London Councils praised for work in tackling climate change
'Climate emergency'
Champion added: "We know that people in Islington care deeply about the environment, so we are working hard to empower local people and businesses to take steps to help lower carbon and make Islington greener and healthier."She said Islington was one of six London boroughs "most susceptible" to climate change, and as such, there was a "large potential impact" for residents. Following Islington's declaration of a climate emergency in 2019, the local authority said it had set "ambitious targets" to tackle climate change.Climate Emergency UK's assessment of the council was carried out between July 2024 and March 2025.
Top 10 local authorities in the Climate Scorecard:Islington CouncilHammersmith and Fulham CouncilMerton CouncilSouthwark CouncilWandsworth CouncilCamden CouncilLambeth CouncilBristol City CouncilLewisham CouncilCity of Edinburgh CouncilSource: Climate Emergency UK
Reacting to the rankings, Isaac Beevor, partnerships director of Climate Emergency UK, said the organisation was "pleased to see councils using scorecards to improve".However, he called on the government to make climate action a fully-funded legal duty.Climate Emergency UK said that overall, UK councils' net zero progress had been "slow"."The 2025 highest scores are mostly seen in London council where the [GLA] already has a legal duty to act on climate action," it added.
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The Guardian
a minute ago
- The Guardian
Malcolm Dean obituary
Malcolm Dean's desk at the Guardian's offices in Farringdon Road, central London, was probably the greatest fire risk in the building. In a pre-internet age, when reports and press releases arrived in paper form, he kept mountainous stacks of material within easy reach, and somehow knew how to access what he wanted without causing an avalanche. Malcolm, who has died aged 86, was the Guardian's social policy leader writer from 1972 until he retired in 2006. He needed all that information at his fingertips to maintain his understanding of policy and practice across a wide range of ministerial portfolios. On any day he might be required to write about health, education, social security, race relations, criminal justice, equal opportunities and much more besides. I knew about his method because for many years my desk was next to his. He did not work in an ivory tower. He attended press conferences and read the reports, but he also used his colleagues as additional eyes and ears, interviewing us to build a rounded picture. The subject matter that he mastered might sometimes be dry, but he was invariably cheerful. His honesty, integrity and optimism worked as an inspiring antidote in a sometimes cynical world. The knowledge and contacts that he developed writing leaders formed the basis for a more publicly visible role from 1979 when he became editor of Society, a newly established section of the paper that appeared on Wednesdays. He ran it for 21 years, writing himself and commissioning articles across the social policy field from practitioners as well as journalists. It became required reading for everyone in leadership roles in the public sector and he took pride in the number of new campaigning organisations that the section helped to spawn. The section was a magnet for classified advertising of job vacancies from across the sector and it became a huge commercial success. Routinely it exceeded 100 pages and eventually at its peak it occasionally topped 200, dwarfing the paper itself. Unusually for a journalist, Malcolm also had a foot in the boardroom. For seven years from 1994 he sat on the Scott Trust, the body that owned the Guardian and appointed its editor. Given Malcolm's ability to express himself with force and often at high volume, it is unlikely that other members remained unaware of his opinions. On the paper his views were heard but not always heeded. Malcolm was a words man. He frequently bemoaned editors' decisions to give more space to pictures. For his taste there was too much reporting of showbiz and too little policy. His only half-joking slogan became: 'Dare to be dull!' Unsurprisingly, editors chose a different course. Malcolm was born in Wilmslow, Cheshire. His father, Noel, was the village baker in nearby Alderley Edge. His mother Sarah (nee Black), known as Biddy, came from a farming family in Northern Ireland, but was brought up in Cheshire after the death of both parents. After passing the 11-plus exam, Malcolm went to King's school, Macclesfield. At a careers conference there he met Edward Taylor Scott, the editor of what was then the Manchester Guardian, who lived in Wilmslow in an avenue where Malcolm delivered bread. He followed the great man's advice to join a local paper in the Kemsley Group, because it ran a good training scheme. After four years on the County Express, the Wilmslow weekly, he heard that the Kemsley chain had been taken over by Roy Thomson, Canada's biggest newspaper proprietor. He wrote to Thomson suggesting exchanges between his Canadian and British papers. Within a month Malcolm was on a steamship bound for Canada, where he was sent to report in a remote gold mining town in the frozen north. His multiple adventures in the US and Caribbean included time playing for the Trinidad and Tobago international rugby team. He returned to the UK after a spell working his way around Australia and south-east Asia. After two years studying politics and economics at Ruskin College, Oxford, he went to the US on a Harkness fellowship, and his time there included working as a speechwriter in Congress. He never took a degree because he thought he did not need one, and started at the Guardian in 1969. In professional terms it became the love of his life. He worked as a general reporter for three years before finding his niche among the leader writers. Although the Guardian was the central feature of his career, he branched out several times into politics. In 1978-79, during the final year of the Callaghan government, he was special adviser to David Ennals, Labour's social services secretary. Later, even more actively, he stood for the SDP/Liberal Alliance in parliamentary elections in 1983 and 1987. He nursed the Bath constituency and in the latter election came close to unseating Chris Patten, its Conservative MP, achieving one of the 10 biggest swings to the Alliance in a year when its leaders, David Owen and David Steel, were struggling to connect. Malcolm's election agents during this period recalled his great political skill in uniting his constituency party, where Liberals were initially disgruntled about having an SDP candidate imposed. He was not the most brilliant public speaker, but he effectively undermined Patten's position as a moderate Conservative by hammering away at his Commons voting record in support of Thatcherite policies. Members of the local party, who started by fearing they had a policy egghead imposed on them, found him a clever and determined campaigner – buoyant, energetic and popular with the volunteers. After losing in 1987 he decided not to run again. His family say he believed that he could have won the next time, but that he would have more influence as a Guardian leader writer than as a backbench MP. He loved the Bath constituency but did not enjoy bickering in the party at national level. After retiring from the Guardian, he took up a two-year fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford (2006-08), where he wrote a book, Democracy Under Attack: How the Media Distort Policy and Politics (2011). He continued as a Guardian contributor and served on several national social policy working parties. He chaired a Joseph Rowntree Foundation commission on older people and was a founding trustee of the Young Foundation thinktank. Retirement also gave him more time for his passion for walking. Among many expeditions, he did the Wainwright Walk three times, hiking from coast to coast across northern England. People usually start in the west, at St Bees in Cumbria, and head eastwards to Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire. For the second and third traverse Malcolm insisted on doing it from east to west. He said that way he would get to meet and talk to more people as they came towards him in the opposite direction. After a short marriage to Lesley Pirie, a Russia expert, he married Clare Roskill, a social work specialist, in 1978. Clare went on to work for the government on social policy. In 2019, Malcolm was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and five years later, after the disease became overpowering, he moved into a care home. He is survived by Clare, their sons, Tim and Ben, and Sophie, the daughter of his first marriage. James Malcolm Dean, journalist, born 11 June 1939; died 17 July 2025
BBC News
32 minutes ago
- BBC News
Recycling fire at Hurn depot prompts warning to shut windows
Residents near a recycling depot have been told to keep windows and doors shut after rubbish ignited in a building.A "large quantity" of material is burning at the Hurn recycling transfer station in Chapel Lane, Christchurch, from six stations have been tackling the blaze which broke out shortly before 11:30 and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said firefighters were working with site staff and council representatives to contain the fire and prevent it spreading. In an update at 15:15 BST, a fire service spokesperson said: "The incident is still ongoing with a large number of resources still on the scene."Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said: "If you're in the local area, please keep windows and doors closed to stay safe." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
32 minutes ago
- BBC News
Tech glitch leaves some disabled people unable to pay for care
Some disabled people have been left unable to pay for their care because of a glitch in a funding system used by councils across the technical issues mean some carers and personal assistants have not been paid for more than a woman who uses a wheelchair said it had left "vulnerable people and essential workers in limbo".The company that runs the system, Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), apologised and said it was working to "rectify the situation as quickly as possible". Many local authorities provide funds for people who qualify for support by issuing pre-paid cards, which the recipient can use to pay for disabled people use the money to hire care workers or personal assistants, which means they become employers.A Local Government Association (LGA) spokesperson said local councils are working hard to provide alternative payment added that councils are working to ensure continuity of care," especially for those with the highest levels of need". Anne Pridmore, who runs a network for disabled people called Being the Boss, employs five personal assistants for round-the-clock care at her home in care costs £11,000 a month and is funded by Leicester City Council through a pre-paid told the BBC she was worried about the consequences of not being able access the funds, since she could not otherwise afford it."If they don't get paid, my employees could take me to court," she said. "I am their employer so the buck stops with me."Ms Pridmore said she had been left frustrated and angry."This service blackout is leaving vulnerable people and essential workers in limbo, without any viable alternative". Leicestershire County Council said around 3,500 people in the county held pre-paid cards, but not all of them would be impacted by what was a "national" issue.A spokesperson for the council told the BBC it had reached out to those who were affected with "support and advice on what to do if they need to make payments urgently and to ensure that alternative arrangements are in place"."We appreciate the difficulties that this has caused and are doing everything we can to help," the statement added. Nicola from Bradford, who asked the BBC not to report her second name, is a full-time carer for her daughter who has multiple disabilities which require first noticed that she could not log in to her payment account on 14 daughter also has six other carers, and she said the thought of them seeking alternative work as a result was daunting."I will be required to stay awake 24 hours a day, which is not possible and it would probably mean that my daughter will be housebound as I'd not have support to take her out," she BBC has contacted Bradford Council for a response. Sophie Withers, a personal assistant from Morecombe who got in touch with the BBC via Your Voice, Your BBC News, is paid weekly and said she was owed £720 last week because clients had been unable to pay her."My rent was due on Saturday so I was really panicking by Thursday," she said. Ms Withers was able to get an emergency payment from her local authority, but said that was no longer an option this week as it was a one-off gesture."I hope this is resolved quickly. I don't want think about what happens if I can't get paid," she said."I need to pay for petrol which is essential for work, I need supplies like [personal protective equipment] and to pay for food and bills."A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said more than 100 councils and NHS bodies were likely to have been affected by the technical issue. "[PFS] has assured the council that they are urgently working to restore all functionality," he said."We are using our local communications to make sure that service users and their families know how to get the support available." In a statement sent to the BBC on Wednesday afternoon, PFS said "core services have been substantially restored" and customer funds "remained secure and fully protected".It said some of its programs "relied on an external payment processor" but were in the process of being moved to an "in-house processing infrastructure"."We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate the patience and understanding shown by our customers and cardholders," it said."This decision, made under exceptional circumstances, reflects our deep commitment to protecting our customers and ensuring long-term service resilience."The LGA said the issues began after a recent platform migration by PFS, and it was aware of issues affecting a number of councils using the system for social care direct payments.
