Warwick District Council outperforms other councils in Warwickshire in new ranking for climate change plans

A new national ranking of council climate plans has been published - with Warwick District Council outperforming others.

Climate Emergency UK assessed plans according to 28 questions across nine sections, based on an expert-approved checklist for Council Action Plans.

Each council was marked against these criteria and given a right to reply before the scores underwent a final audit. This work was completed between June and December 2021, using plans published before September 20, 2021.

Of local councils, Warwick District Council gets the highest score - 50 per cent. The national average is 43 per cent.

Warwickshire County Council received a score of 25 per cent, which was below the average county rating of 40 per cent.

Stratford District Council was ranked with a score of 33 per cent.

However councils and Climate Emergency UK have pointed out that the scores reflect plans at the time and not updates taken since and it also does not look at actions taken by councils.

Cllr Alan Rhead, cabinet member for climate change at Warwick District Council, said: “Over the last year, the council’s work in addressing the climate emergency has gathered real momentum.

"I welcome the work Climate Emergency UK have done on preparing the scorecard.

"However, it doesn’t fully reflect the achievements we have made or the plans that we have.

“Whilst we know there is much more we need to do, the Climate Change Action Programme that we agreed in November is already providing a springboard for real progress in many areas and I, together with the senior officers and members of the Programme Advisory Board are committed to driving this agenda forward in the coming months and years.”

Cllr John Dearing, chair of the programme advisory board for climate change, said: “The council’s cross-party Climate Change Board welcomes the Climate Emergency UK Scorecard and will be encouraging the council to learn from the best councils to help us accelerate progress.

“We recognise that the timing of the report means that WDC’s score does not accurately reflect what we are currently doing and all political parties on the council continue to be united in pushing forward on our challenging climate change ambitions.

"We are therefore optimistic, that when Climate Emergency UK revisit their scorecards, we will see a significant improvement for WDC.”

Warwickshire County Council was also keen to point out that the ranking also only assessed plans.

A spokesperson from the county council said: "This is the first measurement from CE UK and, as they admit themselves, they have only assessed plans and not the actions that local councils are actually taking.

"In contrast, the West Midland’s Local Authority Sustainability Benchmark1 report, also published recently, did look in detail at our actions.

"They rated WCC as showing leadership and good practice in a number of areas; having a clear path towards achieving net zero by 2030 (our own estate) and 2050 (county-wide), having the concept of biodiversity net gain within all our planning strategies and we were ranked first in the region for resource efficiency, which measures household recycling.

"Last year WCC Cabinet approved the funding for a costed plan for the county as a whole to be developed during 2022.

"In March, Warwickshire County Council will bring together all the key public sector organisations from across Coventry and Warwickshire at a Climate Summit."

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for environment, heritage and culture, added: “We always welcome challenge, opportunities to benchmark our progress and to share best practice with others.

"The results of both reports show that we have made a very significant start to reducing our carbon emissions but there is always more to be done and climate change is not something one organisation can tackle alone.

"Our focus is on working together with our district and borough council partners, as well as our town and parish councils, community and voluntary groups, to find effective and sustainable solutions that work across the county.

"Our ambition remains to lead Warwickshire as a county to be net zero by 2050 at the latest.”

David Mond, chair of Warwickshire Climate Alliance, said: "Warwickshire County Council's low score in Climate Emergency UK's rating of Climate Action Plans bears out the critical report on the county's plans that Warwickshire Climate Alliance released in November.

"Despite the hard work of the people working on its climate plan, WCC's score is well below the national average for county councils of 40 per cent.

"The IPCC has highlighted the importance of big greenhouse gas emission reductions before 2030 and the county needs to devote more effort and resources to play its proper part in achieving that.

"The CEUK survey is helpful in identifying the areas where this effort needs to be concentrated."

Isaac Beevor, from Climate Emergency UK said: “Councils may be doing good things which aren’t reflected in their Action Plan. That is why next year we will be assessing all councils on what they are actually doing.

“This year’s Scorecards are just the start of the process.

"It has been an important exercise to understand what makes a good council Climate Action Plan and we hope that it will help councils learn from each other and up their game."

To view the Climate Emergency score cards go to: https://councilclimatescorecards.uk/