Bedford Borough Council's Greenhouse Gas Report measures its own carbon footprint and is reported to central government annually.
The report focuses on the carbon emissions caused by our buildings (including schools), running our fleet and also our business mileage. Our original baseline within our Carbon Management Plan has been revised in accordance with this report; as data quality has significantly improved since its production.
First introduced in 1995, the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) places a duty on all local authorities to prepare and submit an annual progress report setting out:
"...the energy conservation measures that the authority consider practicable, cost effective and likely to result in significant improvement in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation in the area."
Following a revision made to the Act by the Department of Energy and Climate Change in July 2012, Bedford Borough Council drew up its HECA further report (PDF) in March 2013. Under the Act, the Council is required to produce progress reports detailing the implementation of measures set out in the further report at two yearly intervals after submission of the further report (by 31 March 2015, 31 March 2017, 31 March 2019 etc. up to and including 31 March 2027).