Plans to address health impacts of climate change in Bedford face setbacks due to lack of resources

Speaking at Monday’s Climate Change Committee (February 3), Ian Brown, chief officer for public health, reminded attendees of the findings from a Lancet report (presented at the last meeting) on the growing health risks posed by climate change.

This includes extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution, which disproportionately affects vulnerable residents.

While the borough council has several initiatives under way—such as air quality improvements, active travel plans, and food sustainability efforts—progress on a dedicated climate-health action plan is being delayed.

When asked about timescales for key actions, including an action plan and performance indicators, Mr Brown admitted that the council lacks the necessary resources to accelerate progress.

“We don’t have any dedicated resource for this in our team, so we’re having to find bits of an arm and a leg of people from across the team who are passionate about this, and then find ways to support this within their work programme,” he said.

“So we’re not able to make as much progress as fast as we would like.”

As a result, while the council aims to bring forward a fully developed action plan within six months, the timeline remains uncertain, with a worst-case scenario of a 12-month delay.

“Some of these things, obviously, are happening already, and we’re working with our colleagues across the council to deliver around the local transport plan, around the car reduction strategy, etc.,” he said.

“We’re lucky in the sense that we have resource across three councils that we can call upon to see how we can corral more of that to support this agenda as part of a wider focus on how wider determinants of health.”

Another key challenge is the delayed release of a risk assessment toolkit from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which will help local councils track climate-related health risks and interventions.

The committee agreed to recommendations to develop the council’s understanding of how climate change relates to the health risks of borough residents.