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Mid Suffolk District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 25, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2030

“ At full Council meetings on 23rd July 2019 and 25th July 2019 respectively Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils recognised the existence of a climate emergency and committed to investigating ways in which they could reduce their own emissions and to supporting the Suffolk-wide aim to become carbon neutral by 2030.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 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

SectionMid Suffolk District CouncilAverage district council
Total score58%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
14/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
13/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
6/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
3/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

510.4 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.9 tCO2

per person

0.6 ktCO2

per km2

43%

Transport

29%

Domestic

18%

Industry

5%

Commercial

3%

Agriculture

3%

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 Mid Suffolk 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
South Norfolk District Council89%NoNo targetNo
Babergh District Council87%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Breckland District Council79%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
West Lindsey District Council79%Yes2050No
Wychavon District Council75%Yes2050No
Wealden District Council75%Yes2050July 24, 2019
Broadland District Council75%No2050No
Chichester District Council75%Yes2025July 9, 2019
Norfolk County Council74%No2030No
Lincolnshire County Council74%Yes2050No

These councils are the most similar to Mid Suffolk 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
South Derbyshire District Council90%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Breckland District Council89%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
Lichfield District Council86%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
East Cambridgeshire District Council86%Yes2050Oct. 17, 2019
South Norfolk District Council86%NoNo targetNo
Babergh District Council86%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Bassetlaw District Council85%NoNo targetNo
Teignbridge District Council84%Yes2025April 18, 2019
Vale of White Horse District Council84%Yes2045Feb. 13, 2019
North Northamptonshire Council84%Yes2030July 28, 2021
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Ipswich Borough Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Babergh District Council97%Yes2030July 23, 2019
South Norfolk District Council96%NoNo targetNo
East Suffolk Council95%No2030July 24, 2019
Tendring District Council95%Yes2030Aug. 6, 2019
Norwich City Council95%Yes2030Jan. 29, 2019
Breckland District Council94%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
Colchester Borough Council94%Yes2030July 17, 2019
West Suffolk Council94%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Broadland District Council94%No2050No

These councils are the most similar to Mid Suffolk 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
East Devon District Council98%Yes2040July 24, 2019
South Norfolk District Council98%NoNo targetNo
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council98%Yes2030July 10, 2019
New Forest District Council97%NoNo targetNov. 6, 2021
Huntingdonshire District Council97%No2040No
East Lothian Council96%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
Scottish Borders Council96%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Orkney Islands Council96%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council96%No2030July 16, 2019
Wiltshire Council95%No2030Feb. 26, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Mid Suffolk 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
Ryedale District Council99%No2050Oct. 10, 2019
Scottish Borders Council98%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
West Devon Borough Council95%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Dumfries and Galloway Council95%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Aberdeenshire Council94%No2045No
The Highland Council94%No2025May 9, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council93%No2045No
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council92%NoNo targetOct. 7, 2019
Forest of Dean District Council90%Yes2030Dec. 6, 2018
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council90%No2030May 2, 2020

Powers & Responsibilities

Mid Suffolk 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

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

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Mid Suffolk District Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/mid-suffolk-district-council/ [Accessed 22 Mar 2023].

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