Three hours of debate in attempt to get West Northamptonshire Council to U-turn on its decision to scrap net zero targets

This comes after three hours of impassioned debate amid claims that climate change is “one of the greatest problems” facing the younger generation and an assertion from the Vice-Chair that climate change being manmade is “not fact”.

During a cabinet meeting last month, which was disrupted by protestors, West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) cabinet voted to “refocus” the council’s sustainability commitments on tangible improvements and revoke its pledge to offset its carbon emissions by 2030.

Their ruling was put on hold after changes to their sustainability policy were called in by a group of eight councillors at the end of July. A meeting of the Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday August 19 has now ruled that no further action should be taken, meaning the WNC will continue with its plans to remove local targets.

Speaking at the meeting, 17-year-old Philippa Knowles told members: “You propose to take the word climate out of all of your documents, while it’s one of the greatest problems affecting my age and younger. Have you consulted people like me?

“This overall lack of engagement is worrying for an elected council that is overall meant to make decisions on the behalf of all of West Northants.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Rosie Humphreys, who led the call-in, accused the Reform UK cabinet of making an unconstitutional decision, claiming that they did not take into account all relevant considerations and make the decision in the best interests of the communities of West Northamptonshire.

She explained that councils are required to take a leadership role in reducing emissions and criticised a lack of evidence in the original cabinet meeting as to why continuing with local net zero targets would be unaffordable.

However, finance portfolio holder Councillor John Slope told her that “this administration works miracles but [net zero] is going to take a bit longer” than the 2030 deadline.

He said: “Here’s the plain truth; there never has been a dedicated net zero budget for 2030. That’s the crux of the problem - ambition without resources.

“I respect those who want 2030 reinstated. The urgency of climate change is real and so is their passion, but ambition has to be matched with deliverability.

“This decision is lawful, it is in line with policy and above all it is focused on the best use of taxpayers’ money to deliver measurable environmental improvements for West Northamptonshire.”

Officers told the panel that there was a “significant gap” in the trajectory for carbon emissions from where we are today to the net zero commitment for 2030. Current forecasts show that there would still be approximately 17,000 tonnes of carbon WNC would need to offset in the first year alone.

They added that the only solution would likely be significant carbon offsetting, which is a process where an organisation can invest in other projects that remove or reduce greenhouse gases to balance their own output, and it is not known how much that could cost.

However, Conservative member of the panel Fiona Cole asked why everything was being seen in “absolutes”.

“This is maintain or scrap,” she said, “Why is there not an option to look at a middle ground of a review and amend?

“You can’t say something is not affordable when you haven’t even looked at it as an option. I agree, I don’t actually think that 2030 and 2045 is achievable, but that doesn’t mean that you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Leader of the Labour group, Councillor Sally Keeble, added: “I understand that Reform wanted to be one of the first councils to scrap net zero. I would much rather see this council being the first council to achieve its target.

“In Northampton, we see the results of flooding, climate change, that’s where it meets. We absolutely know that this is not something we can sit and twiddle our thumbs about.”

However, Reform UK Vice-Chair of the committee, Councillor Kamala Guliyeva gave a more sceptical view, stating that net zero is based on the premise that climate change is manmade, which she said was “not fact” and compared to believing in a religion. She did however claim that there is “absolutely evidence that this net zero is bankrupting this country”.

A motion was put forward to refer the decision back to cabinet and recommend they look to create an evidence-based strategy, looking more in depth at finance and specific milestones, to achieve net zero.

Four members of the panel, made up of cross-party support, voted for the motion, while the remaining five Reform UK councillors voted against.

This means WNC now holds a position where it recognises it cannot control global climate change and no longer has an duty to reach net zero emissions by 2030 and for residents and businesses by 2045. Reference to the ‘climate impact’ of future council projects will also be removed, replacing it with a section on the ‘environmental impact’.

It will continue wider sustainability work and has also pointed to a goal of achieving better results for local communities and nature by focusing on tangible matters within its control.

The Government’s target remains for the wider area to be Net Zero by 2050.