Issue - meetings

The Executive Member for Environment and Sustainability.

RESOLVED – that the Executive:

(i)               Approves the revised Environmental Sustainability Strategy at Annex 1 and Action Plan at Annex 2.

(ii)             Authorises the Head of Service for Corporate Policy, Projects & Performance in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment & Sustainability to make minor typographical or factual amendments prior to publication of the Strategy on the Council’s website.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability, Councillor Moses, gave an overview of the Review of the Council’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy report, Action Plan and annexes.

The report explained how the review was undertaken and summarised the main changes that have resulted from the review. The proposed Strategy and Action Plan had been discussed by Members at the ES Strategy Scrutiny Review Panel (changes summarised in Annex 3), and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 14 March 2024 (draft Minute published as an Executive Addendum earlier in the week).

The Portfolio Holder stressed that the Council always needed to balance its environmental sustainability work with the need to be financially sustainable which was reflected in the Strategy and Action Plan. The updated documents will ensure that the Council continues to make good progress on its carbon reduction targets.

Annual reports will continue so Members can review and comment on progress and the Cross Party Member Sustainability Group would continue. Councillor Moses thanked all Members who have had an input into the review process either formally or informally.

There were no further comments from Executive Members.

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Harrison, noted the changes that had been accepted as a result of the Panel’s reviewing comments. However, a number of suggested changes were not accepted. For example, some O&S/Panel Members felt that there should be more specific targets such as putting Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers in the Council’s own car parks. Other Members wanted to gather more data and evidence or felt that a specific Scope 3 net zero target should be included in the Strategy.

Visiting Members asked questions and made comments in the following areas:

·        Electric Vehicle (EV) charging in Council car parks – Members considered that residents needed to see clear targets for this work to be completed in every car park.

·        Net Zero target for scope 3 carbon emissions – some Members had suggested setting a Net Zero target for Council Scope 3 emissions for 2050 in the Strategy to hold the Council to the same standards as those expected of the borough’s businesses and residents. Members asked the Leader to defer this item while this issue was addressed in the public-facing version of the Strategy and Action Plan.

The Leader, Councillor Biggs, noted that these points had been raised by Members at Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting on 14 March and also at the ES Strategy Review Panel. It was difficult to base figures on data during the pandemic. The Action Plan could be amended and adapted in the future, but the Executive did not want to halt the work underway while this was debated. He noted the call to defer the item but said it should not be deferred as it was important to carry on with the work. The appropriateness of a specific Scope 3 target could be reviewed again in the future.

Visiting Members said that Members had been told to wait for the three-year review, but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70

RECOMMENDED that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

Note the findings of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Scrutiny Panel, the officer responses at Annex 3, and the revised Environmental Sustainability Strategy at Annex 1 and Action Plan at Annex 2, and make any observations to the Executive.

Councillor Moses, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability, introduced the Review of the Council’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

The main changes proposed to the Council’s Strategy included more detail about the scope of the Council’s carbon footprint. There was also a new chapter addressing how the Council adapts to the impacts of climate change.

The report contained information about the main challenges and risks to delivering the Strategy, and the Action Plan had been fully revised to include 91 new actions, and more information about how actions would be funded and reported on.

The review process, and a draft version of the Strategy and the Action Plan, were considered in detail by the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Scrutiny Panel on 12 February 2024; the Portfolio Holder thanked all the members of the Panel for their questions, comments, and suggestions. All specific suggestions made by the Panel had been considered, resulting in a number of changes being made to the Strategy and Action Plan. Annex 3 provided more detail about where changes had been made, and where (in some cases) officers do not consider changes to be necessary.

One of the main Panel comments had been making sure delivery of the Action Plan could be clearly tracked and reported on. As a result, timeframes of all actions in the Action Plan had been reviewed. Start dates were provided for all actions, plus an indication of when actions would continue over several years.

Performance indicators had also been reviewed. Changes had been made in a number of cases to make it clearer what information will be reported. In some cases, further work would be required to identify detailed actions and reporting measures.

An example of this was the Greenspaces Strategy:

• In the ES Action Plan, there was an action to develop a Greenspaces Strategy, so the Performance Indicator would be whether this has been achieved or not.

• The Greenspaces Strategy itself would then contain more detailed actions and indicators.

Another comment from the Panel had been about being able to understand how the Strategy would deliver the Council’s carbon reduction target. Unfortunately, this was not straightforward to do, but some information had been provided in Annex 4. The first chart showed the impact of different measures to reducing the Council’s carbon footprint. For example, the impact of moving to HVO in bin lorries, and to removing gas heating in Council-owned buildings. Where there was uncertainty, this had been shown. Examples of uncertainty included the future of the Harlequin Theatre; and evolving vehicle technology for HGVs.

The second chart showed what progress over the next few years may look like. Less certain actions had not been assumed, but of course, these may be brought forward sooner if uncertainty is resolved.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed the need to balance the Council’s environmental sustainability work with the need to be financially sustainable; the Strategy and Action Plan did this. Overall, the actions in the Action Plan would ensure that the Council continues to make good  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80