More clarity needed for councils to help meet net zero

The National Audit Office has stated that the government has not provided local authorities with clarity about their roles in achieving net zero by 2050, and its approach to funding their net zero work is piecemeal.

The government passed legislation committing to achieve net zero by 2050 in 2019. However, despite local authorities providing a range of services that have an impact on government’s commitment to achieve ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the NAO says that central government has not yet developed with local authorities any overall expectations about their roles in achieving the national net zero target.

The NAO finds that 91 per cent of local authorities have adopted at least one commitment to decarbonise their activities, or their local area. More than a third of single and upper tier authorities have committed to decarbonise their local area by or before 2030. However, central government is yet to decide whether local authorities’ roles in meeting the national net zero target should have statutory basis. Without a clear sense of responsibilities and priorities, there is a risk that local authority action on net zero is not as co-ordinated, targeted, or widespread as it might need to be.

Central government has not yet set out to local authorities how it will work with them to clarify net zero responsibilities. It has committed to outline responsibilities at national, regional and local level in its overall net zero strategy – publishing before the UN climate conference in November 2021. To date, the NAO is not convinced that overall engagement has been sufficiently strategic or co-ordinated to ensure that the role of local authorities in meeting the national net zero target is clearly defined.

On funding, the NAO says that grant funding for local authorities’ net zero activities increased from £74 million in 2019-20, to £1.2 billion in 2020-215, but remains fragmented. NAO analysis of 21 grants available to local authorities for net-zero work shows that local authorities have received very different amounts from these funds: 17 local authority areas received £20 million or more each, while 37 received less than £2 million each. Per person, 14 local authority areas received £50 or more, while 67 received less than £12.50.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “There are serious weaknesses in government's approach to working with local authorities on net zero, stemming from a lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities and piecemeal funding. This hampers local authorities’ ability to plan effectively for the long term, build skills and capacity, and prioritise effort. Government’s efforts to improve its approach to local action on net zero have been understandably slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is now great urgency to make progress.”

Darren Rodwell, Environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “This significant report includes some key recommendations about how councils can best achieve our shared goal with government to reach net zero by 2050. We have previously called for a national fiscal and policy framework to address the climate emergency, which should outline responsibilities for national and local government, with a commitment from national government to work closely with local public sector bodies.

“Net zero can only be achieved if decarbonisation happens in every place, community and household. Long-term funding for councils would mean they can properly plan ahead on the needs of their local communities as a whole to support this. By working in partnership with national government, councils are uniquely placed to shape their local areas and translate national climate ambitions into transformative action on the ground.”