Schemes will be expected to demonstrate clear benefits, practical outcomes, or real savings in order to continue. Any that don’t could be stopped, with money reinvested elsewhere.
Data and projections also show that the council’s targets to be ‘net zero’ by 2030 are many years away from being achieved, if at all.
Early action has already identified an annual saving of up to £175,000 by switching the council’s electricity tariff to a cheaper one - ending a costly “100% renewable” premium which the council currently pays.
Councillor Michael Hadwen, leader of Suffolk County Council said:
“Our job is simple - spend Suffolk taxpayers’ money wisely and deliver real results for our residents.
“What we’ve inherited is a catalogue of expensive, headline-grabbing environmental schemes that need to stand up to proper and rigorous scrutiny if they’re going to continue.
“Suffolk has fantastic landscapes, strong farming roots and outstanding local food. That’s our real environment and I want to make sure we look after it properly and improve it where we can.
“We are simply taking a common-sense approach - backing practical measures that work, while cutting waste, unnecessary costs and superficial gesture schemes.
“Paying an extra £175,000 a year just to sit on a ‘green’ tariff is a perfect example of virtue signalling at taxpayers’ expense. We’re ending that as soon as possible.
“In under two weeks of our leadership, we’ve already found significant savings. This is just the start. Every pound we save is a pound we can reinvest in frontline services and the priorities that matter most to Suffolk people.”
