced. This expert task force drawn from the construction, sustainability and education sectors will help us overcome the technical, design and construction challenges over the next eight years.

"I don't have time for critics who will carp that this is impossible. I know that current technology makes zero-carbon schools expensive and challenging to install on many existing school sites."

(CD/JM)