Council Net Zero Madness

Although many voters know the UK is spending huge amounts on Net Zero, it’s not always obvious what this looks like in practice. Where exactly is all this money flowing out from?

Today’s article is about one rather generous channel: Innovate UK, “the UK’s innovation agency”. It is one of a number of ‘research councils’ that falls under the remit of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – a body that receives £8.9 billion per year from taxpayers.

As you can see below, Innovate UK was allocated £2,438 million for 2022-25:

With its large funds, Innovate UK has been dishing out tens of millions in grants to UK councils to help them achieve their Net Zero goals.

Without further ado, I’ve added a sample of some of the most expensive grants for Daily Sceptic readers to consider:

£4,964,210: Mission Net Zero Pathfinder Demonstrator
Bristol City Council (in conjunction with other councils in South West England)
March 2024 to November 2025

“Bristol people and businesses are very concerned about climate change,” reads the abstract of Bristol City Council’s grant. Its “Mission Net Zero Pathfinder Demonstrator” is designed to help businesses and communities reach “climate goals faster” and will (apparently) mean “people can achieve their climate goals, obtain investment in new ways and grow related businesses to benefit the whole community”.

£2,754,313: Peterborough Accelerated Net Zero (PANZ) Demonstrator
Peterborough City Council
March 2024 to November 2025

Peterborough says it “is embarking on an innovative approach to manage and reduce non-technical barriers that are hampering the ability to Net Zero initiatives at scale and speed.” This includes the creation of a “digital system that councils can use to design, manage and deliver net-zero projects“.

£2,565,883: Leicestershire CAN (Collaborate to Accelerate Net Zero) Demonstrator
Leicestershire County Council
March 2024 to November 2025

Leicester County Council claims its CAN Demonstrator “will create an environment for well-planned, deliverable, impactful place-based Net Zero interventions in Leicestershire, replicable to other LA areas”, and that “CAN-De… will create a self-sustaining model which is not reliant on future funding and can continue long after project completion.”

£2,522,874: Net Zero Terrace Streets
Rossendale Borough Council
March 2024 to August 2025

In 2023, Rossendale Borough Council received £72,069 from Innovate UK, to realise one “Net Zero Terraced Street”, and now it’s back with even more streets – taking the total of its “Net Zero Terraced Streets” project to £2,594,933. According to the council, its plan will address the following “**Problem**”:

The council also claims that the project “will support energy transition for left behind communities” and “reduce bills by over 80%”.

£2,424,157: Let zero: towards retrofit for cost-effective, healthier and Net Zero rented properties
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
March 2024 to September 2025

South Yorkshire says: “Let Zero is a project designed to help UK local authorities tackle the issue of poor housing conditions in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), including damp and mould and high carbon emissions.” It will use “AI-enabled” technology to help landlords upgrade their properties.

There are tens more Net Zero grants underway (to see a full list, click here), going towards very different things. For instance, Devon County Council (which Innovate UK awarded £299,745 to) recruited a “Net Zero Delivery and Innovation Officer” and Great Yarmouth Borough Council set about changing “citizen’s behaviour”:

To end, here’s a bar chart showing which councils have done best (currently) out of Innovate UK funding:

The bill for the above is £29,584,787(!)

And I’m afraid there’s more to go (as I have not covered past grants yet…)

Charlotte Gill regularly publishes about the use of taxpayers’ money to fund Left-wing causes and Left-wing researchers in Woke Waste, her Substack. You can subscribe here.