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Bracknell Forest Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

We don’t think this council has declared a climate emergency – let us know if it has!

Council only pledge for 2050

“Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) has committed itself to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.”

Climate documents

Last update: April 3, 2023

Climate Plan Scorecard

This council’s climate plans as of 20th September 2021 were assessed and scored by trained Climate Emergency UK volunteers, as part of the Council Climate Plan Scorecards project.

Show the full Scorecard Read more about the scoring process

SectionBracknell Forest CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score21%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
7/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
5/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
1/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
3/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
0/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
0/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

392.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.2 tCO2

per person

3.6 ktCO2

per km2

40%

Domestic

31%

Transport

18%

Commercial

6%

Public Sector

4%

Industry

1%

Agriculture

Data from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy “subset dataset”, representing carbon dioxide emissions within the scope of influence of local authorities.

These councils are the most similar to Bracknell Forest Council in terms of emissions profile, deprivation, rural/urban population density, and geographical nearness. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Fareham Borough Council87%Yes2030Oct. 24, 2019
Woking Borough Council87%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council85%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Eastleigh Borough Council85%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council85%Yes2030No
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead84%No2050June 26, 2019
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council84%Yes2035July 23, 2019
London Borough of Bromley84%Yes2027No
St Albans City and District Council84%No2030July 9, 2019
Three Rivers District Council83%No2030May 21, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Bracknell Forest Council in terms of their emissions profile, based on the latest data from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Greater Manchester Combined Authority90%No2038July 26, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council90%No2030June 19, 2019
Folkestone and Hythe District Council88%No2030July 24, 2019
Leeds City Council88%No2030March 27, 2019
Bath and North East Somerset Council88%Yes2030March 14, 2019
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council88%No2025Sept. 11, 2019
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Borough Council87%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Salford City Council87%No2038July 17, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council87%Yes2030July 16, 2019
London Borough of Barnet87%NoNo targetMay 24, 2022
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Hertfordshire County Council99%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead99%No2050June 26, 2019
Surrey Heath Borough Council99%Yes2030Oct. 9, 2019
Rushmoor Borough Council98%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Wokingham Borough Council98%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Slough Borough Council97%YesNo targetNo
Runnymede Borough Council97%NoNo targetOct. 17, 2019
Hart District Council97%No2040Sept. 1, 2019
Woking Borough Council97%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Surrey County Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Bracknell Forest Council in terms of the proportion of their population living in high deprivation, medium deprivation, and low deprivation neighbourhoods. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Blaby District Council98%Yes2030No
Surrey County Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council97%Yes2030No
Woking Borough Council97%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Eastleigh Borough Council96%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Rochford District Council96%Yes2030No
Guildford Borough Council96%Yes2030July 23, 2019
East Dunbartonshire Council96%Yes2045No
Brentwood Borough Council96%No2040No
Buckinghamshire Council95%No2050No

These councils are the most similar to Bracknell Forest Council in terms of the proportion of their population living in urban, rural, and highly rural neighbourhoods. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
South Ribble Borough Council99%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Runnymede Borough Council98%NoNo targetOct. 17, 2019
Ashfield District Council98%NoNo targetNo
Erewash Borough Council98%No2050No
Hartlepool Borough Council98%NoNo targetNo
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council98%Yes2030No
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2038July 17, 2019
Broxtowe Borough Council97%Yes2027July 17, 2019
Elmbridge Borough Council97%No2030July 17, 2019
Adur District Council97%Yes2030July 18, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Bracknell Forest Council is a Unitary Authority, with powers over:

Council buildings and staff

Climate actions might include:

  • making council offices more energy efficient
  • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ or public transport use among employees
  • providing carbon literacy training for employees
    Environmental health

    Climate actions might include:

    • reducing industrial emissions through air quality enforcement
    • bringing up insulation and energy efficiency standards through enforcement of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and Decent Homes Standard 2000, for cold and damp conditions in private rental and social housing

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Passenger transport

    Climate actions might include:

    • encouraging bus and private hire operators to use low-emission vehicles, through licensing requirements or Clean Air Zones
    • incentivising bus use by improving routes, timetables, and ticket prices through ‘Enhanced Partnerships’ with operators
    • proposing to central government the development of light rail / tram networks that integrate, rather than compete, with other modes of transport in the area

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Planning and building control

    Climate actions might include:

    • imposing reasonable requirements that new developments comply with energy efficiency standards and get a proportion of their energy from local, renewable sources (Planning and Energy Act, 2008)
    • incorporating additional energy performance standards into their Local Plan, for new works that require planning permission
    • using Area Action Plans to guide development proposals towards lower carbon emissions or more cycling and walking routes, for example
    • enforcing legislation that requires private rental properties to be of Energy Efficiency Rating E or above (Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2015)
    • funding energy efficiency improvements on existing homes, through initiatives such as Green Homes Grants

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Schools and libraries

    Climate actions might include:

    • reducing the carbon footprint of civic buildings through better insulation and renewable energy use
    • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ or public transport use among employees
    • providing carbon literacy training for employees
    • encouraging eco-clubs at schools
    • using school land to plant trees and hedgerows, or to grow food

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Housing

    Climate actions might include:

    • setting energy standards above building regulations (Planning and Energy Act, 2008)
    • enabling housing associations to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock through loans
    • where councils operate their own social housing, prioritising energy efficiency – for example, by requiring Passivhaus standard for newly built schemes

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Spending, procuring, and investing

    Climate actions might include:

    • embedding carbon impact assessment as part of the council’s budgeting and financial accountability process
    • utilising Public Works Loan Board loans or the Business Rates Retention Scheme to invest in emissions-reducing capital projects that otherwise wouldn’t get funded
    • specifying low carbon equipment and practices when procuring for relevant services from suppliers
    • prioritising positive environmental impacts during procurement, through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
    Transport planning

    Climate actions might include:

    • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ like walking and cycling by creating or widening footways and cycleways
    • incentivising Electric Vehicle use by assigning street space to EV charging
    • disincentivising the use of fossil fuel cars through congestion charging,low-traffic neighbourhoods, or the reduction of parking space

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Waste collection and disposal

    Climate actions might include:

    • establishing ‘Joint Waste Solutions’ with neighbouring councils, to get more value out of waste, recycling, and street cleaning contracts
    • running marketing campaigns to encourage residential recycling, reuse, and waste minimisation

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Read more about English local authority powers in the UK100 Power Shift report.

    More about this council

    bracknell-forest.gov.uk
    Bracknell Forest Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Bracknell Forest Council’s ‘carbon budget’ – their share towards meeting the UK’s Paris agreement targets.
    Friends of the Earth ‘Near You’ tool
    Discover climate groups in this area, data about Bracknell Forest Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Bracknell Forest Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/bracknell-forest-council/ [Accessed 28 May 2023].

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