Despite the PM’s supposed enthusiasm for the beautiful game, he seems to have scored an own goal in deciding to approve 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences, claiming that this action is still “entirely consistent with our plan to get to net zero” and inspiring a deluge of both national and international criticism, not least from experts in his own party. MCA was encouraged to hear the response of Chris Skidmore, author of the Net Zero Review, who asserted that the move would put the UK “on the wrong side of history” and push voters at the next election to favour “parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment”. Polling data certainly seem to support this assertion.
Closer to home, the new administration at Moorlands House seems keen to be on the right side of history, particularly in the context of climate action. They are currently updating the Climate Change plan and will publish in September a short list of immediate actions, alongside the separate Plan for Nature.
It looks like SMDC will strengthen the push to reduce the council’s own energy consumption, e.g. Biddulph leisure centre solar panels and heat pump, plus solar panels for Brough Park leisure centre in Leek, but we hope they don’t lose focus on the wider energy usage of the district. Net Zero is ultimately all about energy and NOT using fossil fuels to generate it.
In that respect it’s good for the council to act as a flagship but more needs to be done to tackle fuel poverty and climate emissions in existing homes. To its credit, SMDC, working with the Staffordshire Warmer Homes partnership and also under pressure from MCA and the former opposition, has produced a baseline that provides detail and targeted actions on the district as a whole. Another aim is to improve the existing liaison with Your Housing, who we understand have already begun to take energy efficiency much more seriously but are battling with the inadequacies of government funding and legislation, as well as the complicated nature of their housing stock. We're glad they've made a start and look forward to seeing the promised deeper cooperation with SMDC.
MCA was pleased to hear that the council is planning to resume the Climate Change working groups, a long-standing request from us, but it still needs to do more for residents and, given the pressing problems of climate change and fuel poverty, domestic energy should be a major focus. We understand this is likely to be one of the first issues the working groups will focus on, especially as October will herald the start of the new heating season and cost of living crisis. We also look forward to the planned quarterly meetings arranged with Nigel Yates, the Cabinet Member for Climate Change & Environment. Meanwhile, we’ve already started working with other members of the new administration, realising details on their green spaces strategy.
As always, there’s been a lot of talk about the COST of net zero. But we submit that the cost of NOT doing anything would certainly be much greater, although we urgently need national leadership to help on this. Expert analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit suggests that costs in 2022 from climate change and slow progress to net zero have probably added something in the region of £2,150 to annual household bills. A truly committed government would be spending much more to help councils and individuals improve our housing stock, including the essential training for retrofit.