Climate Emergency UK has published its new Climate Action Scorecards, enabling comparison with the 2023 results to see whether councils are making progress. The results show Winchester as the UK’s best performing District Council and Rother as among the most improved, while West Sussex is singled out among the most improved county councils. This blog, by Thalia Griffiths and Geoff Barnard, looks at how councils in the SECA area performed.
Climate Emergency UK (CEUK) published its new Climate Action Scorecards on 17 June, updating its 2023 survey with new data and some tweaks to the methodology. The Scorecards aim to offer councils the chance to compare their performance with similar authorities and learn from examples of best practice. For the first time, comparison with 2023 allows us to see whether councils in the SECA area are making progress on climate targets.
The CEUK climate action scorecards can be found here. CEUK has a Campaigners’ Guide to using the Scorecards here. And you can read more background on CEUK and how they devised the Scorecards in this SECA blog from 2023 here.
Want to know more? CEUK can hold a tailored briefing for your group if you can muster at least 20 people to discuss their local Scorecards results. Get in touch at: declare@climateemergency.uk.
And if you’re able to support their valuable work, they have launched a match-funded Crowdfunder. You can donate here.
What are the Scorecards?
CEUK has taken on the mammoth task of assessing all UK councils on their actions towards net zero. The 2025 Action Scorecard assessment consists of up to 93 questions, depending on council type, across seven different sections, created in consultation with over 90 different organisations and individuals. Each council was marked against these criteria and given a right to reply before the scores underwent a final audit. This work was completed between July 2024 and March 2025.
The data supplied by the Scorecards support greater transparency between local government and residents, as well as providing the evidence to support the campaign for a statutory duty on climate action. Most of the highest scorers are in London, where the Greater London Assembly already has a statutory duty on climate action, and it’s notable that while Scotland and Wales already have this requirement in some form, the 19 councils that scored under 20% overall are all English or Northern Irish.
The Scorecards highlight what’s going well and where there’s room for improvement, potentially enabling campaigners and councillors to have a more nuanced conversation on the way forward. CEUK stress: “Our aim in carrying out the scorecards project is to share useful data to help councils unlock greater action on climate. We aren’t looking to shame any individual council or councillor.”
Inevitably there are some drawbacks with the methodology, for instance results depend on published data and might not reflect everything the council is doing, while some innovative initiatives don’t get picked up because they don’t fall within the standard categories. Councils will no doubt question some of the results and users need to take them as conversation starters not precise judgements. CEUK make it clear that the Scorecards are meant to be a positive prompt for discussion and review, rather than an absolute measure or a league table.
While the averages cover widely differing performances and councils may score well in some areas and badly in others, the figures show that average scores have risen by just six percentage points since 2023, with 20 more councils scoring over 80% in some sections, and 33 fewer councils scoring 20% or less. This slow progress suggests many councils will struggle to meet the Net Zero targets they set themselves when they first declared a climate emergency.
Results in the South East
There is some good news. CEUK listed West Sussex County Council and Rother District Council among the most improved authorities – although while West Sussex’s score rose by 16 points over 2023, at 33% it is still below the national average of 39%. Rother rose by 30 points to 49%, vs a national average of 35%. Nationally, CEUK said 62 councils managed a total score over 50% this time, 21 more than in 2023, while 56 scored over 80%.
Total Score
- Amongst district councils, the best performer in the whole of the UK was Winchester District Council with a total score of 68%. Winchester scored very high marks for Buildings & Heating and Planning & Land Use but was below the UK average for Waste Reduction & Food, underscoring how total scores can encompass widely varying performances. Within the SECA area Wealden came next with 54%, then Horsham and Mid Sussex, both with 51%.
- Overall, the lowest district council scores in our area were Adur at 22%, and Spelthorne and Sevenoaks at 23%.
- Amongst Single Tier councils in the region, Brighton and Hove scored highest at 54%, against an average for Single Tier authorities of 40%, and well ahead of Portsmouth at 32%. The Isle of Wight increased its total score by 20 points to 41%.
- At County Council level, the best performer was Surrey, with 40% against a national average of 39%, followed by East Sussex with 38%, Hampshire with 34%, West Sussex with 33% and Kent with 31%.
Buildings & Heating
- This category is where councils can have some of the biggest impacts on area-wide greenhouse gas emissions, so it has a high weighting in the total scores.
- Amongst County Councils, Surrey scored very highly with 96%, with full marks for its retrofitting programmes for homes and council buildings, and for supporting local community renewable energy, and allowing residents to purchase renewable energy cheaply through collective buying.
- Amongst District Councils the average score was 48%, with many councils showing significant increases over 2023. Winchester scored very highly at 82%, as did Horsham at 70% and Maidstone at 68%.
- Amongst Single Tier councils, Brighton and Hove scored highest at 87%.
Transport
- Disappointingly, all the County Councils in the SECA area scored below the (already low) national average of 20% for encouraging sustainable transport. They each incurred a penalty for approving new road schemes.
- At District Council level, where the average was just 15%, Guildford scored 56% (marked down on its air pollution but up on its shared transport schemes), and Eastbourne scored 40%. Gosport scored -10%, with negative marks for air pollution and no marks for sustainable transport.
- Amongst Single Tier councils, Brighton stood out with 36% against a national average of 26%. Medway scored 0%.
Planning & Land Use
- This set of questions looked at areas such as Net Zero targets, energy and water efficiency criteria for new developments, and renewable energy plans.
- Overall scores for Planning and Land Use remain low, with a nationwide county average of -26%. Surrey and West Sussex scored -147%, thanks to approvals for oil drilling projects since 2020. Hampshire, Kent and East Sussex scored 0%.
- The picture is more positive at district level, where Winchester scored 90% (thanks to its Net Zero targets and renewables approvals), and Mid Sussex scored 72%, against an average of 28%.
- Of the Single Tier councils, Wokingham scored 87% and the Isle of Wight 78%, against an average of 43%.
Governance & Finance
- This section asked whether Net Zero targets are included in the council’s corporate and financial plans, about procurement policies, and about GHG emissions reporting. It also asked what proportion of council staff work on climate issues, and how many staff and councillors have had climate awareness training.
- Other questions cover pensions divestment, and whether the council has launched a Climate Bond, Community Municipal Investment or equivalent to raise income for climate action.
- Of the county councils in the SECA area, Surrey scored 41% against an average of 38%, with the others scoring below average.
- At district level, Rother improved its score by 28 points over 2023 to score a high 68%, vs an average of 31%. Encouragingly, several of 2023’s weaker performers significantly improved, with Havant up 29 to 40% and Canterbury up 25 to 32%.
- Again, Brighton & Hove led the Single Tier authorities, increasing its score by nine points to 45%, against an average of 34%.
Biodiversity
- These questions looked at biodiversity net gain commitments in new developments, as well as use of pesticides and peat-free compost, less frequent mowing, dimming streetlights at night, and Green Flag status for parks.
- At County level, Hampshire led the pack with 50%, ahead of the 43% average thanks to Green Flag status for its parks, and its dedicated Climate Change and Environmental Strategy team, followed by West Sussex on 45%, and Surrey, East Sussex and Kent, all on 40%.
- Of the district councils, a heartening number in the SECA area well outpaced the national average of just 28%, with Maidstone and Worthing significantly improving their scores to reach 73%. They were followed by Horsham with 68%, and Mole Valley and Surrey Heath with 64%.
- But some councils scored especially badly on this section despite some of the measures, like mowing less or turning off streetlights, being a potential cost saving. Swale scored 5%, and Hastings and Eastbourne each scored 9%.
- Among Single Tier authorities, the Isle of Wight matched the 32% national average, followed by Brighton & Hove, Medway and Southampton, all on 29%.
Collaboration & Engagement
- Questions in this section looked at whether councils have published climate action plans, how accessible they are, whether residents are consulted on climate plans, and whether the council is working in collaboration with local schools, businesses and health and cultural organisations on relevant actions.
- Hampshire came out as a top communicator, scoring 77% against a national average of 63%, followed by Surrey with 69% and East Sussex with 68%.
- Hampshire’s district councils also did well, with Basingstoke and Deane hitting 78%, compared to the 46% average, followed by East Hampshire with 76% and Winchester with 74%. Sevenoaks, Folkestone and Woking show particularly sharp falls in this section.
- Of the Single Tier authorities, Brighton & Hove and Medway are high scorers, although both show a significant fall over 2023.
Waste Reduction & Food
- Surrey and East Sussex both significantly improved their scores in this section, scoring 69% and 58% respectively against a national average of 43%. Surrey won points for its sustainable food strategy and efforts to reduce the amount of meat in school meals. Hampshire scored just 17%.
- At district level, Lewes scored 67% against a national average of 29% but it was something of an outlier. Sevenoaks scored 0%, while Adur, Crawley, Havant, Worthing, East Hants, and Basingstoke and Deane all scored just 8%.
Sharing your comments and reactions
SECA would be very interested to get your reactions to the scores in your area. Do they reflect your experience of your council or were they a surprise? Please send your comments and observations to: southeastclimatealliance@gmail.com