Agenda item

5.10pm to 5.55pm

The Deputy Leader, Climate Change Officer and Service Director – Leisure, Culture and Community and Wellbeing attended to present a report updating the Committee about the progress of the Climate Change Action Plan adopted by Chesterfield Borough Council (CBC).

CBC declared a Climate Emergency on 17 July, 2019 and resolved to establish a Chesterfield Climate Change Working Group to produce an action plan.

The action plan was approved by Full Council on 26 February, 2020. The plan was developed with eight themes, each theme had a series of actions which in total amounted to thirty-nine specific actions to support carbon reduction activities.

Despite the challenges and impact of Covid-19 over the last year there had been some significant developments across key actions within the climate change action plan.

Further to comments received from scrutiny members at the Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum meeting on 17 September, 2020 the action plan had been put into a RAG rated format with comments regarding progress against each action and was included at Appendix A of the officer’s report.

Covid-19 remained a significant risk to the Council as a whole in relation to capacity and the Climate Change Officer would  continually review progress using the RAG rated format. The wider impact on the Council and any specific impacts in relation to the Climate Change Action Plan would continue to be monitored.

The successful appointment of the Climate Change Officer had significantly increased the capacity of the Council to drive forward it’s carbon reduction and sustainability ambitions but it was noted that the Climate Change Officer would be working part time until April 2021. 

The communications plan which complemented the action plan would be a key milestone in supporting the wider engagement with the Borough’s communities and would be a core feature of the work of the Climate Change Officer for the first quarter of 2021.

Detailed progress for every action was provided in Appendix A  of the officer’s report.

Of the 39 actions in the climate change action plan:

·      6 had been completed and currently required no additional work beyond maintenance;

·      26 were rated green and were expected to be delivered as described;

·      7 were rated amber and were expected to be delivered, however, it could be later than originally anticipated but still within the period covered by the action plan;

·      0 were rated red where severe obstacles or challenges existed which rendered the action impossible to deliver on time without significant intervention or modification;

·      0 had been removed because they had been rendered moot due to changes in policy or external factors.

The following actions had been completed and did not currently require additional work beyond maintenance:

·      Housing & Buildings, action point 3:  Refresh planning guidance in relation to raising environmental standards for house building locally.

·      Power & Electricity, action point 8: Switch to renewable electricity energy provider.

·      Engagement, action point 31: Use reduce, reuse, recycle in all communications in relation to climate change.

·      Engagement, action point 32: Encourage the use of local labour, services, goods and sustainable food to support a low carbon economy.

·      Policy and General, action point 36; Establish formal governance arrangements to enable the use of section 106 / CIL to fund sustainable initiatives and programmes.

·      Policy and General, action point 39: Engage an additional dedicated officer time to work solely on the climate/sustainability agenda.

The following actions were rated amber and were expected to be delivered but possibly later than originally anticipated:

·      Housing & Buildings, action point 5: Refresh asset management strategy to focus on its operational premises to be fuelled by clean technology.

·      Land Use, action point 21: Undertake a full inventory of CBC owned land to identify how to maximise carbon capture.

·      Waste, action point25: Develop a sustainable trade waste policy

·      Waste, action point26: Develop a sustainable domestic waste policy.

·      Waste, action point27: Support and promote a community sharing and reuse scheme

·      Waste, action point28. Co-produce sustainable waste management guide and education material with local schools.

·      Engagement, action point 29: Develop and implement a comprehensive engagement and communication plan.

Members asked whether the appropriate species of trees would be planted depending on the area concerned. The Climate Change Officer agreed that this was important and would be considered.

The Climate Change Officer was asked whether there were significant differences and challenges for the trade and domestic waste policies which were action points 25 and 26 in the Waste section of the Action Plan. It was explained that there were differences in the composition of the waste but for a sustainable strategy it would make sense to keep these strategies together where possible. They had been listed separately in the Action Plan because the related to separate contracts with different obligations.

Members noted that there were areas in the borough without transport links and the Climate Change Officer advised that he was aware that this area needed to be worked on and he would learn more about the topic.

Members proposed that they would submit questions to the Climate Change Officer after the Forum meeting and the answers be provided at the next meeting.

Members asked whether there could be two meetings of the Climate Change Working Group before an Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum meeting. The Climate Change Officer confirmed that meetings of the Working Group could be arranged before Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum to discuss and challenge information and emphasised the importance of the stakeholder groups knowledge and specific expertise.

The Climate Change Officer was asked about the timescale of replacing vehicles with electric vehicles and whether the end dates of leases had been mapped, as referred to in action point 14. It was noted that electric commercial vehicles were not yet viable but it was also asked whether hydrogen cell vehicles would be tested. Members were advised that it was believed that the leases ended in 2023 and it was understood that conversations regarding hydrogen storage in the borough were taking place.

RESOLVED –

1.    That the Climate Change Action Plan report be noted.

2.    That the Climate Change Working Group be consulted prior to Overview and Performances Scrutiny Forum meetings.

3.    The any further questions would be provided to the Climate Change Officer and answers would be provided at the next meeting of the Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum.