As we’ve seen in our recent case studies, the Council Climate Action Scorecards — a joint project between Climate Emergency UK (CE UK) and mySociety — rely on the power and energy of volunteers.
Most volunteers get their start when they help to mark councils’ climate action for the Scorecards; and then some, it seems, get the bug and go on to become even more deeply engaged.
These keen folk are known as Ambassadors. We’ve heard from Lucy, who told us that working with the Scorecards had given her a deeper appreciation of the hard work councils have to do; and Mat, who’s used the Scorecards to communicate with both the public and his own council. Now let’s meet Helen John, a very active campaigner based in Sutton.
Helen did, indeed, begin as a marker, helping to score councils’ action over the summer of 2024: her work fed into the 2025 Scorecards. Then, in November 2024, she joined CE UK’s Local Climate Academy, a six-week training course in which CE UK train participants in how to use the Scorecards to win further support for climate action.
Helen has taken that advice and run with it, which is a win for climate; also, because Helen is happy to share her experiences, it’s a win for anyone who might want to do more but doesn’t know where to begin.
For example, shortly after the new results were published, Helen submitted a public question at Sutton council’s Local Committee meeting, asking:
“What is Sutton Council going to take away from the launch of the 2025 Council Climate Action Scorecards, and what actions are going to be taken to make sure climate action is reprioritised across the whole of the council?”
And you could do the same! Here is Helen’s advice on how to get started:
“Get on your local council’s mailing list, so you’ll be notified when meetings are happening. Usually you can sign up via a page on their website called “Local Democracy”, or similar, and then you should also find a section called something like “Have your say at meetings”.
“This is a right for every resident of every council — anyone can ask a question at a committee meeting (usually one main question, and then a follow-up). Generally, between the notification of the meeting and the deadline for submitting a question, which you have to give in advance, you’ll have around 48 hours.
“They’ll locate the right person to answer your question, which can take a little time; I find they tend to give you an initial response 24 hours before the meeting. This gives you the time to prepare your follow-up question.”
And if the response is not as enthusiastic as you might like it to be, or fails to commit to any activity? Helen sees the wider picture:
“You need to continue to ask as many questions as possible to the council. If you’re a member of a campaign group, you can take it in turns. It shows that there is an interest, and a continued scrutiny of the council’s action.”
Sutton council’s reply stated that it “recognises that there’s still more work to do”, and, as Helen sees it, that created an opportunity. She has been working with Sutton’s sustainability team, holding a workshop on how to improve their Scorecards results; and has given a presentation to the Environment and Sustainable Transport committee, as well as a wider group of councillors.
We have the feeling this is just the beginning — because, as made clear by Helen’s nuanced view of how climate work fits into the council’s other priorities, communication doesn’t need to take place solely with the staff who have a climate remit.
“When they surveyed Sutton residents about their priorities, health provision came out top. But let’s not forget that decarbonisation is also something that has a positive impact on health across the board — I’m really keen to push that more holistic way of seeing things.”
Thank you so much to Helen for the ideas, not to mention the practical advice on using the Scorecards to push for better climate action at the local level. We hope that it gives our readers the inspiration to do something similar.
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Image: Ian Simpson
