South Tyneside’s Reform UK-led council has voted to scrap the borough’s climate emergency declaration, despite fierce opposition from rival councillors and environmental campaigners. Reform councillors backed a motion at last Thursday’s full council meeting to rescind the 2019 pledge, arguing the authority could continue improving the local environment without maintaining a formal climate emergency declaration.
The motion, brought by cabinet member Cllr Steve Smith, said “core services, economic growth and the cost of living should take priority over climate targets that are not statutory requirements.”
Opposition councillors warned the move would weaken the council’s response to climate change and questioned whether it would deliver any financial benefit.
The motion was passed by 35 votes to 11.
The original motion, launched by the Green Party, set out deadlines for the council to become carbon neutral, aligning strategic decisions, policies and strategies to this goal, as well as advocating for carbon reduction across the borough.
But Cllr Smith argued the council could “continue to improve the local environment without maintaining a climate emergency declaration”.
He added that spending decisions should be based on “affordability, value for money and clear benefits for South Tyneside residents”.
His motion asked the council to “rescind” the previous climate emergency pledge and to request council officers “review any policies, targets and spending commitments” introduced as a result of the declaration.
It also asked the council to “reaffirm its commitment to clean streets, parks, recycling, flood protection and other local environmental services that matter to residents” and to ensure future environmental initiatives are only pursued where they are “affordable, evidence-based and delivering clear benefits for South Tyneside residents”.
Concerns about rescinding the climate emergency declaration
Councillor Rachael Taylor, Green Group leader, raised concerns that the Reform UK motion “created a false choice between climate action and delivering good local services”, adding the council already “considers affordability, value for money and evidence before spending public money”.
She added there was no evidence that rescinding the climate emergency declaration would save money or improve services, adding the Reform UK motion would “weaken South Tyneside’s leadership on issues that remain critically important.”
Councillor Kate Owens-Palmer, of the South Tyneside Alliance Group, said she was “perplexed” that the motion stated Reform UK wanted to rescind the climate emergency declaration, while at the same time, pledging to “do all the things that are going to protect nature and look after the climate”.
Green Party councillor Matt Blair added that “rescinding a framework before assessing the consequences is not evidence-led government”, but “policy-making backwards.”
Closing the debate, Cllr Smith said the council wanted to improve cross-party working and noted issues in the motion were a “very emotive topic” and that “everybody has an opinion”.
He added: “The councillors in this chamber have been given notice of this motion and have listened over a number of years, I have no doubt, to various arguments on each side, and all the narratives that have come over the last five years.
“So in response to all the councillors that we have heard, I would say that let’s just allow the democratic process to take place and just trust that the councillors have their own minds and their own views on this.”
The council meeting followed a demonstration of environmental campaigners outside South Shields Town Hall raising concerns about the Reform UK motion.
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