Agenda item

(To receive a report from Vanessa Strange, Accessibility and Growth Manager, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider and comment on the Council's Third Carbon Management Plan)

The Committee received a report which provided an opportunity to consider the Carbon Management Plan (CMP) 2018 to 2023 before it was considered by the Executive on 2 April 2019.

The County Council had been working with the Carbon Trust on a third Carbon Management Plan (CMP) which had now been completed.  The Council had successfully implemented two previous CMP's and this proposed CMP would continue to build on that success.  It was noted that the target for the Carbon Management Plan 2 had just been exceeded.  Work had taken place to ensure that the baseline being set was correct and the aim was to achieve a further reduction of 20% by 2023.

It was noted that this would be a "living" document and officers would be working with a number of teams across the authority to help it evolve over the coming years.

Comments by members and officers included:-

·         It was noted that the replacement of fleet vehicles from diesel to electric was something which was being looked into. The use of electric vehicles was also included within the Lincoln Transport Strategy. 

·         The Council had been working on this for many years and had started the low carbon agenda for Lincolnshire.  The heating system in Pilgrim Hospital had been funded by the Salix programme and the solar panels on fire stations had been in place for over 10 years. 

·         It was queried whether the whole organisation was talking to each other about carbon and also why electric charging points had not been included within the works taking place in the county offices' car park.  It was noted that this was an on-going project and there been some good development over the past nine months. Senior managers had started to meet as a corporate group to look at these carbon management issues.

·         Working in 'silos' would not be the right way to work on this and it was queried how members could help officers to avoid this. There was a need to start working on the reduction of carbon now.

·         There was now a public appetite for this as people were aware and it was acknowledged that carbon emissions were an issue.

·         It was noted that some of the business centres operated by the Council already had electric charging points for vehicles and some of the district councils were already embracing the electric charging agenda.  It was thought that companies would invest in places that were looking to the future.

·         There was a need to look at what could be done locally in terms of power generation.  There was a need to embrace the opportunities that problems created.

·         There was an issue of future proofing in that it needed to be done for 30 years rather than just a few years ahead.

·         It was queried whether the figures in relation to the oil and gas prices on page 5 of the report could be checked as they seemed quite high.  Officers confirmed that these figures would be checked.

·         Members were advised that all alternative energy schemes which came forward would be considered.  There would be a need to invest in local energy provision.

·         It was noted that in terms of the energy discussion, Andy Brookes would be bringing a report to the Committee on the energy strategy.

·         In terms of schools, it was noted that a lot of work had been carried out on the fabric of the buildings.  Teams had also gone into schools and discussed the impact of waste, recycling and energy waste on the environment.

·         It was clarified that Salix was a government scheme which was run to help bodies like the Council to pump prime capital investment in projects to benefit the environment.

·         It was suggested that there was, again, a need for a wider public information campaign.

·         It was highlighted that the authority was looking to set up commercial companies to generate income and it was noted that Nottingham had set up their own water company and other local authorities had their own gas and electric companies.

·         It was thought that there was a need for decisions to be made on a more local level and that there was a need to be more challenging to national government in relation to the future. Politicians needed to be braver and be champions for place.

·         The Humber Estuary had significant amounts of industry and if it flooded it would be greatest economic loss to the country (outside of London) and it was asked what would be done to protect this area.  It was reported that officers were closely engaged with the Environment Agency in terms of flood defences and what their role in growth promotion would be rather than just being static defences. This included the defence of areas such as Gainsborough.

·         It was noted that delivering a strong economy was not a statutory function but particularly in terms of infrastructure the authority was doing good work with a much reduced budget.

·         With regard to the work programme could this item be combined with the energy production item and officers advised that they would look into this.

RESOLVED

            That the Committee support the recommendations to Executive to   formally adopt the Carbon Management Plan 2018 – 2023 and its   target of a 20% reduction in emissions from a 2016/17 baseline of         28,679 tonnes CO2 by 2023.