Derbyshire in full reverse on climate change

Unlike other local authorities, when Derbyshire County Council was under Conservative control it did not formally declare a climate emergency. Instead, in May 2019, the council issued an alternative Climate Change and Carbon Reduction Manifesto, setting out 14 pledges to tackle climate change.

A shift in council power and policy

The manifesto accepted the scientific evidence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that “ … the primary driver of long-term global warming is carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions and that global temperatures relate to increased cumulative CO² emissions from human activity, primarily from energy use”.

In producing the manifesto and the associated implementation strategy the council recognised that Derbyshire was already suffering the consequences of man-made climate change:

“Derbyshire is no stranger to the effects of climate change. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent with harsh winters and extreme rainfall causing severe flooding in recent years which has led to much destruction and tragically even death.”

By November 2019 they had “ … reduced carbon emissions from the Council’s estate and operations by 48% from 2010 levels”, installed 39 fast and 11 rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging points in public areas across the county, and five at council premises. So good progress was being made.

Control of Derbyshire County Council has regularly swung between Labour and Conservative but on 1 May 2025 that all changed when Reform UK Ltd won 42 of the 64 seats, with Conservatives winning 12, Labour 3, Liberal Democrats 3, Green 2 and Independent 2.

Alan Graves, who was elected leader of the new Reform administration, is not new to politics. He was elected to Derby City Council as a Labour councillor in 1995 but left the party in 2008. Since then, he has been a member of UKIP, the Brexit Party and now Reform. In 2023 he became Reform’s first mayor when he was elected as the mayor of Derby.

Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, described Derby as the party’s “spiritual heartland”.

Climate Change Committee dissolution brings protests

One of the first actions taken by the new regime was to dissolve the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction Committee (Climate Change Committee), just one week after taking control.

The Climate Change Committee was created in 2021 under a Conservative administration with the purpose of monitoring the council’s and the wider county’s progress and strategies regarding climate change, biodiversity and carbon reduction.

Reform’s new leader of the council, Alan Graves, said: “Net zero is not a priority for us, in fact it is the opposite of a priority for us … As a country we are very efficient at cutting carbon, why do we need to burden the people out there with more?” On dissolving the committee, he said: “We don’t believe it [the committee] is of any value. We’re about saving the council money where we don’t need to spend it.” He did not give a figure for how much the dissolution of the committee would save but acknowledged it would be small.

The contentious decision to remove the council’s Climate Change Committee led to protests outside County Hall in Matlock.

But Graves is unapologetic: “We are not in favour of the net zero agenda. It costs the country unnecessary money and impacts peoples lives… The council before us focused on the climate change agenda – we don’t want to do that.”

In October 2025 Derbyshire residents held a well-attended demonstration outside the council’s County Hall offices before a Full Council meeting where the council was voting to oppose solar farms and battery energy storage systems on greenfield sites.

Protester, Dr Sarah Hobday, a retired consultant paediatrician, said: “Of course we should prioritise solar panels on rooftops and brownfield sites first, that’s common sense. But well-managed solar parks can also deliver for struggling farmers. They bring steady revenue, offer opportunities for wildflower meadows and pollinator habitat, permit mixed grazing under panels, and improve biodiversity.”

Restructuring the climate change model, opposing solar and renewables

In their Place Service Plan 2025-29, Reform made a fundamental change to how they propose to address climate change. The ‘Climate Change new delivery model’ proposal declares that, rather than have the Climate Change Committee dedicated to addressing climate change issues, it would be up to individual services to include these.

In doing so the council has effectively watered down their focus on climate change by shifting away from dedicated climate change staffing and budgets toward a distributed model across other services.

The funding implications of this change are not clear.

In the October 2025 Full Council meeting the vote to oppose the development of solar farms and battery energy storage systems (BESS) on agricultural land across the entire county was successful. Such schemes were an integral part of the previous administration’s commitment to achieving their net zero commitments.

The motion, proposed by Council Leader Graves, targeted schemes on agricultural land, arguing that farmland should be protected for food security and the countryside safeguarded from what was described as industrialisation.

Specifically, the motion opposed several proposals in South Derbyshire, including the Oaklands Farm Solar Park and a number of battery energy storage systems.

This is pure tokenism because Derbyshire County Council does not have direct planning authority for most major energy schemes (which fall to district/borough councils or central government).

Councillor Graves said: “Whilst we do not have the planning authority for these applications, we hope today’s motion sends a strong message to local district councils, MPs and the Government.”

Neighbours refuse to adopt county council stance

There are eight borough and district councils in Derbyshire and seven of them still have extant Climate Change Emergency declarations and all are committed to net zero by 2030 (2050 for Bolsover and Erewash).

Derbyshire local councils and Climate Change Emergency declarations:

Questions over EV and sustainable travel funding

While under Conservative control, Derbyshire County Council secured £6.6mn from the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. This was part of a broader Midlands EV Infrastructure Consortium receiving £40.8mn to install over 16,000 EV charge points across the region.

However, in the 2025-26 budget, Reform implemented savings in sustainable travel programmes by using “external grant money instead of county council core funds to pay for up to 2 existing members of staff”, saving £88,000.

Reform has not made a separate or distinct announcement about their specific plans for the £6.6mn LEVI funding since taking control in May 2025. It remains part of the wider Midlands consortium which is led by Nottinghamshire County Council and includes Derby City Council, Nottingham City Council and Staffordshire County Council. Voters in Derbyshire will be watching with interest what happens to the £6.6mn.

Derbyshire pays the price for climate policy reversal

The science is clear – man-made climate change is real, it’s getting worse, and Derbyshire is already seeing the consequences. This was recognised by the previous Conservative-led administration who implemented clear, practical actions to mitigate climate change impacts and reduce carbon emissions in the county.

Electing a Reform UK Ltd administration has not changed the science or our lived experience of climate change – it’s still real, it’s still impacting the people of Derbyshire and it’s still getting worse. In recent years Derbyshire has seen extreme weather such as Storm Babet when 1,600 properties in Derbyshire were flooded, 550 properties being evacuated because of a potential dam burst in Whaley Bridge, and in the High Peak tree falls, flooding and road closures due to Storm Ciara.

The next time homes are flooded, crops fail or storms destroy properties, remember that for the Reform-led council “Net zero is not a priority … in fact, it is the opposite of a priority for us …”

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