Case studies

Cumbria was named as one of five pilot areas to receive a share of a £1 million fund from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in August 2020 to develop a draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) pilot.

Since 2014, Cumbria County Council has invested £12.9 million in its LED Street Lighting replacement and improvement programme, replacing over 45,000 streetlights with more efficient and cost-effective LED technology.

Working with MacRebur and Shell as part of the ADEPT SMART Places Live Labs Programme, Cumbria County Council has introduced ‘plastic’ roads around the county using products which replace some of the bitumen with recycled waste plastic.

The London Borough of Barnet secured Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) funding (PSDS1 and PSDS3) from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures in public buildings, including offices, schools, libraries and community services, with a focus on heat pumps.

Support and funding have been available in Derbyshire to retrofit homes in the social housing and private rented sector, and to homeowners in fuel poverty through several funding mechanisms including the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Sustainable Warmth Competition.

Find out how officers in Cambridgeshire are exploring the issues affecting and influencing rural transport in relation to decarbonisation.

The ownership of EV chargepoints in the public realm is a new uncertain challenge for councils, given the rising public expectation and government’s opaque guidance regarding resources/funding. For a council, who are seen by the public as a trusted local provider, the problem is how we translate policy and funding into physical, publicly accessible charge points, whilst meeting procurement, consultation, and other requirements.

Portsmouth City Council tackles our role in addressing the air quality priorities head on. Through the provision of innovative and accessible charging infrastructure, residents are encouraged to shift towards owning electric vehicles, leading to a reduction in conventional petrol and diesel vehicles and resulting in a reduction in air pollution within the city.

Denbighshire County Council has changed its Constitution to ensure all decisions made have regard for tackling climate and ecological change.

The project aimed to identify potential practical measures for decarbonising freight traffic and to convene relevant stakeholders in transforming freight mobilities to and from the Port of Liverpool, so as to kickstart an ongoing process for collaborative and effective action on this challenging issue.