Local Edge inquiry  

In 2022-23, we carried out an inquiry into local leadership on addressing inequality and the climate and nature crisis, asking what Westminster could learn from local examples and what policy changes would help replicate good practice across the country. We heard evidence from organisations working at local and national level on energy, food and transport. 

Our report, published in February 2023, made a wide-ranging series of recommendations for the UK government, including: 

• Ensure planning law embraces climate targets and that climate action is embedded in local plans. 
• Adopt a revised approach to energy efficiency grants, in which whole-area approaches to energy conservation are prioritised, rather than looking only at individual households. 
• Set national nutritional guidelines as the basis for food procurement contracts, including guidance on the shift towards more plant-based diets. 
• Provide local authorities with the resources to support the development of regional and sub-regional farm co-operatives, with targets set for the percentage of food needs to be met from within the region itself. 
• Amend the Road Traffic Reduction Act to require Ministers to introduce road traffic reduction targets and report annually to parliament on their progress. 
• Reinstate local authorities’ duty to deliver integrated public transport services. 

Members of the APPG have used the inquiry findings in questions and speeches in Parliament.