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<p>Government recognises the important role local authorities can play in decarbonisation
and clean growth.</p><p>Ministers have a limited role in local authority workforce
issues. This is because councils are independent employers, responsible for the management
and organisation of their own workforces, including managing budgets to recruit and
train staff. It is for local leaders to make these decisions within the resources
that they have available, and we know many have recruited large, dedicated climate
change teams, while others have secured carbon literacy training to ensure Planning
Officers and other staff have the expertise they need to build decarbonisation into
their functions.</p><p>In the Planning for the Future White Paper my department committed
to develop a comprehensive resources and skills strategy for the planning sector to
support the implementation of our reforms, which are aligned with Net Zero goals.</p><p>Net
Zero is a priority for the whole of Government. DfT and BEIS have also taken steps
to ensure local authorities have the necessary capabilities to take action locally.
For example, the BEIS Local Energy Programme was established to help them fulfil this
role, and Local Energy Hubs have been established to provide local authorities and
Local Enterprise Partnerships with access to technical and commercial support for
the initial stages of developing low carbon energy projects.</p>
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