Agenda item

To receive questions from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order No. 12.

Question submitted by Dr Dawn Ward:

What financial and informative support do the council plan to offer to home owners to enable them to make the necessary steps needed to allow the LA area and the UK as a whole to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050, such as taking steps to ensure home owners are aware they could also qualify for free external insulation if they are on streets which have LA homes undergoing the same?

Question submitted by Darryl Cowley:

The government statistics suggest that Chesterfield Borough’s carbon emissions (within the scope of influence of the Local Authority) were 417 million tonnes in 2019, 8% lower than 2018).  What is the council’s estimate of how much of this carbon will be reduced by the full implementation of the Council’s Climate Action Plan, and how much carbon has been reduced as a result of the Plan since it was passed in March 2020?

Question submitted by Stephanie Futcher:

We have seen during the Covid crisis how willing people are to change their behaviour and work together for the public good if they have a clear understanding of the threats, the science and the what is required of them in an unprecedented situation. Two years on from your declaration of a climate emergency what steps have the council taken to assess public awareness of the dangers of the climate crisis and what key messages are you putting across to explain the science and harness residents' goodwill and cooperation in transforming their lives in this even greater crisis? 

Question submitted by Greg Hewitt:

In this crucial year for climate action with COP26 international climate talks coming up, other than the council magazine and social media, what will the council be doing to raise awareness, inspire and mobilise the Chesterfield public and businesses into taking action to reduce their carbon emissions?

Question submitted by Margaret Hersee:

Council members and officers have a central role in the life of Chesterfield residents and are therefore in a unique position to raise the level of debate in the community on climate issues.  This could be through daily interactions with the public and, in addition, through the potential of holding and contributing towards local community events.

The Council’s Climate Action Plan states it will “Leverage internal communications and engagement channels to bring council officers and members on board and considering effect on climate in all that they do”.  One way of effectively helping to deliver this aim would be for Chesterfield Borough Councillors to undergo Carbon Literacy training.  As of end June 2021, how many Chesterfield Borough Councillors have undergone Carbon Literacy training and by which date do you expect that all Councillors will have undergone such training?

Question submitted by Transition Chesterfield:

Road transport (mainly cars) is one of the biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions in the borough and emissions have flatlined in recent years. The Committee on Climate Change and the government have both acknowledged that we need to use our cars less to achieve carbon targets. Both for climate reasons, and for the quarter of households in Chesterfield that don't have a car, we need to provide affordable, convenient and safe alternatives to travel such as improved public transport, and segregated walking and cycling routes. One of the actions in the Climate Action Plan was to “commission a strategic assessment of integrated Transport within the Borough to support our communities making the transition to sustainable modes of transport.” We have been told that the Council has now commissioned this assessment. What is the scope and aims of the assessment, ie the terms of reference and who is conducting this assessment? 

Question submitted by Alistair Meikle:

What progress has been made about the railway station masterplan following the completion of the public consultation?

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Dr Dawn Ward:

“What financial and informative support do the council plan to offer to homeowners to enable them to make the necessary steps needed to allow the LA area and the UK as a whole to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050, such as taking steps to ensure homeowners are aware they could also qualify for free external insulation if they are on streets which have LA homes undergoing the same?”

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response advising that the Council had been successful in securing almost £1.5 million from the Green Homes Grant scheme. 21 properties had already been assessed and workplans developed, and a targeted approach would be implemented for the next tranche of properties. The Council would continue to apply for further funding and advice for residents would be available via the Council’s website, social media channels and Your Chesterfield magazine, and also direct from the private sector housing team. Councillor Serjeant affirmed that the Council is committed to helping to influence positive change in the actions of the borough’s homeowners, private sector landlords and private sector tenants, and to also improving the energy efficiency of the 9,000 homes for which the council is itself the landlord.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Darryl Cowley:

“The government statistics suggest that Chesterfield Borough’s carbon emissions (within the scope of influence of the Local Authority) were 417 million tonnes in 2019, 8% lower than 2018).  What is the council’s estimate of how much of this carbon will be reduced by the full implementation of the Council’s Climate Action Plan, and how much carbon has been reduced as a result of the Plan since it was passed in March 2020? Given that the Tyndall Carbon budget suggests Chesterfield needs to deliver cuts in emissions averaging a minimum of -13.3% per year to deliver a Paris aligned carbon budget what additional action will be taken to meet this shortfall?”

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response confirming that the most recent figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy showed the total emissions for Chesterfield Borough in 2019 stood at 417,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent; a relatively low annual per capita figure, 15% below the national average. Through its Climate Change Action Plan, the Council had committed resources to multiple actions to reduce its carbon emissions. The Council was also actively developing options for a carbon accounting protocol and calling upon Government to establish a clear national framework for carbon accounting and reporting.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked by Stephanie Futcher:

“We have seen during the Covid crisis how willing people are to change their behaviour and work together for the public good if they have a clear understanding of the threats, the science and what is required of them in an unprecedented situation. Two years on from your declaration of a climate emergency what steps have the council taken to assess public awareness of the dangers of the climate crisis and what key messages are you putting across to explain the science and harness residents' goodwill and cooperation in transforming their lives in this even greater crisis? What training are you providing for staff and members in the communication skills necessary to meet this challenge?”

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response confirming that the Council had a comprehensive climate change communications and engagement strategy and was working hard to make climate change messaging integral to all its activities and communications while also supporting the work of partners. A wide variety of climate change themed content had been promoted through the Council’s social media channels over just the past few weeks. Councillor Serjeant spoke of the importance of engaging with children and young people and cited the example of a recent design challenge that the Council had run in partnership with local schools and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo.

Several senior officers had already received carbon literacy training. The plan was to cascade the training through the management tiers to frontline staff using ‘a train the trainer’ approach. Councillor Serjeant also confirmed that elected members would start to receive carbon literacy training from September.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Greg Hewitt:

“In this crucial year for climate action with COP26 international climate talks coming up, other than the council magazine and social media, what will the council be doing to raise awareness, inspire and mobilise the Chesterfield public and businesses into taking action to reduce their carbon emissions?”

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response confirming that the Council had a comprehensive climate change communications and engagement strategy and was working hard to make climate change messaging integral to all its activities and communications. An example of this was the recent Chesterfield in Bloom campaign, which reached out to thousands of people across the Borough. The theme for 2021 was climate change and recycling.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Margaret Hersee:

“Council members and officers have a central role in the life of Chesterfield residents and are therefore in a unique position to raise the level of debate in the community on climate issues. This could be through daily interactions with the public and, in addition, through the potential of holding and contributing towards local community events. The Council’s Climate Action Plan states it will “Leverage internal communications and engagement channels to bring council officers and members on board and considering effect on climate in all that they do”. One way of effectively helping to deliver this aim would be for Chesterfield Borough Councillors to undergo Carbon Literacy training. As of end June 2021, how many Chesterfield Borough Councillors have undergone Carbon Literacy training and by which date do you expect that all Councillors will have undergone such training?”

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response advising that several senior officers had already received carbon literacy training and that plans were in place for the training to be cascaded down through the organisation using a phased approach designed to reach all Council staff. Twenty places had been secured for elected members to receive the training in September with the rest to receive the training later this calendar year.

Councillor Serjeant referenced the Council’s “Year of the Outdoors” project, which encouraged Chesterfield residents to reduce their carbon footprint by using active travel, accessing local provision and growing their own food.

School children had been taking part in sustainability challenges in partnership with local businesses, and the Council’s Local Democracy campaign in 2021/22 had climate change as its theme. The Council was also encouraging people to shop local through its “Love Chesterfield” campaign to help reduce their individual carbon travel footprints.

Through these activities and many more besides the Council hoped to enable residents, businesses and visitors to make active choices about reducing their carbon emissions.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Lisa Hopkinson:

“Road transport (mainly cars) is one of the biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions in the borough and emissions have flatlined in recent years. The Committee on Climate Change and the government have both acknowledged that we need to use our cars less to achieve carbon targets. Both for climate reasons, and for the quarter of households in Chesterfield that don't have a car, we need to provide affordable, convenient and safe alternatives to travel such as improved public transport, and segregated walking and cycling routes. One of the actions in the Climate Action Plan was to “commission a strategic assessment of integrated Transport within the Borough to support our communities making the transition to sustainable modes of transport.” We have been told that the Council has now commissioned this assessment. What is the scope and aims of the assessment i.e., the terms of reference and who is conducting this assessment?”  

Councillor Serjeant provided a verbal response affirming that the Council had been working on a traffic model to better inform the work involved in commissioning a strategic assessment of integrated transport and that model had been completed. Derbyshire County Council was separately planning to produce an Integrated Transport Plan for Derbyshire and the intention was to also feed into and influence the work being carried out at a county level. The aims and objectives of the strategic assessment were now in draft form, and these were now subject to agreement with key stakeholders.

Councillor Serjeant listed the 3 draft aims for the strategic assessment as being; to deliver sustainable transport priorities that respond to the climate emergency, secondly to set out how strategic objectives for transport and future projects could be delivered, finally, to identify how the Council will support and implement actions through the vehicle of an Integrated Transport Plan.

Councillor Serjeant also referenced the Council’s Local Plan, which sought to include the proposed Chesterfield Strategic Cycle Network into decision making on new development and regeneration. The Council would also be working with Derbyshire County Council on the development of a Bus Service Improvement Plan as part of the National Bus Strategy.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked on behalf of Alistair Meikle:

“What progress has been made about the railway station masterplan following the completion of the public consultation?”

Councillor Dean Collins provided a verbal response confirming that the public consultation had ended on 8 March 2021. The consultation responses had been used to inform the final version of the railway station masterplan, which had been approved by the Council’s Cabinet on 20 July 2021. Councillor Collins added that the new station link road had now received planning approval and the demolition of the former Chesterfield Hotel was expected to take place later this calendar year.