Green-Led Folkestone & Hythe Council Falling Short on Climate Action

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has joined the call for Westminster to pass the Climate and Nature Bill. That is welcome symbolism. But the council’s own climate action scorecard shows a gulf between rhetoric and delivery. If the district is serious about cutting emissions and restoring nature, far more must change here at home.

What The Independent Scorecards Say

Climate Emergency UK’s 2025 Action Scorecards assess real-world action taken by every UK council since 1 January 2020, across seven sections that feed a weighted overall score (for districts, Planning and Buildings are each 25% of the total; Transport is only 5%). The 2025 methodology largely continues the 2023 approach, with audited results launched on 17 June 2025. In other words: these ratings are about delivery, not declarations.

On Folkestone & Hythe’s page, the picture is mixed — and in crucial areas, sliding backwards:

• Buildings & Heating: up to 42% in 2025 (from 32% in 2023), helped by a newly costed target to retrofit council homes. But there is no costed target to retrofit significant non-housing council buildings and no evidence the council buys 100% renewable electricity or generates enough of its own.

• Planning & Land Use: down to 24% (from 26%). The council’s Local Plan does not set net zero as a strategic objective — a basic enabler for low-carbon development the Scorecards weight heavily for districts.

• Governance & Finance: down sharply to 27% (from 36%), with no climate bond/CMI, and no decision to divest pensions from fossil fuels (nor a fund-level commitment). This section tests whether climate action is embedded in budgets, risk, procurement and investment.

• Collaboration & Engagement: down to 38% (from 70%), including no ongoing role for employee representative bodies/trade unions in shaping the Climate Action Plan. That’s a red flag for delivery culture.

• Waste Reduction & Food: up to 33% (from 15%), but no clear steps on circular economy or surplus-food redistribution.

(Where shown, 2023 comparisons come from the same council page’s “Display 2023 scores” view.)

Why This Matters More Than Motions

The Scorecards’ design puts the weight where district councils actually have power: Planning and Buildings (25% each). That is exactly where Folkestone & Hythe’s results are weakest or only modestly improving. Simply endorsing the Climate and Nature Bill, as the council did today, does not change a single planning policy, procurement rule, budget line or retrofit schedule in the district.

What Folkestone & Hythe DC Must Do Now

Based on the scorecard evidence and methodology, here are concrete, locally-controlled steps that would move the dial:

1. Put net zero into the Local Plan’s spine. Make a district-wide net-zero objective a strategic policy in the Local Plan, tightening policies on building standards, on-site renewables, EV and active-travel infrastructure, parking, and heat networks. This is a heavily-weighted section for districts.

2. Adopt a costed retrofit target for all significant council buildings. Publish the works, timetable and capital plan — matching the council-homes target the Scorecards credit.

3. Switch to verified 100% renewable electricity (or generate equivalent). The council currently fails this test; a compliant green tariff or new local generation would secure marks and cut emissions immediately.

4. Embed climate in money decisions. Create a visible climate budget line, use green procurement, and consider a Community Municipal Investment (climate bond) to crowd-in local capital. The Scorecards look for real financing tools, not just plans.

5. Back fossil-fuel divestment and press the pension fund. Pass a divestment motion and secure a fund commitment to exit all fossil fuels on a timetable. Other councils do this; the Scorecards track both the council motion and the fund’s stance.

6. Rebuild participation. Give trade unions and staff bodies a standing role in delivering the Climate Action Plan, publish minutes, and run regular public progress updates.

7. Accelerate circular economy and food actions. Support repair cafés/re-use facilities, sign a local circular-economy initiative, and partner to redistribute surplus food — simple, high-visibility wins the council currently misses.

8. Require biodiversity-friendly design. Introduce an Urban/Green Space Factor in planning to raise habitat in new development — it’s a 2025 question the council scores zero on.

Verdict

Calling for national legislation is easy; aligning local policy, finance and planning with net zero is the test. On the independent metrics that matter, Folkestone & Hythe is under-powered in Planning and Governance and losing ground on engagement — and those failings have far greater impact on emissions than a press release ever will. The council should pass the Bill baton to MPs — and get on with the hard, local work only it can do.

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