Agenda item

To consider issues within the Transport and Sustainability Portfolio area, including the following report scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 16 December 2020:

• Climate Action Annual Report 2019/20

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the report and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Mike Greene, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Sustainability.

The Cabinet report is attached for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Climate Action Annual Report - The Portfolio Holder for Transport and Sustainability introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix ‘H’ to the Cabinet minutes of 16 December in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

·     In response to a question the Portfolio Holder advised that the 153 point action plan, was approved for consultation in 2019, the consultation had since been delayed. The action plan consisted of 100 actions for the Council to reduce emissions in Council targets and a further 53 actions to work with partners. Some of the internal Council actions had already been completed. Others were being considered as to how the Council would be able to deliver them over the next 10 years. Some were condensed into others and others were not considered suitable for moving forwards. The 53 external actions were the ones being consulted on starting on 17 December 2020. Nothing out of the 153 had been lost.

·     That it would be useful to show which actions had been achieved or condensed in order to demonstrate the work that the Council had undertaken. The Portfolio Holder advised that whilst the report included some details on next steps there was no direct mapping and the Portfolio Holder undertook to take the suggestion for this on board.

·     A Councillor commented on the global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to the global pandemic and the issue that was outlined in the report that greater reductions in greenhouse gasses were needed year on year. How this was going to be done was not outlined in the report.

·     A Councillor asked about how the achievements would be measured in terms of reductions in tonnes of CO2 and where this couldn’t be equated for some actions, alternative measures of progress, including reductions of plastic and waste and details on how this was being done and how it was encouraged.  The Portfolio Holder confirmed that this was an important point, and this was included as part of the greening of the energy tariff.  The Portfolio Holder advised that he felt there would be considerable advances over the next year.

·     It was noted that words used in the report included encourage, continue work started or strategize, and it was suggested that this did not show a lot of commitment to definite targets moving forward. The Portfolio Holder advised that this was the annual report on what has happened over the last 12 months rather than looking forward. However, there was an element in the report on next steps, but this was a report on what has happened rather than an action plan. It was hoped that the action plan would be available in the next few months.

·     The report included a point about investigating opportunities for local waste treatment facilities and a Board member suggested that just because something was local did not mean it was the best environmentally and that this should be looked into further.

·     A Councillor commented on the working together section of the report and asked that schools be included in the partnership. The Portfolio Holder advised that he hoped that he would be addressing all of these issues and confirmed that schools should absolutely be involve, not just as high energy users but because of their role in educating the next generation in issues of climate change. The Leadership Board would be established at the earliest opportunity. It was thought that the public engagement consultation would need to have finished but the Portfolio Holder advised that he wanted to get board together as soon as possible. 

·     A Councillor commented that because of the way in which the report was presented it was difficult to see the positives. There was also concern that members were not sufficiently engaged. The Portfolio Holder accepted these comments and advised that they would take dull responsibility for the presentation and consider it further for furture reports.

·     There were concerns raised by the Baord that the 2050 target date was not ambitious enough and that it had been suggested that it was currently feasible for the BCP area to be carbon neutral by 2042 and that this should be where the targets were aimed at. The Portfolio Holder suggested that the requirement of 2050 meant that this could be achieved in a more accessible and inclusive way.

·     A Councillor commented that more officer resource and therefore funding needed to be put into this by the administration. It was noted that this should not be dependent upon the sustainability on its own and they would have a role of an enabler to support this approach across the whole Council.

·     It was noted that over 60 percent of emissions come from leased out buildings but there was no further emphasis on how the Council could begin to deal with this issue and asked whether these were included within the 2030 or 2050 plan. There were included within the 2030 target where there where within BCP and the Portfolio Holder advised that we had significant influence over this and considered it an area that we needed to concentrate on.

·     With regards to the paragraph on investments and in particular pension fund investments the Portfolio Holder responded that the issue about this went very wide and there were lots of issues on this and advised that he would not favour trying to influence the pension fund but would want to address it in a more collaborative way with bringing employees on board.

·     A Board member raised concerns about the climate action working group and sub-groups not continuing. The Portfolio Holder appreciated the concerns but noted that some groups did not even have full membership. They were set up for all the right reasons but were not engaging in the best way. The Portfolio advised that he had reached out to a number of members on how they wanted to be engaged and hoped to get more ideas following the public consultation. A Councillor suggested that there should be a way for members to be involved not just as Councillors but on behalf of residents as well.

The Chairman suggested that a report should be brought back in approximately six months. It was noted that it was expected to come back to Cabinet, with public engagement results back by mid February, the officer group would commence late February or early March and a plan should be available by next summer.