Dorset Council - Corporate Director for Strategy, Performance and Sustainability

Steve Ford

Corporate Director for Strategy, Performance and Sustainability - Dorset Council

1. What interests you most about your work in the energy, climate change and sustainability agenda? 

This beautiful world that we inhabit often can’t speak for itself and needs advocates who are prepared to match a passion for our natural systems with the complexities of decision-making in an increasing polarised world. I feel this passion every day in my work, and while things are often challenging, a commitment to make a difference keeps me both interested and motivated.

2. What are you looking to achieve through your work?

Challenging perceptions. Working on climate change and nature recovery should be seen as a social movement; it creates jobs and opportunity, it cleans the air that we breathe, it can support community cohesion and resilience, focus support on the most vulnerable in society and enhance mental health and supports the broader principle of the democratisation of energy. There is a pervasive narrative that categorises climate work as an ideology; through my work I want to drive an understanding that utilising scientific information in a strategic and balanced way can deliver social benefit on a mass scale that moves away from narrow categorisations.

3. What is the main factor supporting/driving your local authority’s work in this agenda? 

Very strong political leadership. The leader of the council is the portfolio holder for climate and nature, and climate and nature recovery taken together forms one of the 4 key priorities of the council. I would also point out that we are blessed with committed colleagues who believe passionately in the role of local government as a convenor and place leader and its key role in delivering the changes required.

4. What is the main factor acting as a drag on your local authority’s work in this agenda? 

While there is always more that can be done in terms of funding, Dorset Council has been very brave in its decisions to support the staffing and capital resources required to accelerate delivery. The main drag from my perspective is a lack of join up between national policy, infrastructure investments and recognition of the role that local government plays and how this could be enhanced. There are signs of positive steps in this direction such as the development of RESPs, the continuing evolution of the net zero hubs and the emergence of GB Energy’s interest in local schemes, but much remains to be done to deliver a consistent and joined up policy landscape.

5. Give an example of something (a project/policy/initiative) that your local authority completed that others can learn from? 

Dorset Council completed a Salix building retrofit programme with a value of circa £20m that has taken around 45% of our emissions out of our operational estate. This involved installing over 5MW of roof mounted solar, measures installed on over 200 buildings including air source heat pumps, building management systems and many other innovative technology solutions. We have a lot of learning from this scheme, including managing a large complex programme at scale, realism on timelines, working with contractors, managing expectations and a whole lot of other lessons that we’d be happy to share!

6. What do you think can be done at national government level to make the biggest change to outcomes in this agenda? 

Consistency of policy and understanding that different solutions are best delivered at different levels as part of an overarching commitment to deliver change. Also, the narrative on climate and nature needs to be strengthened; they need to be seen as social movements, removing the artificial divide between climate and nature action and what can support our communities to prosper. These agendas are not mutually exclusive; they never have been, but government should be stronger on the narrative, as ultimately this will head off some of the negativity around net zero that are being heard in some quarters.  

7. How did you get to where you are now? (personal interest, qualifications, previous jobs, other experience).

 It was part personal interest but also a fair bit of luck! I came into local government via the Impact scheme, and through a variety of roles ended up leading on the climate and nature agendas at Cornwall Council without necessarily having that as a defined career pathway. I am so pleased that it worked out that way. When I first started on this journey, I was essentially a lone voice, but over time I was lucky to be joined by amazing colleagues and had support that enabled me to develop the roles into major programmes of work. My role at Dorset Council now enables me to still focus on the climate work along with a wider portfolio of work that enables me to join the dots.

8. What do you do personally to support the agenda?

I have completely decarbonised my house with solar PV, an air source heat pump, battery storage and drive an EV. My garden is largely wild by design with lots of wildlife thriving in it, and I have planted many trees during the last few years. I also will not fly domestically or when there is a viable alternative, and I have made changes to my lifestyle to try and reduce my environmental impact wherever I can. My family has also adopted many of these behaviours and technologies, although to be fair they have adopted it at differing rates and with varied degrees of enthusiasm! I’m also plugged into lots of networks working on climate and nature recovery, where there are opportunities to share stories, best practice and support outside of our professional spheres.  

9. What's next on your list to change personally? 

I would like to get more involved in my local area which has a really strong climate network, with some amazing and committed individuals. I would also like to make a little more time to explore nature, as there is nothing like spending time away from it all to remind me why I must redouble my efforts when I am back in the workplace.