Dear Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; Minister for Intergovernmental Relations and the UK Government,

We, the undersigned, call on you to:

- Provide long term funding to councils so that they can invest in the more impactful, longer-term projects needed to achieve the ambitious emission reduction targets already set at the local level by many councils.
- Fund council home retrofit programmes to end fuel poverty and create jobs
- Embed tackling the climate and ecological emergency into all policy and strategy decision-making when working on national and local government projects.

Climate Emergency UK has just published its Council Climate Plan Scorecards​, which show what is and isn’t covered in local councils' Climate Action Plans, three years after councils starting declaring climate emergencies.
Councils have an essential role to play in achieving net-zero locally, the UK 6th Carbon Budget​ states that up to 30% of emission reductions are within the influence of local councils.

Whilst some councils are doing as much as they can, these Scorecards have shown clearly that councils can’t do it alone. In order for their Climate Action Plans to be implemented, councils need funding, planning reforms and guidance from the UK Government. Councils can move quicker and implement more ambitious measures and targets than the government itself, making them an ideal incubator for ideas which might then be replicated across the country. But they need the funding to do so.

We are calling on you to:
- Provide long term funding to councils so that they can invest in the more ambitious, longer-term projects needed to cut emissions.
Since 2010, local authority ‘spending power’, the amount of money local authorities have to spend from government grants, council tax, and business rates, has fallen by 16%.​ Councils have very few ways to raise funds, and without increased government support, their ability to instigate climate action that will kickstart local jobs and improve local health is limited.
To create a society that is safe from the worst of the Climate Emergency, there must be long-term planning and corresponding funding to ensure that new low-carbon infrastructure (like public transport, energy creation and new zero carbon homes) can be built now, and for the future.

- Fund council home retrofit programmes to end fuel poverty and create jobs.
Invest £12.2 billion in local councils by 2030 in order to meet the UK Government’s target of ending fuel poverty by 2030. This would be used to create jobs for local people to retrofit all council owned homes and fuel poor homes locally.

- Embed tackling the climate and ecological emergency into all policy and strategy decision-making when working on national and local government projects​
This means an end to all Nationally Significant Infrastructure projects that do not include proper consideration of the environmental implications, such as planned incinerators and new road projects.

​
Local councils are well-placed to be local drivers of climate action, but only if given the support needed from the UK Government. Mr Gove, can we count on you to make this happen?

Yours,