Reform takes second pop at Wiltshire’s net zero targets

Reform UK is having a second go at disrupting Wiltshire Council’s net zero ambitions.

Reform swept into county halls across England following the May local council elections with a promise to scrap net zero targets and initiatives.

Party leader Nigel Farage told the Local Democracy Reporting Service at a pre-election rally near Salisbury in April: “Saving the planet isn’t one of the priorities of local councils.”

Back in July, a motion by Reform councillors to overturn the council’s its 2019 climate crisis declaration failed.

The motion, put forward by the leader of the Reform group Ed Rimmer and colleague Chris Vaughan, was defeated by 45 votes to 23 with 19 abstentions.

At a meeting of full council on Tuesday, October 21 Reform councillors Mike Sankey (Calne North) and Boaz Barry (Westbury North) will propose a motion calling on the council to stop paying £230,000 extra a year for its electricity.

The motion says: “That this council requests that cabinet removes any green tariff with immediate effect to save the additional annual fees that we currently pay for the energy that we use.”

At a meeting on the cabinet in September Cllr Bridget Wayman, Conservative member for Nadder Valley, raised the issue of the council’s green energy tariff – an levy that the council pays on top of its electricity bill to support the generation of renewable energy.

The council can then claim the use of green energy against its emission targets.

“I know we patted ourselves on the back some years ago for having a green tariff, which ended up costing us more,” said Cllr Wayman.

“The cost of that electricity, as we all know, has rocketed since then. I do think we have to make some sensible decisions.”

Cabinet member for finance Gavin Grant (Liberal Democrat, Malmesbury) said: “I too was concerned to read that… and have asked for some further work to be done. We have to manage finances efficiently and effectively.”

But he later recommitted the council’s commitment to the tariff. “We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint while also ensuring we deliver value for money,” he said.”

The matter returned to the public gaze last week, when the council’s cabinet discussed the matter again, with the deputy leader of the Conservative group, Dominic Muns, asking: “”What do we get for our £230,000?”

“The overall cost is 3.85 per cent of the total cost of our electricity,” responded Cllr Paul Sample, cabinet member for environment, climate and waste.

And he admitted that without the tariff, the council would not hit its net zero target.

“”One of principal benefits is we can report council’s emissions as zero. If we didn’t pay the tariff, the reported emissions would more than double,” he said.