Questions
To consider questions (if any) by members of the Council of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services)
Decision:
Question to Councillor Williams from Councillor Stevens:
1 Dacorum Borough Council adopted a Motion at its meeting in July 2019 that acknowledged we faced a Climate Emergency.
2 To better understand the scale of the challenge, the Council commissioned the Association for Public Service Excellence [APSE] to conduct and prepare a study that would provide a baseline of carbon emissions generated in the Borough.
3 The Report’s findings identified different categories of emissions, with Scope 1 being those generated by activities and buildings under the direct control of the Borough.
4 More recently, the Tyndall centre at Manchester University has modelled the reduction of carbon emissions across the public sector that would be required to achieve the national carbon reduction goals. This has featured in the presentation to Councillors and Officers to inform our Carbon Literacy. The key prediction is the Borough will have exhausted its ‘carbon budget’ by 2027 if we do not implement measures to reduce our carbon emissions.
5 In the APSE report, the Borough’s 2019 consumption of gas under Scope 1 is 2132 tCO2. Around 50 % of emissions is from gas used at the Council’s Leisure Centres.
Question: As an example, the APSE study estimated the 2019 cost of installing Air Source Heat Pumps at Berkhamsted as £135k with an annual saving £24k and CO2 reduction by half.
Does the Borough have a plan to replace gas fired plant at the Council’s Leisure Centres?
Cllr Williams responded that the leisure centres are not under direct control of the Council, so fall within the carbon neutral target of 2050 rather than 2030. But, of course, the Council would hope to bring that target forward. The APSE report also stated that heat pumps by themselves would not be financially viable for larger buildings based on current technology.
Cllr Stevens asked a supplementary question on whether the Borough has made any application to central government for funds to install alternative heating solutions.
Cllr Williams replied that the APSE report doesn’t give the Council sufficient information to make such an application.
Cllr Stevens’ second supplementary question was on whether the Borough had prepared a list of ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could be used to apply for grant funding, but the answer to this was provided in Cllr Williams’ previous response.
Question to Councillor Williams from Councillor Allen:
Question 1: In light of the COP26 declaration for accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission cars and vans, and DBC’s own ‘Ecological Emergency Strategy and High Level Action Plan’ report (presented to SPAE 2nd November), highlighting the need for EV chargers to tackle the climate emergency, while identifying that the lack of GOVT funding is delaying the roll out, how does DBC intend to ensure the Government commit the funding to DBC so desperately needed at the earliest opportunity?”
Cllr Williams replied that they do not have the power to ‘ensure’ they have the money that the Council thinks is necessary. What is happening is that they are working through the grant ... view the full decision text for item 6
Minutes:
Question to Councillor Williams from Councillor Stevens:
1 Dacorum Borough Council adopted a Motion at its meeting in July 2019 that acknowledged we faced a Climate Emergency.
2 To better understand the scale of the challenge, the Council commissioned the Association for Public Service Excellence [APSE] to conduct and prepare a study that would provide a baseline of carbon emissions generated in the Borough.
3 The Report’s findings identified different categories of emissions, with Scope 1 being those generated by activities and buildings under the direct control of the Borough.
4 More recently, the Tyndall centre at Manchester University has modelled the reduction of carbon emissions across the public sector that would be required to achieve the national carbon reduction goals. This has featured in the presentation to Councillors and Officers to inform our Carbon Literacy. The key prediction is the Borough will have exhausted its ‘carbon budget’ by 2027 if we do not implement measures to reduce our carbon emissions.
5 In the APSE report, the Borough’s 2019 consumption of gas under Scope 1 is 2132 tCO2. Around 50 % of emissions is from gas used at the Council’s Leisure Centres.
Question: As an example, the APSE study estimated the 2019 cost of installing Air Source Heat Pumps at Berkhamsted as £135k with an annual saving £24k and CO2 reduction by half.
Does the Borough have a plan to replace gas fired plant at the Council’s Leisure Centres?
Cllr Williams responded that the leisure centres are not under direct control of the Council, so fall within the carbon neutral target of 2050 rather than 2030. But, of course, the Council would hope to bring that target forward. The APSE report also stated that heat pumps by themselves would not be financially viable for larger buildings based on current technology.
Cllr Stevens asked a supplementary question on whether the Borough has made any application to central government for funds to install alternative heating solutions.
Cllr Williams replied that the APSE report doesn’t give the Council sufficient information to make such an application.
Cllr Stevens’ second supplementary question was on whether the Borough had prepared a list of ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could be used to apply for grant funding, but the answer to this was provided in Cllr Williams’ previous response.
Question to Councillor Williams from Councillor Allen:
Question 1: In light of the COP26 declaration for accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission cars and vans, and DBC’s own ‘Ecological Emergency Strategy and High Level Action Plan’ report (presented to SPAE 2nd November), highlighting the need for EV chargers to tackle the climate emergency, while identifying that the lack of GOVT funding is delaying the roll out, how does DBC intend to ensure the Government commit the funding to DBC so desperately needed at the earliest opportunity?”
Cllr Williams replied that they do not have the power to ‘ensure’ they have the money that the Council thinks is necessary. What is happening is that they are working through the grant ... view the full minutes text for item 6