Local Authorities and Net-Zero

The report “Local government and net zero in England” from the National Audit Office (NAO, 2021) estimated that 91% percent of the 232 local authorities in its sample had adopted at least one commitment to decarbonise in line with government net zero policy. It gave the total number of principal local authorities in England – London borough councils, unitary authorities, metropolitan councils, county councils and district councils – as 333. The report focussed on “local authority work that contributes to the UK’s net zero target rather than on climate work more broadly”, on contributions to emissions reductions within the UK, rather than on climate change adaptation or on emissions from imported goods and “on the relationship between the UK government and local authorities in England for net zero.” The list of key findings indicated that central government had not developed with local authorities “any overall expectations about their roles in achieving the national net zero target” and had not set out “how it will work with them to clarify responsibilities for net zero”. Reporting on net zero action from local authorities showed little consistency, and they found it “hard to engage with central government on net zero”. While funding “is a critical issue for local authority work on net zero” neither the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government nor HM Treasury had “assessed the totality of funding that central government provides to local government that is linked with net zero”. More recent information indicates that more than three hundred local authorities in England have declared climate emergencies, as have authorities in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar (Wikipedia, 2023).

Following the NAO report, the Local Government Association published “Delivering local net zero” (LGA, 2021). This report was prepared by the consultancy WPI Economics and “focuses on some of the key areas that councils have significant influence over to reduce carbon emissions, such as housing, transport and renewable energy projects.” It suggests that “councils can deliver retrofit programmes for public buildings, local authority-owned housing and fuel poor households” using energy efficiency measures and installation of low-carbon heat sources, and some quantitative estimates of what could be achieved are given. The LGA considers that councils “are best-placed to deliver the infrastructure that will reduce GHG emissions from transport” and projections are made on investment, car journeys avoided, and consequent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Councils are seen as “integral to the delivery of clean energy projects through the planning system … and offering support and information for local community groups to undertake energy projects.”

Early in 2022 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published “Local government and the path to net zero: government response to the Select Committee report” (DLUHC, 2022). It said that “many local authorities have already made their own commitments on reaching net zero. Two thirds have committed to reduce their direct emissions (those from their fleets, estates and practices) to zero by 2030, and one third have set net zero goals for their areas as a whole. Government is committed to support local areas to deliver these.” The report contains seventeen recommendations with responses from government, on issues including the relative roles and responsibilities of local and central government; a plan for funding local authority climate action; how the demand for heat pumps and other low-carbon heating systems for new homes will be met; and review of the metrics used to measure energy efficiency in homes.

Attempts have been made to assess the progress of the various authorities towards meeting their goals. One approach is that of Climate Emergency UK, which “assessed all UK councils on the actions they've taken towards net zero.” Their assessments are presented in the form of scores for individual councils under the headings Total Score, Buildings and Heating, Transport, Planning and Land Use, Governance and Finance, Biodiversity, Collaboration and Engagement, and Waste Reduction and Food (Action Scorecards, 2023). The methodology used in compiling the scorecards recognises that different council types have different powers, and so they are assessed only in areas which they have power to influence. The sources of information used across all headings include news stories on council websites and in local media, climate action plans and their updates and climate sections of council websites. Under different headings, sources may differ; for example, Buildings & Heating draws on housing strategies, fuel poverty strategies and Home Energy Conservation Reports, whereas Governance & Finance sources include corporate and financial plans, council minutes and procurement strategies.

In the Transport section the questions include: Is the council transitioning their vehicle fleet to electric? Has the council supported the expansion of a public network of electric vehicle chargers? Has the council set up or supported a shared transport scheme that can be used across their whole area? Has the council approved, expanded, or built a high carbon transport project since 2019? Questions in the Buildings and Heating section include: Has the council completed extensive retrofit work on any of its significant buildings to make them low carbon? Are the council's operations powered by renewable energy? Are the homes owned and managed by the council energy efficient? Does the council have a target to retrofit all council owned and managed homes and has this been costed? The report describes how answers to the questions are weighted according to the impact on greenhouse gas emission reductions which Climate Emergency UK estimates. There are also differences in weighting between different types of authority. The final scores allow comparisons to be made between the progress of authorities, but the assessments, while informative, are more qualitative than quantitative.

UK100 describes itself as “a network of local leaders who have pledged to lead a rapid transition to Net Zero with Clean Air in their communities ahead of the government’s legal target” (UK100, 2023). In May 2021 it published “Power Shift” a report which it described as “the most comprehensive examination of the powers local authorities have and need to deliver on climate ever undertaken” (Power Shift, 2021). While local authorities are described as having the “ambition and willingness” to reduce emissions, they face barriers which include: National policy mechanisms which prevent local authorities from making effective use of their potential to cut emissions; Government not providing the investment required; Lack of clarity over the role of local authorities from Westminster; Lack of capacity, with job cuts to key areas of sustainability; A shortage of funding made worse by the demands of Covid at a local level; and Old ways of doing things which don’t consider the need to decarbonise.

The report recommends government to: Retain the urgency from the (Covid) pandemic to build a green recovery; Change national rules and regulations to enable local councils to do more on climate; Create a framework for delivery of climate targets with local flexibility; and to promote: Investment in green jobs and schemes at scale, and in delivery at the local level; A consistent message from across government prioritising Net Zero; and Better / more appropriate powers for councils on housing, planning, and transport and more capacity to implement them.

In 2022 UK100 published eight Local Net Zero Delivery reports under the headings Waste, Transport, Heat and Buildings, Energy, Finance, Local Powers, Nature, and Clean Air. There is an Executive Summary with headings including Global challenges with local consequences; Key Findings; National developments; Local progress; and Overarching recommendations. It “presents an analysis of the progress made towards delivering Net Zero at a local level across all sectors in the UK in the past year, and our recommendations for actions needed to enable the pace and scale of delivery required for success” (Barrass, 2022).Three key developments are said to fulfil to some degree UK100’s earlier requirements: The announcement and establishment of the Local Net Zero Forum; The binding biodiversity target in the 2021 Environment Act; and The Energy Future Systems Operator (FSO) / Independent Systems Operator (ISOP). (For information on systems operators see FSO, 2023 and Clark, 2023). The Summary noted that the government has been described as “good at setting targets but not at devising plans to deliver on them.”

National developments are presented as a chart showing the main developments, progress highlights and gaps for each of a range of issues: Overarching, Transport, Energy, Heat and Buildings, Local Powers, Finance, Nature, Clean Air, and Waste. Under the heading of Local progress, many members of UK100 were primarily focused on developing a strategy for Net Zero delivery, with access to funding through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme also a priority (PSDS, 2023). Members found barriers in the form of “access to long term, non-competitive funding, capacity and skills required to deliver within the LA, siloed working within LAs … as well as national policy and regulation impeding some elements of delivery … other barriers were … [the] ambiguity of the term Net Zero, the complexity of the issue and public understanding.” The overarching recommendations of the Executive Summary refer to “cross-cutting issues which need urgent attention to enable Net Zero to be delivered”; the need for Net Zero decision-making to be embedded across all government structures; the need for “a floor, not a ceiling on ambition”;  the need to combine “long term, non-competitive funding, capacity development and support with a clear strategy for Local Net Zero Delivery” and to enable local authorities to access private finance; and recognition of energy efficiency as a priority area for investment and delivery.

 

References

 

Action Scorecards, 2023, Climate Emergency UK, online, accessed 6 December 2023

https://councilclimatescorecards.uk/

Barrass, K., 2022, Local Net Zero Delivery Progress Executive Summary, UK100, July 2022, online, accessed 11 December 2023

https://www.uk100.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/Executive%20Summary.pdf

Clark, E., 2023, What is Independent System Operator? Energy theory, online, accessed 11 December 2023

https://energytheory.com/what-is-independent-system-operator/

DLUHC, 2022, Local government and the path to net zero: government response to the Select Committee report, 2022, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Jan 2022, online, accessed 7 December 2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-and-the-path-to-net-zero-government-response-to-the-select-committee-report/local-government-and-the-path-to-net-zero-government-response-to-the-select-committee-report

FSO, 2023, Energy Security Bill factsheet: Future System Operator, GOV.UK, online, accessed 12 December 2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-security-bill-factsheets/energy-security-bill-factsheet-future-system-operator

LGA, 2021, Delivering local net zero: How councils could go further and faster, 2021, Local Government Association, Oct. 2021, online, accessed 8 December 2023

https://www.local.gov.uk/delivering-local-net-zero

NAO, 2021, Local government and net zero in England, 2021, National Audit Office, July 2021, online, accessed 8 December 2023

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Local-government-and-net-zero-in-England-Summary.pdf

Power Shift, 2021, UK100 May 2021, online, accessed 7 December 2023

https://www.uk100.org/publications/power-shif

PSDS, 2023, Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, GOV.UK, online, accessed 12 December 2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-sector-decarbonisation-scheme

UK100 (2023) online, accessed 5 December 2023

https://www.uk100.org/about

Wikipedia 2023, Climate emergency declarations in the United Kingdom, online, accessed 5 December 2023

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_emergency_declarations_in_the_United_Kingdom

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