Issue - meetings

Cabinet Agreed

1.         That the Climate Emergency Strategy and high level Action Plan, set out as Appendix One of this report, be approved.

2.         That this be published, following layout and presentation support from the Communications Team, on the Council’s website with final approval to be delegated to the Chief Executive in conjunction with the Leader of the Council.

3.         That the high level Actions set out in the report be incorporated into Service and Budget Planning for 2022/23 onwards.

4.         That a further report be brought to Cabinet in 2022 setting out the funding requirements to achieve the medium-term action plan deliverables. This should include the indicative capital programme for the climate emergency for the MTFS period.

Cllr Williams handed over to Mark Gaynor and Melanie Parr. Mark explained this comprehensive report sets out the strategy for the borough, how it intends to meet the 2030 pledges for scopes 1 and 2, the 2050 pledges for scope 3, and to stimulate action amongst residents and businesses. The report details which high-level actions are being looked at, pursued, and draft estimate costings for these. Mark noted the need for greater government clarity on how much funding they will get. He noted the report is not finalised at this stage. The process of beginning to incorporate actions and costings will be commencing soon, and will be in the service and budget planning for ‘22/’23. Recommendation 4 indicates that short-term actions begin in the near future, and council officers will now begin to work on the short, medium and long term plans to incorporate these actions and costings into the budgets at the appropriate points. Mark asked if anyone had any questions.

Cllr Tindall asked if they could provide some intermediate details, timings and dates, given the large number of different factors and types of mitigation in the whole strategy, to give them a better idea of next steps and stages and help with target monitoring. He asked if they could include a Gantt chart.

Mark responded that the work is underway on the short, medium and long term plans to provide that. He noted that it is not clear yet which solutions will emerge as the most effective, for example installing zero carbon heating in buildings. They will not start putting it in new houses until they know it is the most energy efficient it can be, but work is underway on this. Mark also gave the example of finding a zero carbon option to replace refuse freighters. Their current fleet has a life until 2028, and it is not clear yet if the solution will be electric or hydrogen. Mark believes with bigger lorries it is likely to be hydrogen as overall more efficient, but they are not clear yet. With air source heat pumps, there are similar issues that need to be worked out, for example ensuring homes are properly insulated so they will work efficiently, and improving supply chain and installations to allow for more than the current capacity of 60,000 a year. Mark also noted that longer-term plans may change as technology improves, for example battery storage in solar heating. The information is not ready yet for a full 10 or 30-year plan, however the work is being started, with the aim to provide this in the next few months.

Melanie noted that she would be happy to make a Gantt chart for the short, medium and long-term action plans they currently have. She drew attention to page 53 of the report, where it states an annual report will be created to help clarify objectives and if anything had changed. For example, on Monday they found out it will be law next year for electric  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89