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Luton Borough Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Jan. 13, 2020.

Council only pledge for 2040

“The climate change action plan is our pathway to working with key departments to meet our organisational commitment to achieving net zero by 2040.”

Whole area pledge for 2040

“To tackle the climate emergency, the council has pledged to ensure that Luton is a carbon neutral town by 2040.”

Climate documents

Last update: Feb. 14, 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

SectionLuton Borough CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score20%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
3/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
0/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
3/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
0/5
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
2/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
0/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

559.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

2.6 tCO2

per person

12.9 ktCO2

per km2

43%

Domestic

28%

Transport

14%

Industry

10%

Commercial

5%

Public Sector

0%

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 Luton Borough 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
London Borough of Enfield91%No2030July 8, 2019
Leicester City Council87%Yes2030Feb. 1, 2019
London Borough of Croydon87%YesNo targetJuly 15, 2019
London Borough of Ealing86%Yes2030April 2, 2019
Greater London Authority86%YesDec. 1, 2019
Coventry City Council85%NoNo targetJune 18, 2019
Southampton City Council84%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
Portsmouth City Council84%No2030March 19, 2019
Ipswich Borough Council83%Yes2030July 9, 2019
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham82%No2030Jan. 30, 2020

These councils are the most similar to Luton Borough 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
London Borough of Redbridge94%Yes2050June 20, 2019
London Borough of Sutton93%No2045July 22, 2019
London Borough of Enfield92%No2030July 8, 2019
Ipswich Borough Council91%Yes2030July 9, 2019
London Borough of Waltham Forest91%NoNo targetApril 25, 2019
London Borough of Ealing90%Yes2030April 2, 2019
Hastings Borough Council89%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2019
London Borough of Hounslow89%Yes2030No
Eastleigh Borough Council89%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Brighton and Hove City Council89%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Central Bedfordshire Council98%No2030July 19, 2019
St Albans City and District Council98%No2030July 9, 2019
Dacorum Council98%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Watford Borough Council97%No2030July 9, 2019
Stevenage Borough Council97%No2030June 12, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council96%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Three Rivers District Council96%No2030May 21, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council96%Yes2030June 19, 2019
Hertsmere Borough Council96%Yes2050Sept. 18, 2019
Bedford Borough Council95%Yes2030March 5, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Luton Borough 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
Southampton City Council95%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
Leicester City Council92%Yes2030Feb. 1, 2019
Portsmouth City Council88%No2030March 19, 2019
London Borough of Enfield87%No2030July 8, 2019
Coventry City Council86%NoNo targetJune 18, 2019
Bristol City Council82%Yes2025Nov. 13, 2018
London Borough of Croydon82%YesNo targetJuly 15, 2019
Greater London Authority77%YesDec. 1, 2019
Plymouth City Council77%Yes2030March 18, 2019
City of Lincoln Council77%Yes2030July 23, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Luton Borough 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
London Borough of Harrow99%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Southampton City Council99%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
London Borough of Hounslow99%Yes2030No
Leicester City Council99%Yes2030Feb. 1, 2019
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames99%Yes2038June 25, 2019
Manchester City Council99%Yes2038July 10, 2019
London Borough of Sutton98%No2045July 22, 2019
Watford Borough Council97%No2030July 9, 2019
London Borough of Barnet97%NoNo targetMay 24, 2022
Portsmouth City Council97%No2030March 19, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Luton Borough 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

    luton.gov.uk
    Luton Borough Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Luton Borough 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 Luton Borough Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Luton Borough Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/luton-borough-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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