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Somerset West and Taunton Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Feb. 21, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“Somerset West and Taunton Council has declared a Climate Emergency and is committed to working towards carbon neutrality by 2030.”

Climate documents

Last update: Jan. 10, 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

Somerset West and Taunton Council was a top performer amongst district councils.

SectionSomerset West and Taunton CouncilAverage district council
Top performer Total score91%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
17/21
9.4/21
Section 2 · Top performer Mitigation and adaptation
18/18
8.1/18
Section 3 · Top performer Commitment and integration
7/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
8/9
4.7/9
Section 5 · Top performer Measuring and setting emissions targets
5/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
3/5
0.5/5
Section 8 · Top performer Education, skills and training
5/5
1.5/5
Section 9 · Top performer Ecological emergency
4/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

580.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.7 tCO2

per person

0.5 ktCO2

per km2

41%

Transport

34%

Domestic

8%

Agriculture

6%

Industry

6%

Commercial

4%

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 Somerset West and Taunton 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
Somerset County Council85%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
Devon County Council82%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Mendip District Council80%Yes2030Feb. 25, 2019
Dorset Council80%No2040May 16, 2019
Sedgemoor District Council79%Yes2030March 20, 2019
North Devon Council77%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Conwy County Borough Council77%No2030May 9, 2019
Herefordshire Council76%Yes2030March 8, 2019
Shropshire Council - Unitary75%No2030May 16, 2019
South Somerset District Council75%Yes2023May 21, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Somerset West and Taunton 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
Devon County Council90%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Dorset Council87%No2040May 16, 2019
Wiltshire Council86%No2030Feb. 26, 2019
Somerset County Council86%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
East Devon District Council83%Yes2040July 24, 2019
Lincolnshire County Council82%Yes2050No
North Kesteven District Council82%Yes2030July 11, 2019
South Somerset District Council82%Yes2023May 21, 2019
Stafford Borough Council82%No2040July 23, 2019
Boston Borough Council80%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Mid Devon District Council95%Yes2030June 26, 2019
East Devon District Council94%Yes2040July 24, 2019
Vale of Glamorgan Council94%Yes2030July 29, 2019
Exeter City Council94%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Devon County Council94%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Sedgemoor District Council93%Yes2030March 20, 2019
Cardiff Council93%Yes2030March 28, 2019
Bridgend County Borough Council92%No2030July 22, 2022
North Devon Council91%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council91%Yes2050No

These councils are the most similar to Somerset West and Taunton 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
Herefordshire Council98%Yes2030March 8, 2019
Gwynedd County Council96%No2030March 7, 2019
Isle of Anglesey County Council96%Yes2030Sept. 8, 2020
Pembrokeshire County Council95%Yes2030May 9, 2019
Breckland District Council94%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
Dumfries and Galloway Council92%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Forest of Dean District Council91%Yes2030Dec. 6, 2018
Isle of Wight Council91%No2030July 24, 2019
Boston Borough Council90%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Thurrock Council90%No2022Oct. 23, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Somerset West and Taunton 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
Ashford Borough Council96%Yes2030No
South Ayrshire Council96%No2045No
Boston Borough Council95%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Derry City and Strabane District Council94%Yes2045June 27, 2019
Cherwell District Council94%No2030July 22, 2019
Angus Council94%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
East Hertfordshire District Council93%Yes2030No
Stafford Borough Council93%No2040July 23, 2019
South Kesteven District Council92%Yes2050Sept. 26, 2019
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council92%Yes2030July 10, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Somerset West and Taunton 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

    somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
    Somerset West and Taunton Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Somerset West and Taunton 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 Somerset West and Taunton Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Somerset West and Taunton Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/somerset-west-and-taunton-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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