VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Welsh councils in need of net zero funding
22/04/2025 Local authority leaders in Wales have called for more funding to help deliver net zero commitments. |
Heat pump adoption ‘miles off track’
09/04/2025 Poorer areas in Britain are less than half as likely to see heat pumps installed than in richer places, think tank says. |
North ‘key’ to green industries, says think tank
25/03/2025 New mayoral industrial strategy councils should be established to help drive sustainable manufacturing and boost local areas in the north, think tank says. |
Peterborough requires £8.8bn to reach net zero
17/03/2025 An investment of £8.8bn is required if Peterborough City Council is to achieve its net zero carbon emissions target by 2040, according to a council document. |
Brighton ditches electric buses for diesel
20/02/2025 Brighton and Hove City Council, which has pledged that the region will be carbon neutral by 20230, has ditched electric buses in favour of diesel power. |
Councils awarded decarbonisation funding
07/01/2025 Five local authorities in the Midlands have been awarded grant funding to develop decarbonisation plans for industrial zones in their areas. |
Councils 'hamstrung' on net zero
27/11/2024 Councils striving to make their operations net zero by 2030 are being ‘hamstrung by a lack of long-term funding certainty and limited powers', expert warns. |
Unlocking supply chain potential to deliver net zero
29/10/2024 Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Westminster City Council, discusses how councils can reach sustainability goals through collaboration with supply chains. |
Belfast launches Northern Ireland’s first Local Area Energy Plan
27/09/2024 Belfast City Council has launched its first Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) – and the first in Northern Ireland. |
Devolution key to net zero transition, think-tank says
10/09/2024 Devolving powers to cities will be critical to the Government achieving its net zero goals, a think-tank has argued. |
Devon County Council helps electrify one million miles of road
29/08/2024 Devon County Council’s network of public electric vehicle chargers have electrified over one million miles of road travel two years since installation. |
Huge variation in on-street EV charger provision
27/08/2024 A new report has revealed significant disparities between council areas in electric vehicle (EV) charging provision for EV owners without off-street parking. |
UK Infrastructure Bank agrees £17m loan for council’s net zero projects
14/08/2024 The UK Infrastructure Bank has announced a £17m loan facility to West Suffolk Council to deliver a programme of net zero projects. |
NextGov: Saving the local-national climate covenant
20/06/2024 Christopher Hammond, chief executive of UK100, discusses how the next government should help local authorities along the road to net zero. |
Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire to cooperate on net zero
14/06/2024 An agreement between Glasgow City Council and West Dunbartonshire Council has been developed to improve services relating to the net zero transition. |
Emissions rise at ‘environment capital’ council
07/03/2024 Peterborough City Council's greenhouse gas emissions have risen by half in a year. |
Planning inspectors acted unlawfully over council’s net zero plans
22/02/2024 Planning inspectors were wrong to describe West Oxfordshire District Council’s net zero plans for a garden village as ‘too rigorous’, a High Court judge has ruled. |
Nearly 70% of EV owners unhappy with public chargers
01/02/2024 Nearly 70% of electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicle owners who have used the UK’s public charging network have said they are unhappy with it. |
Devon and Torbay devolution deal announced
25/01/2024 Devon County Council and Torbay Council are set to enter a level 2 devolution deal with the Government. |
West Midlands pilots £24m energy support scheme
16/01/2024 Small businesses across the West Midlands are being offered support to cut their gas and electricity usage. |
Skills shortage ‘putting brakes’ on net zero
12/12/2023 The skills shortage is undermining efforts to reduce carbon emissions and effectively tackle the climate crisis, local authority leaders in London have warned. |
Londoners struggling to take action on climate change
05/12/2023 Londoners motivated to prevent climate change but are struggling to reduce emissions due to cost-of-living crisis, survey reveals as leaders meet for COP28. |
Tidal barrage could be new Wirral-Liverpool link
30/11/2023 A tidal barrage across the Mersey could provide a new link between Wirral and Liverpool, according to a report. |
London council launches green investment scheme
17/11/2023 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council is inviting residents and businesses to invest in green projects across the borough. |
Manifesto push for statutory economic powers
07/11/2023 The Institute of Economic Development (IED) has launched an ‘agenda for change’ with a continued call for councils to be given statutory duties on economic development. |
Time for local authorities to ‘right-size’ their offices?
26/10/2023 Mobilityways' local authorities lead Graeme Banister asks: should councils reinvent their town halls, or motivate staff to return and fill up these empty edifices? |
Councils ‘held back’ on net zero
24/10/2023 The organisations that represent English councils have collaborated in a call for the Government to change its approach on delivering net zero. |
Turning pensions into fossil fuel playthings
23/10/2023 Robert Noyes, Platform London, argues that if councils are serious about net zero, then local government pension funds must divest from fossil fuels. |
Councils underperform in first-of-kind climate study
18/10/2023 Local authorities are not doing enough on net zero, the first study of UK councils’ climate action across all sectors has found. |
New programme to help councils with climate change goals
03/10/2023 A sustainability programme has been launched by the Local Government Association (LGA) to help councils reach carbon reduction targets. |
Sunak launches fight for motorists
02/10/2023 The Government has announced plans to discourage English councils from bringing in 20mph and traffic reduction measures. |
Government to restrict use of 20mph speed limits
29/09/2023 Local leaders have responded critically to reports that the Government is set to restrict the ability of councils to impose 20mph speed limits on main roads. |
Central government should ‘step aside on net zero if it won’t step up’
27/09/2023 If central government ‘won't step up’, it should stand aside and allow local and regional leaders to forge ahead with decarbonisation, net zero tsar warns. |
PM delays new petrol and diesel ban to 2035
21/09/2023 PM Rishi Sunak has delayed the Government's ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 to 2035. |
Council net zero efforts at risk, LGIU warns
19/09/2023 Disputes over London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) and Low Traffic Networks (LTNs), combined with the cost-of-living crisis, put net zero efforts at risk. |
‘Landmark’ green energy network gains pace in Bradford
18/09/2023 Plans have progressed for a district heat network in Bradford, which developers say will be the largest of its kind in the UK. |
How citizens hold the key to decarbonising Britain
18/09/2023 Jonathan Bradley, head of Business and Practice at Granicus Experience Group (GXG) UK, argues that citizens hold the key to decarbonising Britain. |
Empowering local businesses to reach net zero
18/09/2023 Power to Change chief executive Tim Davies-Pugh calls on local councils to empower community business to help achieve their climate goals. |
‘Up to’ £129m announced in zero emission bus boost
08/09/2023 The transport secretary has announced ‘up to’ £129m to help local transport authorities introduce hundreds more zero emission buses. |
Investment in home improvements could create £10bn boost
23/08/2023 The Government could create a £10bn annual economic boost by spending a ‘tiny fraction’ of housing funding recently returned to the Treasury on improving the nation’s homes, according to a new report. |
MPs launch electric vehicle (EV) inquiry
09/08/2023 An inquiry into electric vehicles (EVs) has today been launched to help the Government better understand how the UK will reach net zero. |
North East to benefit from £8m hydrogen investment
02/08/2023 The North East is set to benefit from an £8m investment into the Tees Valley to support hydrogen-powered transport. |
Now I am become Uxbridge, destroyer of rational climate discourse
01/08/2023 Jason Torrance, UK100, responds to the Government’s criticism of clean air zones, low-traffic neighbourhoods and other net zero schemes. |
Greenwich brings in parking charges based on emissions
31/07/2023 Parking charges and resident and business permits in Greenwich are now based on vehicles’ carbon dioxide emissions. |
Pace of EV charger installation by councils a ‘real concern’
31/07/2023 Poor investment at a local level means private investment will be required to meet a target to install 300,000 public EV chargers by 2030, law firm says. |
Westminster unveils ‘trailblazing’ fleet electrification
20/07/2023 Westminster City Council and Veolia are rolling out the UK’s largest electric refuse collection fleet, with vehicles powered by the waste they collect. |
Whitehall impeding local plans’ potential for climate action
19/07/2023 A lack of clarity on Government policy is undermining the ability of local planners to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency, a new report has found. |
Thousands more green buses needed to reach net zero
28/06/2023 More than 5,800 extra green buses are needed in England by 2030 to reach net zero and support the levelling up agenda, according to a new report from IPPR. |
LGA: Councils best placed to lead on climate action
28/06/2023 The LGA has said that only councils can lead the climate action required to meet net zero after a report described Government progress as ‘worryingly slow’. |
London’s consumption-based emissions not decreasing fast enough
26/06/2023 The emissions created by the lifestyles of Londoners have decreased each year but more needs to be done if net zero targets are to be met, council chiefs say. |
Reducing carbon emissions with data
09/06/2023 Subu Kamal, TRL Software, looks at how councils can work collectively to reduce carbon emissions with data. |
North Kelsey oil drilling planning appeal dropped
09/06/2023 A company has withdrawn its appeal over plans to begin exploratory drilling for oil in a Lincolnshire village. |
Government rejects call for local net zero delivery duty
06/06/2023 The Government has rejected calls from the Liberal Democrats for local authorities to have a statutory duty to deliver net zero. |
Delivering on the local net zero promise
05/06/2023 Ahead of today’s Parliamentary debate on local government and net zero, Patrick Hargreaves, UK100 reflects on the obstacles to reducing carbon emissions. |
Active Travel England to consult on large planning applications
01/06/2023 Local planning authorities will now have to consult with Active Travel England (ATE) on all large planning applications. |
Skilled worker shortage undermining net zero drive
01/06/2023 A skilled worker shortage means that at the current rate of heat pump and insulation installation it could take ‘several hundred years’ to meet net zero. |
Rooftop solar panels should be fitted as standard, charity says
23/05/2023 The majority of the solar panels required to reach the Government’s net zero targets could be fitted on rooftops and car parks, campaigners say. |
London boroughs agree first infrastructure framework
17/05/2023 All 33 local authorities across London have agreed an infrastructure framework on a cross-party, pan-London basis for the first time. |
Scottish councils ‘uniquely placed’ to assist reform
17/05/2023 Councils are well-placed to deliver the key aims of Scotland’s government – such as tackling child poverty and net zero – but need funding, experts warn. |
Councils face ‘Kafkaesque’ barriers to net zero
03/05/2023 Local authorities face ‘Kafkaesque’ barriers to achieving net zero goals, a new report backed by the Government’s net zero tsar has concluded. |
Sutton Council launches anti-ULEZ expansion petition
25/04/2023 Sutton Council in south-west London has launched a petition among residents to protest against new restrictions on vehicle emissions. |
Yorkshire Dales to see ‘significant boost’ in public transport
31/03/2023 Public transport in the Yorkshire Dales is to expand after the authority running the National Park agreed to encourage a ‘boost’ to bus and rail services. |
Why a circular economy is good for local government
23/03/2023 Wayne Hubbard, CEO of ReLondon, argues that green measures can save councils money and help local businesses. |
Surrey CC begins roll-out of record 10,000 EV chargers
23/03/2023 EV owners in Surrey will soon have access to 10,000 public chargers as the council announces the largest deployment of charge points by a UK local authority. |
Government must grasp opportunity of a climate positive UK
13/03/2023 Mike Thornton of the Energy Saving Trust urges the Government to convert its words about net zero into action ahead of the spring budget. |
Retrofitting historic buildings could boost economy by £35bn
07/03/2023 Retrofitting the UK’s historic buildings in order to make them more energy efficient could generate £35bn of economic output a year, according to a new study. |
Waverley BC welcomes court’s oil drilling decision
03/03/2023 Waverley BC has welcomed a High Court judgement which allows the council to seek a statutory review of the planning permission for oil and gas exploration. |
Delivering net zero targets requires rethink of localities' role
02/03/2023 Delivering the UK’s 2030 target to cut carbon emissions requires a rethink of the role localities must play, according to the Green New Deal APPG. |
Private cars exempt as Sheffield finally gets CAZ
27/02/2023 Sheffield’s CAZ came into force on Monday, more than five years after the Government legally directed the council to implement the air quality measure. |
MICHELIN’s Connected Fleet leads to nearly 50% drop in engine idling
13/02/2023 Highway Traffic Management (HTM) reports dramatic drop in engine idling, following the installation of MICHELIN Connected Fleet’s on-board telematics system. |
Cambridge’s King’s College to install solar panels on historic chapel
10/02/2023 Cambridge CC has granted planning permission for the installation of solar panels on the roof of King’s College Chapel despite concerns. |
Public sector pension funds call for ‘Say on Climate’ vote
09/02/2023 Public sector pension funds have written to all FTSE listed companies requesting that they give shareholders a vote on plans for reducing emissions. |
Closing doors: saving energy and money in the public sector
01/02/2023 Amy Entwistle, partner in Morton Fraser’s Public Sector Team, looks at how councils can save energy and money on the journey to net zero. |
Council launches net zero tourism network
26/01/2023 A new network has been launched to promote collaborative, climate-friendly tourism in East Devon, the local council has announced. |
Holyrood urged to empower councils to reach net zero
24/01/2023 Scotland will not reach its net zero targets without first empowering the local government sector, MSPs have warned. |
