Lancashire County Council

Climate · drafted 2026-07-01 · accepted · 9 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

4 Sep 2025No reversal, removal, pause or critical review of low-traffic neighbourhoods, 20mph limits or active-travel schemes appears in Lancashire County Council's published 2025-26 minutes; to the contrary, the Reform-led Cabinet on 4 September 2025 approved the Accessible Nelson Area 1-4 Traffic Regulation Orders, delivering active-travel infrastructure (segregated cycle tracks, a bus clearway and controlled pedestrian crossings along Scotland Road, Nelson) to improve Active Travel facilities. Lancashire therefore does not count toward the rollback figure for this question. [1][2]

4 Sep 2025Lancashire County Council's own development-plan role is limited to minerals and waste (the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan); the general-purpose Local Plans that set housing development-management policy for new homes -- including any net-zero or energy-efficiency standards -- are made by Lancashire's district councils (e.g. Wyre, Chorley), not by the county. Published county-level minutes show no decision by Lancashire CC to drop, dilute or decline net-zero/energy-efficiency housing standards in a Local Plan; the one district Local Plan referenced in county minutes (the draft Central Lancashire Local Plan 2023-2041, under examination) is discussed only in relation to housing numbers and school-place forecasting, not energy standards. [3][4]

16 Oct 2025At Full Council on 16 October 2025, Lancashire County Council (Reform UK-led) carried Notice of Motion 3, moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton and seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh, resolving to ask Cabinet to cease production and publication of the council's voluntary Annual Emissions Report and related greenhouse gas inventories (except where required by national law), and instructing the Chief Executive to work toward rescinding remaining non-statutory Net Zero goals. A pro-climate amendment moved by County Councillors David Whipp and David Howarth was put to the vote and lost; the substantive motion was then put to the vote and carried. [5][6][7]

20 Nov 2025Lancashire County Council's only substantive 'wind'-related motion in the corpus for this period objects to the onshore CABLING ROUTE for the Morgan and Morecambe OFFSHORE Windfarm, not to onshore wind turbines or wind farms themselves; the amended motion, moved by County Councillor Peter Buckley and seconded by County Councillor John Singleton (amended per Cllr Joshua Roberts, accepted by Buckley), was carried at Full Council on 20 November 2025, asking the Secretary of State to review the cable route while stating the council's willingness to keep working with the developer -- this does not amount to opposing, refusing or restricting onshore wind generation and does not count toward the wind-restriction figure. [8][9][10][11]

27 Nov 2025Lancashire County Council delivered its statutory Local Nature Recovery Strategy on time rather than delaying or scaling it back: at its Cabinet meeting on 27 November 2025 the Cabinet considered a report providing the final Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy for approval, and resolved that the final strategy be approved and authorised its publication in accordance with the Environment (Local Nature Recovery Strategies) (Procedure) Regulations 2023, the council having been appointed by the Secretary of State as the responsible authority under the Environment Act 2021. [12][13]

17 Feb 2026In February 2026 the Lancashire Combined County Authority approved its draft Bus Service Improvement Plan and Enhanced Partnership Plan/Scheme for publication following stakeholder consultation, authorising officers to finalise and publish them; no minutes, budget papers or committee reports found any evidence of the BSIP, zero-emission bus commitments or bus franchising/enhanced partnership arrangements being cut, deprioritised or scaled back. [14]

19 Mar 2026Lancashire County Council's Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee received a report and presentation on 19 March 2026 confirming the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) programme is proceeding, with capital funding allocated to chargepoint delivery for residents without off-street parking; the committee resolved to ask the Cabinet Member to consider adding a cable-tray prompt to the highways inspection process, and no pause, cancellation or hand-back of the LEVI grant was recorded. [15][16][17]

Lancashire County Council carried Notice of Motion 3 (moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton, seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh) directing the Cabinet to review all previous non-statutory Net Zero commitments, cease voluntary carbon reporting, draft all future strategies without non-statutory Net Zero commitments, and act to rescind any remaining Net Zero goals should national legislation permit. An amendment affirming man-made climate change was LOST and the substantive Motion was CARRIED, materially downgrading the council's non-statutory net-zero commitments. [18][19][20]

At Full Council on 16 October 2025 (item 17, Notice of Motion 3), Lancashire County Council -- the LGPS administering authority for the Lancashire County Pension Fund -- resolved, on a motion moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton and seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh, to ask the Pension Fund Committee to review all ESG requirements and Net Zero targets of the Fund so that Net Zero commitments do not go beyond statutory requirements and impinge on fiduciary duty to pensioners, alongside directing the Cabinet/Chief Executive to strip non-statutory Net Zero commitments from council policy and cease voluntary carbon reporting. An amendment by County Councillors David Whipp and David Howarth that would have prefaced the same resolve with an acknowledgement of man-made climate change was LOST, and the substantive motion (without that preamble) was CARRIED. [21][22][23]

References (23)
  1. Minutes, 4 September 2025 “approve clearways, cycle tracks and introduce formal pedestrian crossings as part of the Accessible Nelson project, with the aim of improving Active Travel facilities in the local area”
  2. Minutes, 4 September 2025 “The removal of footway and construction of a shared use uni-directional segregated cycle track, Scotland Road, Nelson, Pendle Borough”
  3. Document “Policy DM2 of the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and Policy CDMP6 of the Wyre Local Plan”
  4. Minutes, 4 September 2025 “The draft Central Lancashire Local Plan 2023-2041, which is presently under examination for publication, is proposing up to”
  5. Minutes, 16 October 2025 “Notice of Motion 3 It was moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton and seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh that: Council resolves to”
  6. Minutes, 16 October 2025 “Cease the production and publication of voluntary carbon reporting, including the council’s Annual Emissions Report and related greenhouse gas inventories, except where required by national law.”
  7. Minutes, 16 October 2025 “On being put to the vote, the Amendment was LOST. The substantive Motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED.”
  8. Minutes, 20 November 2025 “It was moved by County Councillor Peter Buckley and seconded by County Councillor John Singleton that:”
  9. Minutes, 20 November 2025 “The proposed onshore cabling route for the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Windfarm through Lancashire will cause major disruption and harm to residents, businesses, tourism, farmland and the environment.”
  10. Minutes “the substantive Motion was put to the vote and was CARRIED.”
  11. Minutes “setting out our willingness to work with them and the developer to deliver the urgent action needed to avoid the adverse impacts and realise the opportunities that proper assessment of the alternative options could deliver”
  12. Minutes, 27 November 2025 “the requirement to prepare a Local Nature Recovery Strategy was introduced by the Environment Act 2021, in order to drive nature's recovery and provide wider environmental improvements”
  13. Minutes, 27 November 2025 “The final Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy, as set out at Appendix 'A' of the report, be approved”
  14. Minutes, 17 February 2026 “The draft Bus Service Improvement Plan at Appendix 'A' of the report, be approved”
  15. Minutes, 19 March 2026 “the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) programme to increase provision of public charging points”
  16. Minutes, 19 March 2026 “Capital funding to support chargepoint delivery.”
  17. Document “Resolved: That, the Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, Environment and Communities be asked to consider as part of the highways inspection process to include a prompt to assess whether a joint cable tray would be a constructive option for any applicant and their neighbour.”
  18. Document “It was moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton and seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh that: Council resolves to Ask the Cabinet to:”
  19. Document “Ensure that all future council strategies and policies are drafted without non-statutory Net Zero commitments that impact on the delivery of efficient and value for money services.”
  20. Document “On being put to the vote, the Amendment was LOST. The substantive Motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED.”
  21. Document “It was moved by County Councillor Martyn Sutton and seconded by County Councillor Russell Walsh”
  22. Minutes “Ask the Pension Fund Committee to review all Environmental, Social and Governance requirements and Net Zero targets of the LCC Pension Fund to ensure that Net Zero commitments do not go beyond statutory requirements and impact on the Fund's fiduciary responsibility to current and future pensioners.”
  23. Document “On being put to the vote, the Amendment was LOST. The substantive Motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED.”