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Horsham District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on June 26, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2050

“We have two key targets on carbon emissions: 1. By 2030: An aspiration to make our direct emissions carbon-neutral. 2. By 2050: Make our indirect emissions carbon-neutral. ”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Carbon Reduction Target Setting And Action Plan Support, August 2020

Summary Document · PDF · Approved · Council Only
Organisational Carbon Reduction Action Plan 2020–2022

Action Plan · PDF · Council Only

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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

SectionHorsham District CouncilAverage district council
Total score30%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
10/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
2/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
3/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
3/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
3/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
1/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
0/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

585.5 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.0 tCO2

per person

1.1 ktCO2

per km2

40%

Transport

37%

Domestic

13%

Industry

5%

Commercial

4%

Agriculture

2%

Public Sector

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 Horsham District 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
Harborough District Council81%No2030June 24, 2019
North Kesteven District Council81%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Central Bedfordshire Council81%No2030July 19, 2019
South Oxfordshire District Council80%Yes2025April 11, 2019
Broadland District Council80%No2050No
Stratford-on-Avon District Council79%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Winchester City Council79%Yes2024June 5, 2019
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council79%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Sevenoaks District Council79%Yes2030No
East Cambridgeshire District Council79%Yes2050Oct. 17, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Horsham District 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
Mid Sussex District Council89%YesNo targetNo
Wealden District Council89%Yes2050July 24, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council88%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Braintree District Council87%Yes2030July 22, 2019
Bromsgrove District Council87%YesNo targetJuly 24, 2019
Lewes District Council87%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Boston Borough Council86%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council86%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Essex County Council86%Yes2030No
Malvern Hills District Council86%Yes2030July 23, 2019

Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
West Sussex County Council99%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Adur District Council98%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Worthing Borough Council98%YesJuly 18, 2019
Mole Valley District Council97%No2030June 18, 2019
Crawley Borough Council97%Yes2040July 17, 2019
Mid Sussex District Council97%YesNo targetNo
Arun District Council97%No2030Jan. 15, 2020
Brighton and Hove City Council96%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018
Waverley Borough Council96%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council96%Yes2030No

These councils are the most similar to Horsham District 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
Buckinghamshire Council99%No2050No
Tandridge District Council99%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2020
Mole Valley District Council98%No2030June 18, 2019
Brentwood Borough Council97%No2040No
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council97%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Rochford District Council97%Yes2030No
Bromsgrove District Council96%YesNo targetJuly 24, 2019
Blaby District Council96%Yes2030No
Derbyshire Dales District Council96%Yes2030May 30, 2019
Aberdeenshire Council96%No2045No

These councils are the most similar to Horsham District 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
Copeland Borough Council98%Yes2050No
Rushcliffe Borough Council96%Yes2030March 7, 2019
Huntingdonshire District Council94%No2040No
Newark and Sherwood District Council94%Yes2035July 16, 2019
Clackmannanshire Council94%NoNo targetAug. 19, 2021
North Kesteven District Council92%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Selby District Council88%Yes2030No
Harborough District Council87%No2030June 24, 2019
Allerdale Borough Council87%Yes2030Sept. 25, 2019
Ribble Valley Borough Council86%No2030No

Powers & Responsibilities

Horsham District Council is a Non-Metropolitan District, 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.

    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.

    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
    Waste collection

    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

    horsham.gov.uk
    Horsham District Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Horsham District 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 Horsham District Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Horsham District Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/horsham-district-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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