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Leicestershire County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on May 15, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“Made a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 from our own operations.”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“To work with others and to lobby government to achieve carbon neutrality for Leicestershire by 2050 or before.”

Climate documents

Last update: June 21, 2022

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

SectionLeicestershire County CouncilAverage county council
Total score48%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
6/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
4/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
3/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
2/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

3005.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.2 tCO2

per person

1.4 ktCO2

per km2

34%

Domestic

33%

Transport

21%

Industry

7%

Commercial

3%

Public Sector

2%

Agriculture

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

These councils are the most similar to Leicestershire County 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
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council89%No2030July 16, 2019
Staffordshire County Council86%Yes2050July 25, 2019
South Staffordshire Council86%YesNo targetSept. 10, 2019
Tewkesbury Borough Council86%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
Stafford Borough Council86%No2040July 23, 2019
Charnwood Borough Council85%Yes2030No
Central Bedfordshire Council85%No2030July 19, 2019
Warwickshire County Council85%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Gloucestershire County Council85%Yes2030May 15, 2019
South Kesteven District Council84%Yes2050Sept. 26, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Leicestershire County 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
Staffordshire County Council90%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council90%Yes2050No
Lancashire County Council90%No2030Feb. 28, 2019
East Suffolk Council90%No2030July 24, 2019
Worcestershire County Council89%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council89%No2030April 3, 2019
Derbyshire County Council89%Yes2032No
North East Derbyshire District Council88%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Vale of Glamorgan Council88%Yes2030July 29, 2019
West Sussex County Council88%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Derbyshire Dales District Council98%Yes2030May 30, 2019
High Peak Borough Council96%Yes2030Oct. 15, 2019
Derbyshire County Council96%Yes2032No
Sheffield City Council95%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019
North East Derbyshire District Council95%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council94%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Chesterfield Borough Council94%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Amber Valley Borough Council93%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council93%Yes2040Sept. 18, 2019
Kirklees Council92%Yes2038Jan. 16, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Leicestershire County 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
North Hertfordshire District Council99%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Chelmsford City Council99%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Test Valley Borough Council98%Yes2050Sept. 4, 2019
Sevenoaks District Council98%Yes2030No
Craven District Council98%No2030Aug. 6, 2019
Central Bedfordshire Council98%No2030July 19, 2019
Wealden District Council98%Yes2050July 24, 2019
Hambleton District Council98%No2034Dec. 14, 2021
Shetland Islands Council97%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Lichfield District Council97%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Leicestershire County 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
Wyre Council99%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Conwy County Borough Council98%No2030May 9, 2019
Lichfield District Council98%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
Buckinghamshire Council98%No2050No
Dover District Council97%Yes2030Nov. 4, 2019
Wrexham County Borough Council97%No2030Sept. 25, 2019
West Northamptonshire Council97%NoNo targetNo
North Ayrshire Council97%No2030June 25, 2019
Chorley Council97%Yes2030Nov. 19, 2019
High Peak Borough Council96%Yes2030Oct. 15, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Leicestershire County Council is a County Council, 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
    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.

    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.

    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 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

    leics.gov.uk
    Leicestershire County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Leicestershire County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/leicestershire-county-council/ [Accessed 22 Mar 2023].

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