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Warrington Borough Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on June 7, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2030

“To make Warrington carbon neutral by 2030. To make all Council property carbon neutral by 2030 and across all services.”

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

SectionWarrington Borough CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score31%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
3/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
1/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
5/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
1/4
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
2/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

859.7 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.1 tCO2

per person

4.7 ktCO2

per km2

33%

Domestic

29%

Transport

27%

Industry

9%

Commercial

2%

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 Warrington 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
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council86%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council85%No2030March 28, 2019
Erewash Borough Council84%No2050No
Redditch Borough Council83%No2050Sept. 23, 2019
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council83%No2038July 10, 2019
Swindon Borough Council82%Yes2030No
Wyre Forest District Council81%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council81%No2030April 3, 2019
Chorley Council81%Yes2030Nov. 19, 2019
North East Derbyshire District Council80%Yes2030July 8, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Warrington 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
North Somerset Council91%Yes2030Feb. 19, 2019
Central Bedfordshire Council91%No2030July 19, 2019
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council90%No2030Dec. 4, 2019
Wyre Forest District Council90%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
Bolsover District Council90%YesNo targetNo
Caerphilly County Borough Council89%Yes2030June 4, 2019
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council89%Yes2030Aug. 29, 2019
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council89%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council89%Yes2038Jan. 30, 2019
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council88%No2038July 10, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2038July 17, 2019
Halton Borough Council97%YesNo targetOct. 16, 2019
St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2040June 10, 2019
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council96%Yes2038Nov. 28, 2018
Salford City Council96%No2038July 17, 2019
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council96%Yes2030Aug. 29, 2019
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council95%Yes2040Jan. 29, 2020
Cheshire West and Chester Council94%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Chorley Council94%Yes2030Nov. 19, 2019
Greater Manchester Combined Authority94%No2038July 26, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Warrington 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
West of England Combined Authority85%Yes2030July 1, 2019
Wyre Council84%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Erewash Borough Council84%No2050No
Swindon Borough Council83%Yes2030No
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council83%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
Fife Council83%Yes2045Sept. 26, 2019
Renfrewshire Council83%No2030June 27, 2019
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council82%No2030March 28, 2019
Nottinghamshire County Council82%No2030May 27, 2021
Cheshire West and Chester Council82%Yes2030May 21, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Warrington 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
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council99%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
Kirklees Council98%Yes2038Jan. 16, 2019
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council97%No2030Oct. 30, 2019
Medway Council97%Yes2050April 25, 2019
Cannock Chase District Council97%No2030July 17, 2019
North East Lincolnshire Council97%Yes2050Sept. 19, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council97%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority97%No2038June 27, 2019
Newport City Council97%Yes2030Nov. 23, 2021
Swindon Borough Council97%Yes2030No

Powers & Responsibilities

Warrington 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

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

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Warrington Borough Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/warrington-borough-council/ [Accessed 28 May 2023].

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