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Midlothian Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Dec. 17, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“In December 2019, Midlothian Council passed a motion declaring a ‘climate emergency’. This includes a commitment to make the council’s activities net-zero carbon 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

SectionMidlothian CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score49%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
13/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
10/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
5/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
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
1/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
2.1/4

Emissions reduction projects

Local authorities in Scotland are required to publish yearly data on their compliance with their climate change duties – including the emissions reduction projects they are undertaking.

See all of Midlothian Council’s projects

38

Projects

3.1 ktCO2 per year

Total annual emissions savings

£3,384,315

Total capital cost

Emissions data

331.3 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.6 tCO2

per person

0.9 ktCO2

per km2

40%

Domestic

36%

Transport

9%

Industry

8%

Commercial

5%

Public Sector

3%

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 Midlothian 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
West Lothian Council86%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
Falkirk Council84%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
South Lanarkshire Council83%NoNo targetSept. 25, 2019
North Lanarkshire Council81%Yes2030June 20, 2019
North of Tyne Combined Authority81%YesNo targetMay 7, 2019
Renfrewshire Council81%No2030June 27, 2019
Lancaster City Council81%Yes2030Jan. 30, 2019
Carlisle City Council80%No2030March 5, 2019
South Ayrshire Council79%No2045No
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council78%No2030April 3, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Midlothian 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
Renfrewshire Council92%No2030June 27, 2019
East Sussex County Council90%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
North of Tyne Combined Authority89%YesNo targetMay 7, 2019
Dacorum Council89%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Bedford Borough Council89%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Burnley Borough Council88%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Kent County Council87%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council87%Yes2050No
North Lanarkshire Council87%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council87%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
City of Edinburgh Council97%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
East Lothian Council94%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
Scottish Borders Council94%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Fife Council93%Yes2045Sept. 26, 2019
West Lothian Council93%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
Falkirk Council90%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
Clackmannanshire Council89%NoNo targetAug. 19, 2021
Dundee City Council89%Yes2045June 24, 2019
South Lanarkshire Council89%NoNo targetSept. 25, 2019
North Lanarkshire Council88%Yes2030June 20, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Midlothian 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
South Somerset District Council97%Yes2023May 21, 2019
Arun District Council96%No2030Jan. 15, 2020
Conwy County Borough Council95%No2030May 9, 2019
North Warwickshire Borough Council95%No2030Oct. 22, 2019
Somerset County Council94%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
Wrexham County Borough Council94%No2030Sept. 25, 2019
Devon County Council94%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council94%Yes2045No
Powys County Council94%No2030July 30, 2020
Shropshire Council - Unitary94%No2030May 16, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Midlothian 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
Mole Valley District Council98%No2030June 18, 2019
Guildford Borough Council97%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Carlisle City Council96%No2030March 5, 2019
Swale Borough Council95%Yes2025June 26, 2019
Worcestershire County Council95%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Stroud District Council94%No2030Dec. 13, 2018
Fenland District Council94%NoNo targetNo
Rugby Borough Council94%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Lewes District Council94%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Cheshire East Council (Unitary)93%Yes2025May 22, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Midlothian 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 local authority powers across the UK, at The Institute for Government.

    More about this council

    midlothian.gov.uk
    Midlothian Council’s official homepage.
    @MidGov
    Midlothian Council’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Midlothian Council’s ‘carbon budget’ – their share towards meeting the UK’s Paris agreement targets.

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    Cite this page

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

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