Action Scorecards 2025

Cost Saving

Councils have responsibility for a wide range of services, including schools, primary care, roads, bins and housing but since 2010 in particular, the budgets available for vital services have not been keeping up with the need. Sometimes climate action is misperceived as a less urgent priority against other work at a time when money is tight, both for councils and residents.

Yet so many climate actions save residents and councils money, or pay for themselves in the long term or even generate income.

According to a recent study commissioned by CE UK, for every £200 per capita increase in a council's spending power, a 0.8% improvement in its Scorecards performance is observed. This shows that when given the appropriate resources, councils are able to deliver more climate action. The study also shows that local community support and political will are equally important.

For this Cost Saving theme, we have grouped and highlighted the questions that cover actions councils can reduce bills, save costs to the councils and generate income, all whilst taking action towards net zero.