Council mulls 20-year net-zero target extension

North Northamptonshire Council will meet twice before deciding on how to progress with its net-zero targets

A council said that extending its net-zero targets by up to 20 years would enable it to "set deliverable and realistic targets".

In a report expected to go before Reform UK-led North Northamptonshire Council on Tuesday, the authority stated its intention to remove its current carbon neutral target of 2030.

The policy follows that of other Reform UK-led councils, who have already scrapped their 2030 net-zero targets such as West Northamptonshire Council.

Martin Griffiths, the leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said continuing to work towards the previous target would "put a strain on our finances".

On Friday the authority announced that it would need to find savings of £32m to help close a funding gap in next year's budget.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council's Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee has been recommended to delay the delivery of its Carbon Management Plan (CMP) to 2050, which would place it in line with the Labour government's targets.

The authority will consider other options including maintaining the current target, pushing it back to 2040 or abandoning its carbon neutral ambitions entirely.

The report stated that the authority would not be able to achieve the current 2030 target, given the progress made to date, unless the pace and financial investment can be increased significantly.

• What is net-zero and is the UK on track to achieve it?

Any decisions made by the scrutiny committee - which is made up of five Reform UK members, two Conservatives, one Green and one Labour councillor - will serve as recommendations to the council's executive panel, which will make a final decision on 9 September.

The council's previous Conservative administration committed to the 2030 target in 2022 after declaring a climate emergency the previous year, which sparked the creation of the CMP.

According to the CMP annual report, over the past year the council has installed more than 200 electric vehicle charging points, planted more than 11,000 trees and deployed low-carbon technologies across several council buildings.