I am no fan of Nigel Farage or his party, Reform UK. However, I cannot deny that they have performed a useful service in making the wisdom of net zero a topic that is being talked about more and more, with even the Conservative Party (the party which introdcued net government when Theresa May was Prime Minister) now openly questioning the wisdom of rushing to achieve it. Today the BBC website has an article asking “What might Reform do with its newly-won power?” (that power being control of ten local authorities within England – see below). It quotes Nigel Farage thus:

“I think you all better really be seeking alternative careers,” he warned council staff who were “working on climate change initiatives, or Diversity, Equality and Inclusion” or opting to work from home.

It’s the climate change (or net zero) part of that which I wish to discuss. Reform UK at this stage can do nothing to stop or even slow the net zero juggernaut at national level, but perhaps there is something it can now be doing at a local level, and perhaps that might turn out to have larger consequences.

Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council’s Climate Change Strategy was approved by Cabinet in October 2021, and the Council is apparently on a journey to net zero carbon. Parts of its “journey” are difficult to argue with, such as monitoring and reducing energy consumption within the Council, thereby reducing costs, or enhancing and protecting diversity within the Council’s green spaces. On the other hand, I have little doubt that savings can be made, even though the Council website is coy about how much the “journey” is costing. The following aspects of the journey might be looked at again:

decarbonise our vehicle fleet with electric vehicles when there is an appropriate vehicle for the job

deliver a range of climate change training courses for employees and councillors, including a mandatory training module for all employees

run internal workshops for all service areas to develop actions to reduce emissions, achieve co-benefits of climate action and adapt to the effects of climate change

use results from the Derbyshire Spatial Energy Study to support an increase in renewable energy generation across Derbyshire

carry out climate change impact assessments on some of our biggest infrastructure projects

use our expertise and resources to promote events and support community energy groups and town and parish councils and signpost them to funding streams to support their climate and environmental projects

pilot and support partners with the use of alternative low carbon vehicles (electric and hydrogen)

Our aim is to reduce emissions we generate to net-zero by 2032 or sooner and to help the rest of Derbyshire reduce carbon emissions generated within the county to net zero by 2050 or sooner in line with government targets.

I don’t know what its 110 page glossy brochure cost to produce, but perhaps such projects could be stopped.

Doncaster

There is a Doncaster Climate and Biodiversity Commission. Local MP Ed Miliband, and local Mayor Ros Jones (who narrowly survived the recent election, allegedly and ironically because of her successful campaign to obtain government funding to help reopen the local airport) jointly produced a short video about the launch of the Doncaster Climate and Biodiversity Commission report. The report itself is rather more modest than Derbyshire’s, running as it does to only 36 pages. The new Reform UK-controlled Council has a great opportunity to make political capital out of ditching any avoidable expense associated with the report, and tweaking the tails of Mr Miliband and Ms Jones in the process.

Durham

This Council declared a climate emergency in 2019. Perhaps the declaration could now be rescinded. The 128 page glossy brochure describing itself as a Climate Change Strategy and Emergency Response Plan could be analysed for savings – I am sure there must be quite a few available.

Kent

This is another Council that declared a climate emergency in 2019. It aims to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own estate and activities to Net Zero by 2030.” Another glossy brochure running to 92 pages (produced at goodness knows what cost), describing itself as the Kent & Medway Emissions Analysis and Pathways to Net Zero must offer scope for quite a lot of financial savings.

Lancashire

This is a Council that has really thrown itself into the net zero boondoggle with considerable enthusiasm. In March 2022 it held a Lancashire Climate Summit (the UN’s COPs just don’t hack it), and this resulted in the production of a 97 page glossy booklet . There is also a 156 page Lancashire Net Zero Pathways Options report and a lot of other similar stuff. I imagine the scope for money-saving is immense.

Lincolnshire

This Council decided against declaring a climate emergency, but its website still asserts that “Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our way of life and to all life on the planet”. Despite that its website seems a little less enthusiastic than other Council websites. Nevertheless it has a Green Masterplan, an Initial Action Plan and a glossy 66 page Carbon Management Plan that appears to have been put together with the help of the Carbon Trust (its logo appearing on every page is a bit of a giveaway). Again, then, there must be scope for savings here.

North Northamptonshire

This is yet another Council that has declared a climate emergency. It has gone further than some by working with Electric Places and Slingshot Simulations to accelerate its “net zero journey”. I don’t know what all this is costing, but I don’t doubt that savings will be available.

Nottinghamshire

This Council declared a climate emergency in 2021 and aims “to become a carbon neutral Council in all our activities by 2030, in line with our Carbon Reduction Plan”. Its Net Zero Framework document might run to only 17 pages but it’s another professionally (and no doubt expensively) produced document. One wonders why they bother, given that their website acknowledges that only two to five per cent of Nottinghamshire’s greenhouse gas emissions are within the council’s direct control. Still, that won’t stop them busting a got to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 so far as the Council’s activities are concerned, and I am sure such efforts have a hefty price tag attached.

Staffordshire

This is another Council that declared a climate emergency in 2019, though its net zero ambitions are limited to 2050. Its documents and plans are less glossy and expensively produced (at least they look less expensive) than those produced by other Councils (I love that its foreword is called a “forward”), but who knows what savings may yet be found, not least perhaps from the closure of its Climate Action Fund.

West Northamptonshire

It has a glossy 46 page Climate Change Strategy, the result of collaborative efforts of the cross-party Sustainability Working Group. Presumably that cosy consensus is about to come to an end!

Conclusion

Some of the above has been written slightly tongue in cheek, but there is a serious point here. As I have pointed out in Whatever the Cost and in numerous comments below that article, Councils up and down the country have been ploughing vast amounts of time and money into net zero, whilst at the same time cutting services because of a shortage of funds. Reform UK now controls ten English Councils which, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, have been putting great efforts (and unspecified amounts of money – their websites are all rather coy regarding such things) into trying to achieve net zero within sundry different timescales. If those Councils can be efficiently run by Reform UK, with net zero projects ditched, savings made, and consequent improvements made to other important Council services with the funds thus made available, I have little doubt it will be a vote winner. More importantly, it could demonstrate, in principle if nothing else, that savings that can be achieved at a local level could be made on a much greater scale at a national level if the economy-wrecking ideology was ditched. The Labour government is undoubtedly scared of Nigel Farage and Reform UK. It is right to be scared. If at a local level the net zero agenda can be shown up for the monumental waste of money and effort that it is, it could be a game-changer. Of course, it’s always possible that Reform UK councillors will prove themselves to be not up to the job, in which case this week’s election results might in a strange way prove to be beneficial to the two mainstream parties, however dire things look for them now. It’s all to play for, and the performance of Reform UK-run Councils will be critical going forwards, for better or for worse.