News and updates

Using FOI to understand local climate action

The big news is that the Council Climate Action Scorecards will be launching next week, providing an unprecedented analysis of what every council in the UK is doing to reach Net Zero.

Data-gathering, led by Climate Emergency UK, has been a meticulous and complex process. Some information could only be obtained by the use of Freedom of Information requests, an area where we were happy to lend a hand.

The results are noteworthy in themselves: they show how councils are doing on EPC ratings of their properties; as well as renewable energy, plans for retrofitting, green skills training, road expansion and more. The FOI requests are already open for your perusal, as we outline in this post.

Our services supercharge campaigns 

Our Democracy services WriteToThem and TheyWorkForYou aren't just there to empower individuals (although they do so very well) — they can also be put to good effect by campaigns.

This month we heard from two inspiring organisations who have put our services at the heart of their campaigning.

Urban areas need trees

We became aware of STRAW, down in Plymouth, when we noticed they'd sent an unusually high number of users to WriteToThem to contact their councillors. Turns out that people really care about trees.

Small scale renewable energy schemes

Power For People would like to see barriers removed for those setting up small scale energy schemes in their own neghbourhoods. TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem have helped them very succesfully bring MPs on board.

Fragmented data and the Future Is Local 

We've been making the case for more accessible and more unified data to inform the drive to Net Zero. Now we're pleased to say that our key fragmented data policy recommendations have been included in Local Mission Zero Network's new Future is Local report.

Our wider work around climate was recognised, too. Julia goes into all the details in this post.

Unified boundary data? Say no more

Talking of fragmented data, with new constituency boundaries set by four different organisations, and no single dataset containing them all, we thought it would be useful to rectify that situation.

Alex explains what we've put together, and how you can access it, here.

Clean-up in a tutu

We know, we know, it's serious.

Well, not that serious. It was, in fact, quite jolly to talk to the Kings Heath and Brandwood Litter Pickers.

We've never seen people have so much fun while cleaning the streets — clearly it helps if you team your high viz jacket with a tutu.

Keep up with our progress

We're keeping monthnotes not just in the Climate team generally, but also as we continue to develop our home energy project, Neighbourhood Warmth.

Ideal reading for those who like to follow along with our work, every step of the way.

TheyWorkForYou in the 19th century

OK, we're not quite that old, as you might have spotted from our 20th anniversary branding at the top of this newsletter.

But questions around how transparent Parliament should be, and how to bring that about, are nothing new, as Dr Kathryn Rix explored in her contribution to the Repowering Democracy series.

What we're reading (and visiting)

• The Institute for Government on putting citizens at the heart of the UK constitution.
• Do you like your stories about open supermarket pricing data in Austria raw, or processed? 
• It was a pleasant surprise to see our friend Arne from German FOI organisation Frag den Staat featuring on the BBC News site.
• Free training for anyone interested in designing and running citizens’ assemblies.
• Young designers - can you encourage people to vote? Cash prizes if you can!
• A couple of exhibitions that seem relevant to our interests: one on the future of email and another on how to build a low-carbon home.

Follow mySociety

Share this newsletter