Empowered councils can deliver net zero and clean growth
Wednesday 16 November, 2022Press release
Embargo date: from 00.01 a.m., Wednesday 16 November 2022
Empowered councils can deliver net zero and clean growth
Local government should be empowered to independently fund clean growth projects and lead the drive to hit net zero in local communities, a report from Localis today urges.
‘Mapping a route to clean local growth – clearing the path to net zero’ calls on central government to raise the floor of support to help councils deliver a decarbonised local economy and to remove the ceiling on their ambition.
The report argues against a false dichotomy of ‘economy versus environment’ and instead says clean growth – spearheaded and catalysed by bold councils – could provide the much-needed growth gear shift which has eluded the British economy for decades.
The transformative change required to alleviate the damage of climate change should go hand in hand with the levelling up agenda to usher in more inclusive and balanced regional economies, says Localis. The empowerment of councils can galvanise improved productivity, long-term job creation in strategically important industries, improved quality of life and a better environment, as well as tackling many of the causes of the cost-of-living crisis, the paper argues.
The report also says that Local Plans – the documents agreed by councils which chart future land use – should set out how each area is to be decarbonised, for instance by demanding the highest energy efficiency standards and setting out a timetable for retrofit.
Meanwhile, the government is urged to set up a fund to support the retrofitting of housing and other buildings and to also to give local leaders autonomy to directly address this as a priority area for place-based decarbonisation.
The study examined five main economic pillars crucial to attaining net zero: housing and the built environment; energy; manufacturing; transport and infrastructure and land management and climate resilience.
It concluded that local government faces three key challenges in driving decarbonisation and delivering clean local growth: strategic planning across boundaries, addressing the skills deficit and the need to drive inward investment. In addressing these challenges, the report authors called on local government to lean on its soft power as place leaders to drive action and to take on a whole place approach to local economic strategy.
There are five action points for local leaders.Rethink an area’s local plan so that it becomes the local driving force behind decarbonisation and clean growth- ensuring housing and economic needs are met sustainably. The local plan should be used to demand the highest energy efficiency standards, set out a timetable for retrofit, and become the ultimate guide to the fulfilment of your area’s net-zero goals.Councils should conduct green energy reviews. These should set out what community energy projects and renewable energy assets exist in the local area and provide an understanding of the potential scope for increasing local, sustainable energy generation.Engage local businesses, especially manufacturers, as they embark on or accelerate their passage on their decarbonisation journey. Engagement and expert advice, and a culture of cross-sector collaboration can bring about a just transition to net-zero industry.Review active travel policies to evaluate the scope to change the travel behaviour among parts of your local demographic which have been reluctant to adapt.Develop a holistic land use strategy for areas so that carbon-intensive land use is offset and meet multiple objectives to increase biodiversity, flood and climate resilience and improve food security.Localis head of research, Joe Fyans, said: “Local authorities across the country are rightly acting to push their local economies in the direction of decarbonisation and better, higher growth.
“This report is filled with examples of councils acting within current systemic constraints to deliver net zero – using their Local Plans to push better practice in the built environment, investing locally in the generation and supply of renewable energy, working with local business to increase sustainable practice, leading a transformation in land management, and driving behavioural and infrastructural changes needed to transition justly to a net zero country.”
Cllr Sarah Nelmes, environment spokesperson of the District Councils’ Network, said: “There is huge ambition among local leaders to transform our places towards a cleaner, healthier, net-zero future – this is, quite simply, the biggest challenge our places face.
“This is a challenge local leaders can meet alongside growing their local economy. Far from decarbonisation and growth being conflicting goals, the former is a prerequisite to the latter if our local economies are to remain sustainable long-term.
“District councils have the highly-localised convening power necessary to drive behaviour change among our communities and our businesses, and to lead the drive for green growth. Our message to government is to give us the freedoms we require to get the funding for decarbonisation and in our places we will be your partners for change.”
Adele Gritten, chief executive, Local Partnerships, said: “Many of the actions required to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and greenhouse gas emissions are the same. Fundamentally, we need to become more efficient and use fewer resources.
“Energy is a key resource in this context and wholesale programmes of energy efficiency measures and active travel would save both the planet and stretched household budgets. This work is best co-ordinated locally, with local authorities leading on everything from land use to skills planning and growing the green economy.”
Cllr Paul Bettison, chairman of the Unitary Councils’ Network, said: “Unitary councils want to go further and faster with delivering green jobs and green solutions for our residents to help them reduce energy bills and to deliver our communities' net zero targets.
“As the leaders of our respective places, we want to work with government, the private and voluntary sectors to increase the pace of change to ensure we can meet the global climate change targets."
ENDSPress enquiries:
Jonathan Werran, chief executive, Localis
(Telephone) 0870 448 1530 / (Mobile) 07967 100328 / (Email) jonathan.werran@localis.org.uk
Notes to Editors:An advance copy of the report ‘Mapping a route to clean local growth – clearing the path to net zero’
is available for download:https://www.localis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/050_MappingARoute_AWK.pdfThe report is being launched on Wednesday 16 November at Innovation House, Farringdon with a panel debate and workshops. Press places can be obtained via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mapping-a-route-to-local-clean-growth-report-launch-and-workshops-tickets-427268992057About LocalisLocalis is an independent think-tank dedicated to issues related to politics, public service reform and localism. We carry out innovative research, hold events and facilitate an ever-growing network of members to stimulate and challenge the current orthodoxy of the governance of the UK.
Twitter: @Localis
Web: www.localis.org.uk
About the District Councils’ Network
The District Councils’ Network is a cross-party network representing 183 councils in England, providing a single voice for district councils within the Local Government Association.
Our member councils in England deliver 86 out of 137 essential local government services to over 22 million people - 40% of the population - and cover 68% of the country by area.
DCN member councils have a proven track record of building better lives and stronger economies in the areas that they serve. They protect and enhance quality of life by safeguarding our environment, promoting public health and leisure, whilst creating attractive places to live, raise families and build a stronger economy. By tackling homelessness and promoting wellbeing, district councils ensure no one gets left behind by addressing the complex needs of today whilst attempting to prevent the social problems of tomorrow.
Twitter: @districtcouncil
Web: https://districtcouncils.info/
About Local Partnerships
Local Partnerships is jointly owned by the Local Government Association, HM Treasury and the Welsh Government. We facilitate change by working impartially and collaboratively across all parts of central, local and regional government, and the devolved administrations.
We work solely for the benefit of the public sector. We help public sector organisations face the ever-increasing challenge of meeting rising demands for services, with shrinking budgets, helping them to achieve and maintain financial resilience.
Our aim is to strengthen the public sector to deliver more effectively, achieve more swiftly, and give value for money to the taxpayer and public service customer. We work with local authorities and other public service providers across England and Wales.
Twitter: @LP_localgov
Web: https://localpartnerships.org.uk/
About the Unitary Councils’ Network
The Unitary Councils’ Network exists to promote, support and represent the aims and ambitions of the Unitary Councils of England.
Its membership comprises councils representing: Bath & North East Somerset, Bedford Borough, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Bracknell Forest, Cheshire East, Cornwall, Hartlepool Borough, Medway, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Plymouth City, Portsmouth City, Reading Borough, Rutland County, Shropshire, Slough Borough, Southampton City, South Gloucestershire, Stoke On Trent, Swindon Borough, Telford & Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, West Berkshire, Windsor & Maidenhead, Wokingham Borough.Key Report RecommendationsLocal government faces three key challenges in driving decarbonisation and delivering clean local growth.Strategic planning across boundaries. The challenges of clean growth are felt acutely at the local level, but action must be coordinated at a variety of different spatial scales if they are to be effectively addressed, from the regional to the hyper-local.Addressing the skills deficit. From home insulation to modern sustainable land management, upskilling is needed both within local authorities and across local economies if we are to achieve sustainable growth.Stimulating local markets and driving inward investment. Whilst the public sector must be at the forefront of mapping the route to clean local growth, this must be in the context of providing opportunities for the private sector to innovate and drive productivity, in the stable economic context that long-term vision can provide.In addressing these challenges, across all sectors examined in this report, local government must lean on its soft power as place leader as the driving force of action, taking a holistic approach to economic strategy throughout – where decarbonisation is understood as a cross-sectoral, cross-departmental mission.
Recommendations summary
GeneralThe government must fully recommit to Net Zero and, responding to the Supreme Court decision of July 2022, produce a detailed and costed strategy for achieving decarbonisation of the economy. Given the fraught economic situation and lack of available extra funding from the exchequer, central government must launch a comprehensive review of the fiscal mechanisms available to local government to fund decarbonisation and clean growth projects.Housing and the built environmentRaise the standards for net zero local plans in the revised National Planning Policy Framework: Make specific reference to the targets agreed to in the Paris Agreement and the role of local planning in achieving the goal. Include a requirement for emission reduction targets at the local level. Set targets for green and blue infrastructure provision. Set requirement for inclusion of low-carbon heat technologies in new developments. Set stringent mitigation obligations for new developments. Produce a long-term plan for building stock decarbonisation with regional breakdowns of supply and demand for retrofit. As part of the overall measures to bring down energy costs and support people through the cost-of-living crisis, government must find and set aside money for a long-term retrofit programme, to give industry the surety needed to ramp up investment in the necessary skills and materials.EnergyCommit to renewable energy and abandon plans to further extract fossil fuels from the North Sea and to frack for shale gas in England. Produce legislation to bring forward the Local Skills Improvement Plans as laid out in the Levelling Up White Paper, with an emphasis on the delivery of new green skills for retrofit. Produce a comprehensive legal framework for Local Area Action Plans, as was scoped by Ofgem and BEIS in late 2021.ManufacturingLaunch a new wave of enterprise zones to help support the transition to net zero in the manufacturing sector whilst also growing regional productivity. Attach skills provision to enterprise zones through Local Skills Improvement Plans, ensuring that approval for zones is granted only on demonstration of a viable local skills supply chain for businesses in the target sector.Transport and infrastructureBring forward a new Transport Act: Create a legal framework for integrated transport strategies across the country with carbon reduction targets and responsibilities. Give councils powers to incentivise bus operators to decarbonise through local regulation. Create a mechanism to increase transport revenue funding to local authorities proportionate to the percentage of local public transport which is net zero.Land managementReaffirm support for nature recovery and the protection of the environment in planning regulations. Give councils power to act on privately-held flood defences. Create a comprehensive, cross-departmental national land management framework – so that councils and landowners are aware of the different options for decarbonisation and how these aggregate up to a national reduction in emissions.There are five key points of action for local leaders:
1. Rethink your area’s local plan so that it becomes the local driving force behind decarbonisation and clean growth- ensuring housing and economic needs are met sustainably. The local plan should be used to demand the highest energy efficiency standards, set out a timetable for retrofit, and become the ultimate guide to the fulfilment of your area’s net-zero goals.
2. Councils should conduct green energy reviews. These should set out what community energy projects and renewable energy assets exist in the local area and provide an understanding of the potential scope for increasing local, sustainable energy generation.
3. Engage local businesses, especially manufacturers, as they embark on or accelerate their passage on their decarbonisation journey. Engagement and expert advice, and a culture of cross-sector collaboration can bring about a just transition to net-zero industry.
4. Review active travel policies to evaluate the scope to change the travel behaviour among parts of your local demographic which have been reluctant to adapt.
5. Develop a holistic land use strategy for your area so that carbon-intensive land use is offset and meet multiple objectives to increase biodiversity, flood and climate resilience and improve food security.
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