Council rejects scrapping climate emergency vow

Darlington Borough Council says it will not end its plans to reach net zero

A council has rejected calls to scrap its climate emergency pledge after the policy was described as "virtue signalling".

Darlington Borough Council has set a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040 but the plan was recently criticised by the local Reform UK chair.

Michael Walker, who attended a council meeting as a member of the public, called for the local authority to end its climate targets and use the money to "help residents".

The Labour-led council's cabinet member for economy Chris McEwan said the commitment would not be scrapped as it offered benefits such as energy resilience and dealing with fuel poverty.

Reform-led Durham County Council voted earlier this year to drop its own climate pledge in favour of prioritising social care services.

Walker, who unsuccessfully ran to become Darlington's MP in the last General Election, said the borough council should follow in Durham's footsteps.

"Not only do Reform councillors in Durham care about children, they actually do something to benefit them," he said.

"Will you follow the lead of Reform UK councillors to scrap the climate change emergency and use the money from resources to actually help residents of this town, or do you not care and will continue to waste money by virtue signalling?"

McEwan said the policy would remain because it would help to deal with "fuel poverty and energy resilience in an uncertain world where we face international threats".

"My view is that Durham made a mistake in scrapping some of the initiatives that could have worked towards lowering their operating costs and allowing more resources to be placed into a priority area," he said.

"And we treat children's services as a priority area."

Darlington's climate change ambition originally aimed to achieve net zero by 2050 but was pushed forward to 2040 after Labour took control of the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.