For local governments across the UK, the pressure for them to achieve net zero by 2030 is increasing. However, with limited funding, resource and support, is this goal unattainable for local councils?
As an energy and carbon consultancy, Team Energy’s role is to support a wide range of public sector organisations, including local councils, in meeting their net zero target. The company has spoken with several of its customers in the public sector about their challenges, solutions and their optimism in reducing their carbon emissions.
What are the challenges local government is facing when striving to become net zero?
The public sector net zero commitment is a task on such a large scale, with schools to retrofit, listed buildings that need assessing, fleets of vehicles and suppliers to manage, local councils are overwhelmed with the task at hand.
One of the biggest challenges for many public sector organisations is the lack of funding and financial support. Councils are faced with countless buildings that need to be reconstructed on already tight budgets and achieving these targets on time is proving to be difficult.
Team’s business developer manager, Andrea Shoel, supports many of the business’ public sector customers, on this topic. Andrea said, ‘One of the biggest challenges my customers are facing is the lack of financial resource. Although councils can apply for funding, to do so is a lot of work and even then, it is a lottery. There is no guarantee your council will get the funding it requires to meet its net zero targets, especially as the public sector decarbonisation scheme only cover Scope 1 (fossil fuel) emissions.’
Even once funding has been secured, finding the suppliers at the right cost with the right availability is a huge task. And with each year passing where buildings are not retrofitted, the council is emitting carbon instead of reducing it.
Not only is financial resource a strain for the sector, organisations are also up against time. Councils must retrofit their local schools to be more sustainable, however this can only be completed over the six week summer break, limiting how many schools can implement the projects needed to contribute to carbon reduction. Additionally, all local authority buildings including car parks, leisure centres, libraries, and other miscellaneous buildings across a councils’ estate also need to be adapted to produce less carbon emissions. With only five summers left until 2030, time is of the essence.
For organisations reporting on their emissions, many are finding it difficult to report on and reduce their Scope 3 (Supply Chain) emissions. With councils contracting out a lot of work, such as taxis for homecare, managing supplier emissions can be complicated. Councils are either forced to find alternative suppliers from their tried and trusted, or suppliers must themselves have a Carbon Reduction Plan, in line with the Procurement Policy Notice 06/21.
Those suppliers with a Carbon Reduction Plan will be in higher demand and appointing them may have long wait times.
Another challenge facing many councils is changes in personnel. Councils that are on a limited budget may experience restructuring within their organisation or department, losing important members of the business with net zero expertise causing knowledge gaps in the organisation. This makes it even harder for local government to understand and implement the changes needed to meet their target.
What are local councils doing to work towards net zero?
Working closely with Team’s public sector customers, Andrea Shoel discusses some of the successes local councils have celebrated: ‘For many local government organisations, they are committed to getting as close to net zero as possible. Many councils are working hard to implement energy efficiency measures, solar PV and air source heat pumps into their buildings to make them sustainable.
'Councils are committed to reporting on their Scope emissions and tracking the success of their projects as they are implemented to measure the progress of their net zero transition.
‘Many are also gaining access to funding to retrofit their buildings and have reported a decrease in their carbon emissions.’
What needs to change for the public sector to meet its net zero targets?
Energy is a major function across a council’s estate in supporting the running of its buildings.
Low energy prices were accessible for a number of years, however with the energy price increase in 2022, many councils realised the cost of energy can close a building that provides vital services to the community. By making their buildings more energy efficient and by using renewable energy sources to power them, councils will become less reliant on fluctuating gas prices. By having access to more funding, the public sector will be able to make changes at a faster pace, retrofit more buildings and have more options in suppliers that are doing the work. With a bigger budget for net zero transition will come more success.
Councils also require more support with managing their carbon data. Data is at the heart of understanding what emissions have been reduced and what still needs to be done. With data coming from so many different buildings and the use of manual data collection processes, it can be difficult to track progress and generate accurate reporting. By having a system where everything is all in one place, councils can manage and track their emissions reporting in a more streamlined process.The energy sector requires reskilling and upskilling at an unprecedented scale to address sustainability challenges effectively. Changes in staff and council restructuring means that sometimes people leave the organisation and are not replaced, leaving gaps in knowledge. By investing in net zero experts to support their carbon reduction, more can be achieved.
Public sector organisations can also use a variety of Frameworks to find suppliers that can support them in their journey to decarbonisation. Frameworks provide cost effective access to software to enhance data accuracy and outsource bill validation to enable councils to focus on carbon reduction planning, without the time consuming task of writing a tender.
Final thoughts
Despite the challenges many local authorities are facing, there is a sense of optimism as sustainability managers and other departments pull together and work towards a collective goal.
For many councils, the prospect of net zero by 2030 may not be achievable, so they are aiming for the best they can, carbon reduction and offsetting.
The target for local government is to have a mix of power sources, retrofit as many council owned buildings to be more efficient and sustainable and make the main focus: carbon reduction.
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