Agenda item

To consider the annual progress report on the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 13 to 172, which provided the annual progress report on the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The report stated that the Climate Emergency Action Plan had been approved in 2019. The Action Plan was submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for comment each year, prior to submission to Council.

Rhian Hayes (Assistant Director, Economic Development and Growth) attended the meeting to present the report, supported by colleagues involved in the delivery of the Action Plan. Sarah Kerr (Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services) attended the meeting to discuss the report and answer Member questions. Sarah confirmed that the annual progress report would be submitted to Council in September 2022. This would enable the comments from Scrutiny Members to be incorporated into the report.

The Climate Emergency Action Plan identified key priority areas for CO2 emission reductions including transport, homes, businesses and waste. It also included SMART carbon targets and projections for the period up to 2030. The Action Plan highlighted the size of the challenge facing the Council and recognised that, at this point, the proposed actions were not sufficient to deliver the carbon reductions necessary to meet the Borough’s 2030 target. However, as a living document, new ideas would be developed over the next period which would support progress towards the target.

The report referred to the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Climate Emergency Task and Finish Group which had produced reports in 2020 and 2021. The most recent report had included 25 recommendations to the Executive. The majority of the recommendations had been accepted and incorporated into the Action Plan.

The report highlighted a number of areas where significant progress had been made, including:

·           The Borough’s recycling rate had increased from 50% to 54%.

·           Council buildings had been built/retrofitted to Net Zero standards – Dinton Activity Centre, Woodley Library, Carnival Hub, etc.

·           Carbon sequestration projects had begun – over 15,000 trees planted.

·           Renewable energy installations were progressing – significant progress on the Barkham solar farm project.

·           Over 1,500 households receiving assistance from Help to Heat, the Council’s locally set ECOFlex scheme.

In the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points:

What were the implications of the Environment Act 2021 on the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan? It was confirmed that the Environment Act had a number of impacts including Biodiversity Net Gain, building standards, the development of an infrastructure strategy and recycling targets.

Was there an overall road map for the Climate Emergency Action Plan? It was confirmed that a road map with key milestones was being developed.

Was the Climate Emergency Action Plan influencing the Local Plan Update, for example in the requirement for new homes to achieve carbon neutrality? It was confirmed that new environmental standards had to be included in the new Local Plan. The zero carbon homes target, for example, could not be included in a supplementary planning document. The new administration was working with officers to progress the Local Plan Update. Work was also ongoing on the updated Local Transport Plan – LTP4.

The Climate Emergency Task and Finish Group, in its two reports, had challenged some of the numbers in the Action Plan. It appeared that there were still inconsistencies and sections where the numbers did not add up. It was suggested that Andy Croy and Sarah Kerr meet with the officers to discuss these issues before the Action Plan was submitted to Council in September 2022.

It was noted that, in the Action Plan column headed “Timescale/Total Cost, there were still a number of sections with “TBC” (To Be Confirmed) in the box. Could there be further commentary in the Action Plan on these sections, to provide greater understanding and a timescale for the TBCs to be resolved? It was confirmed that this suggestion would be given further consideration.

In relation to the projected growth in the number of electric vehicles (EV) in the Borough, had officers done any work on the cost/benefit of recycling EV batteries? It was confirmed that this issue had not been explored to date. Officers would give further consideration to this idea and report back to Members in due course.

The report referred to the use of ecargo bikes which could provide last-mile delivery services. It was suggested that officers contact West Berkshire Council which had received grant funding for its scheme.

Did the Council run a Bike to Work scheme? It was confirmed that WBC did run a scheme in order to encourage more bike usage amongst staff.

It was essential that the Action Plan was able to demonstrate value for money, i.e. a specific project may look attractive but the key issue was the carbon saving achieved against the cost.

In addition to the proposed solar farm at Barkham, were other initiatives being considered such as ground-source heat pumps and district heat networks? It was confirmed that officers were looking at battery storage options at the solar farm site and were also exploring other initiatives, including the ideas raised by Members.

What progress was there in relation to the work on deliberative processes? It was confirmed that the project was coming to the end of the first stage with nine stakeholder groups having met to consider key climate emergency issues and potential solutions.

Sarah Kerr suggested that the business case for the Barkham solar farm be considered by the Committee at its September meeting. This would allow Scrutiny feedback to be considered before the contract was awarded.

RESOLVED That:

1)     Sarah Kerr, Rhian Hayes and supporting officers be thanked for attending the meeting to answer Member questions on the Climate Emergency Action Plan;

2)     Member comments and suggestions on the Action Plan be fed into the annual update report to be considered by Council in September 2022;

3)     Andy Croy and Sarah Kerr meet with officers to consider the methodologies used to inform the Action Plan and the resulting accuracy and consistency of calculations;

4)     a report on the business case for the Barkham solar farm be submitted to the meeting of the Committee on 8 September 2022.