Agenda item

The Climate Change Manager presented the Carbon Reduction Strategy Annual Review. In doing so, the following was highlighted for Members’ information:

• There had been several highlights over the previous year in terms of the delivery of the Carbon Reduction Strategy. These included the following:

1.              LAD3 delivery on 12 low-income homes within the District.

2.          A move to remote working and meeting by Council staff which had reduced staff mileage by 41% for 2023.

3.          The recruitment to the role of the new Climate Change Manager which assisted the Council’s pledge to be operational at net zero by 2040.

4.          A review of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) use on fleet vehicles to help inform further bids for conversion to HVO for large fleet vehicles in future years.

5.          A contract had been signed with Zest for the installation of Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers across car parks in the District.

In terms of the progress on measures included within the Carbon Reduction Strategy it was noted that Officers would continue to assess low carbon fleet fuel options such as HVO for future bids. Particularly as the use of HVO was not considered the long term option but the best option at this time. Officers confirmed that the Council would endeavour to source HVO from recycled sources to ensure that Climate Change was kept to a minimum.

Another measure that had seen progress since Members endorsed the Carbon Reduction Strategy in October 2022 was in the support for Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (BDHT) to apply for funding to improve efficiency of housing stock within the District. There had already been a successful bid made and the delivery of the resulting work was underway. Further bids would be made when the next wave of funding became available at the end of 2025.

Cabinet was informed that some of the measures were concerned with energy efficiency and the reduction of energy consumption within the Council’s buildings. Work had already been undertaken in this area and the solar panels had been fitted and were operational at Parkside, along with LED lighting upgrades in Bromsgrove Library and at the Aston Fields depot.

At Bromsgrove Sports and Leisure Centre bids were also being submitted to enable energy efficiency upgrades in this building.

Additional measures that were highlighted were as follows:

·       Commercial partners were being sought in respect of the Bromsgrove District Heat Network partnership.

·       An energy audit of server rooms was due to take place in 2024.

·       The further reduction staff travel and increased use of video conferencing.

·       A reduction to the Council's paper waste by offering papers electronically to Members and Officers.

·       Implementation of the recommendations of the 2020 report for the 'grey fleet’ which included plans across all service areas of the Council.

Members were informed that there were recommendations included within the report that would be implemented during year two of the Strategy. These were as follows:

·       Development of a performance dashboard to improve monitoring of progress of the Strategy.

·       Progress on measures within the Strategy that had currently made the least progress.

·       Continued monitoring of Government policy and announcements that impacted upon delivery of the Strategy.

Following the presentation of the report, Members thanked the Officers for their comprehensive report and agreed that the reigns of this Strategy had been picked up effectively and continued work would be undertaken with Carbon Literacy Training and Cabinet Member Surgeries. It was commented that the implementation of the performance measures dashboard would certainly identify progress and areas of improvement within the Strategy over the coming years.

Although it was noted that the there was a need to reduce the Council’s reliance on paper documentation, particularly in the production of Council agendas, some Members commented that there would need to be a culture change as some Members preferred receiving paper copies of agendas. However, it was requested that Members use the electronic version of papers where possible and that paper versions of agendas be retained and also reused where possible.

Members queried the progression of the District Heat Network as this was considered as a priority in terms of the reduction of carbon within Bromsgrove. Several options were discussed in terms of the potential site of the network including the site at Windsor Street. Officers explained that a District Heat Network report was to be considered at the Cabinet meeting due to take place in June 2024 and these areas could be investigated as part of the preparation of the report.

Cabinet welcomed the introduction of the performance measures dashboard and requested that this be accompanied by a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) status which quickly identified areas of improvement and success.

RECOMMENDED that the Council

1)       Endorse the findings of this annual review of the Carbon Reduction Strategy

2)       Accept the proposal to align Carbon Reduction Strategy measures to the Climate Action Scorecard into an accessible performance dashboard.