Lobbying for climate action & funding
Climate Emergency UK made this Freedom of Information request to West Sussex County Council as part of a batch sent to 23 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear West Sussex County Council,
Please treat this as a Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations request.
I would like information about your council’s lobbying work in relation to climate action for the Council Climate Action Scorecards.
In particular, please supply me with information relating to the following question:
Has the council written to or met with UK national or devolved governments to ask or lobby for climate action since 1st January 2019? Please provide some evidence of the most recent letter or meeting such as a copy of the letter or email sent, or the date, topic of meeting and position of the person that the meeting was held with.
This includes either asking for more powers and funding for local authorities to take climate action, or asking for the government to take further action themselves. This includes working with other local authorities to send joint letters or meetings to lobby UK or devolved governments, and includes both general climate action and calls for action on specific issues such as transport where climate change is mentioned as a motivating factor for taking action.
This includes if a cabinet member or other councillor has written to or met with the UK or devolved governments on behalf of the council.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Yours faithfully,
Hannah Jewell, Climate Emergency UK
Dear Climate Emergency UK
Thank you for your request which has been assigned reference FOI/4709
Freedom of Information request - Lobbying for climate action & funding
If you have submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), we aim to
respond within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, i.e. by or on
13/02/2023.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this request, please
reply to this email leaving the subject line unchanged.
Yours sincerely,
West Sussex County Council
Did you make your request via our online form at
[1]https://foi.infreemation.co.uk/westsusse... not, why not use it
in future for a simple and convenient way to make FOI requests.
References
Visible links
1. https://foi.infreemation.co.uk/westsusse...
Dear Climate Emergency UK,
Our Ref: FOI/00004709
On 16/01/2023 you made the following request for information, which has
been dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
FOI Re: Lobbying for climate action & funding
We have now completed a search for the information which you requested and
confirm that this authority holds data relevant to your request.
The response to your request is as follows:
Has the council written to or met with UK national or devolved governments
to ask or lobby for climate action since 1st January 2019?
Yes.
In October 2022, Paul Marshall, Leader of the County Council responded to
the government's independent Review of Net Zero Call for Evidence. The
County Council's response is available here - [1]WSCC Response to Call for
Evidence: Net Zero Review (moderngov.co.uk)
In October 2021, Deborah Urquhart, Deputy Leader of the County Council and
Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change wrote to the Rt Hon Alok
Sharma MP, then President of COP 26, urging for clearer expectations on
how central and local government can work together to deliver net zero.
Cllr Urquhart also called for the government to provide long-term, local
funding to support green choices - enabling West Sussex to do everything
it can to get to zero emissions. The County Council published a news
article on this topic which can be accessed here - [2]Net zero plans for
the county - West Sussex County Council
The County Council lobbies government via the Local Government Association
(LGA), County Councils Network (CCN), Transport for the South East, and
South East 7 (SE7). The Leader of the County Council is also a member of
the [3]LGA Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board.
Information you receive which is not subject to WSCC continues to be
protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the
information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission
before reproducing any third party (non WSCC) information.
If you have any queries about any of this information please contact me
by responding to this email. Please do not amend the subject line.
If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may
wish to ask for a review of our decision by responding to this email.
Please do not amend the subject line.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally,
the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our internal
review procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
[4]www.ico.org.uk; or
The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Yours sincerely,
David Edwards
Information Liaison Officer - Energy & Sustainability
References
Visible links
1. https://westsussex.moderngov.co.uk/docum...
2. https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/news/net-z...
3. https://lga.moderngov.co.uk/mgCommitteeD...
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now