The Green group at Suffolk County Council, who form the official opposition, expressed their anger and disappointment as the Reform UK administration announced they would be reversing the declaration of climate emergency which was made by the council in 2019 and then renewed again in 2023.
They have also announced that they will also be reviewing all environmental policies held at the council, and that via an ‘early action’ they have identified an annual saving of £175,000 on the council’s electricity tariff – even though the council is tied into its current tariff until April 2027.
Andrew Stringer, the Leader of the Green Group, said:
“We are appalled at the news that Reform UK have decided to reverse the climate emergency and review the council’s environmental policies.
Over the years since the council first declared a climate emergency in 2019, the council has made considerable financial savings with its carbon reduction initiatives.
Moreover, the £175,000 they are saying will be saved won’t even be possible until next April as the council is tied into its current tariff until then. It’s very disingenuous to pretend they are able to save that money already, via ‘early action’.
Suffolk County Council actually saved over £4m a year because it had begun to take the path towards net zero. This potential future saving of £175,000 is tiny compared to the very real savings the council has made with carbon reduction initiatives.
If the council had not taken the path of bold politics, those financial savings would not have been made, and by now we’d have had to write to government asking for a financial bailout or been forced to increase council taxes above the current maximum of 4.99% per year.
Also, if they wanted a genuine review of costs, not a performative, climate denying ideological ‘review’, they would just need to look at the review of the Net Zero policy that already happens every year and that proves it is more than paying for itself in savings.
The council was making progress towards carbon neutrality and saving money doing it. This is a massive step backwards.”
