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There are 5 item(s) tagged with the keyword "net zero".

  • Displaying: 1 - 5 of 5
1. Think big, act local, start now!

The Prime Minister has made great play in recent weeks of the need to create a more secure supply of energy for the UK, as a result of the war in the Ukraine. Yet perhaps our focus should also be on reducing the amount of fossil-based energy we use in the first place, or at the very least, using decarbonised forms of fuel.

 

Emerging slowly from the pandemic to be met with a cost-of-living crisis has hardly brought great cheer to the public. Next winter is likely to be severely challenging for the most vulnerable in our local communities. The energy bill rebate, as it stands, is unlikely to make a significant impact and those forced to make a choice between, heating and eating, will likely look to their council for further support.

 

Thinking longer term, many councils have made their own declarations on achieving net zero in their areas and set off with action plans aimed at achieving this goal. Domestic heating is a major part of a council’s own footprint, as well as that of the wider area, and councils need to provide leadership in decarbonisation, not only through their direct actions on their own assets, but also through their stewardship of the wider area. With an estimated 19m houses requiring retrofit between now and 2050, and the average price tag for retrofitting coming in at £18,000, this will not be cheap.

 

 

Tags: cost of living, apse, Local government, net zero, net zero
2. Think big, act local, start now!

The Prime Minister has made great play in recent weeks of the need to create a more secure supply of energy for the UK, as a result of the war in the Ukraine. Yet perhaps our focus should also be on reducing the amount of fossil-based energy we use in the first place, or at the very least, using decarbonised forms of fuel.

 

Emerging slowly from the pandemic to be met with a cost-of-living crisis has hardly brought great cheer to the public. Next winter is likely to be severely challenging for the most vulnerable in our local communities. The energy bill rebate, as it stands, is unlikely to make a significant impact and those forced to make a choice between, heating and eating, will likely look to their council for further support.

 

Thinking longer term, many councils have made their own declarations on achieving net zero in their areas and set off with action plans aimed at achieving this goal. Domestic heating is a major part of a council’s own footprint, as well as that of the wider area, and councils need to provide leadership in decarbonisation, not only through their direct actions on their own assets, but also through their stewardship of the wider area. With an estimated 19m houses requiring retrofit between now and 2050, and the average price tag for retrofitting coming in at £18,000, this will not be cheap.

 

 

Tags: cost of living, apse, Local government, net zero, net zero
3. Local government has a well-documented revenue problem but capital cannot be forgotten about either

Local government is compelled to focus on the immediate problems staring it in the face, the impact of the cuts of the last decade can’t be forgotten. However, longer-term issues that require investment need to also be considered before they creep up and get past the point where they are resolvable.

 

Looking at revenue firstly, the announcements in the Comprehensive Spending Review were welcomed, £4.8B additional grant over 3 years plus the ability to raise a further £3.7B through council tax and precepts over the period. However, looking at the pressures on the sector with rising demand, inflation, pay increases and the impact of the national insurance rise then in reality this probably equates to at best a standstill position.

 

APSE’s Local Government Commission 2030 called for a longer-term settlement whilst fair funding was addressed, immediate moves to tackle the social care funding crisis, an end to competitive bidding pots and reform of business rates. Progress is being made but we all know that it hasn’t gone far enough, or fast enough, to resolve the systemic problems of finance, and it remains unclear as to whether fair funding will ever be reviewed!

 

 

Tags: cop 26, local government finance, comprehensive spending review, net zero, levelling up
4. Focusing on delivering net zero

It may have taken sometime but at last the UK Government has revealed its Net Zero strategy to cut the country’s carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 and to net zero by 2050. In the lead up to COP26 it will give Ministers the opportunity to portray the UK as one of the leading lights when it comes to tackling climate change, but when the dust settles, after the flurry of announcements, will the plan add up or will it fall short?

 

Much of what has been announced is welcome but it still leaves a number of unanswered questions, as to how the programme will be funded and a concern that yet again local government’s ability to play a key role in delivering such an important policy agenda, has been underplayed.

 

Whilst the strategy recognises that local government has a key role to play, its not clear as to what Government thinks this role is. What additional powers councils will receive! And, most importantly, whether any additional funding will come through the system to support delivery on the ground.

 

Connecting the route map to that outlined by the UK Committee on Climate Change, in its sixth carbon budget, is most definitely the correct approach to take - something that we at APSE have argued for over the past few years. Many councils have already forged ahead and focused their own strategies to meet their net zero declarations using this methodology, so perhaps we are really starting to see the beginning of some much needed joined up thinking at a national and local policy level.

 

 

Tags: cop 26, net zero, Local government, local government finance
5. The biodiversity bonus… on your own doorstep

David Attenborough’s brilliant book ‘A life on our planet’ is a striking ‘witness statement’ as he describes it, to the impact of climate change on the world, but what it also provides, is some answers. Many of which we could action at a local council level. The rewilding of land to reinstate the natural order of nature, between predatory species and food-chains, the necessity of diverse plant species and tree preservation, in mitigating soil erosion and supporting carbon capture. These steps are not just about the Amazon rainforests, as essential as they are, but how we manage and value our local public realm and urban green space. 

Whilst many councils have declared a climate emergency a great many have also declared a climate and ecological emergency; reflecting that responses should not just be about EV charging points or solar panels, but about the preservation, and in many cases reinstatement of land.

Tags: climate emergency, Climate change, ecological emergency, net zero, APSE, renewables, parks, urban greenspace
  • Displaying: 1 - 5 of 5

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Promoting excellence in public services

APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) is a not for profit unincorporated association working with over 300 councils throughout the UK. Promoting excellence in public services, APSE is the foremost specialist in local authority frontline services, hosting a network for frontline service providers in areas such as waste and refuse collection, parks and environmental services, cemeteries and crematorium, environmental health, leisure, school meals, cleaning, housing and building maintenance.

 

 

 

 

 

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