Issue - meetings

LBB’s Carbon Programme Manager attended the meeting to present the report and answer questions.

Members heard that the Executive had established a Carbon Management Programme (CMP) in 2008, to take action to reduce energy consumption, revenue costs and carbon emissions. It was the aim of the Council to be net carbon zero by 2029, and the report outlined the proposed way forward in achieving the target.

A Member referred to section 3.13 of the report which referred to ‘LBB’s forthcoming annual CMP3 report’. He asked when this report would be published. The Carbon Programme Manager responded that the report was due in about 2/3 months’ time.

The Vice Chairman stated that the net zero carbon action plan report was a very interesting and good report that was very clear and logical. He was encouraged by the progress that had been made and by the fact that external funding was available to assist the Council with the implementation of whatever measures were necessary to implement the net zero carbon action plan. He encouraged officers to seek external funding from whatever sources were possible. He commented that in his interaction with the public, it seemed to be the case that residents were unaware of the Council’s commitment to the net zero carbon action plan. He wondered how this could be rectified.

The Carbon Program Manager responded that the department was looking at ways to improve communications. This included improving communications via the Council's website, using digital display boards and social media.

A discussion took place about the decrease in emissions related to waste, paper, and the Council’s vehicle fleet. It was noted that fleet emissions had decreased because the Council had outsourced its fleet of vehicle gritters. The Chairman asked why it was taking so long to finish the plan with respect to changing the remaining street lights that had not yet been changed; not only would this improve the environment, but would also yield savings. He wanted to see this move rapidly forward to completion. The Carbon Programme Manager answered that so far (with respect to street lighting) the Council had chosen ‘big winners’ in terms of benefit to the environment and to cost savings. The remaining 10,000 street lights may not yield such big savings; this was something that would need to be costed out. 

A discussion took place concerning the matter of whether or not home workers were responsible for their own emissions. A Member suggested that when calculating the emissions of the Council, the emissions of home workers should be included.

A Member suggested that a more direct correlation be drawn between costs and the reduction in carbon emissions. She also felt that clear ‘goalposts’ had not been identified in the report and so it was difficult to ascertain exactly what progress was being made, and where exactly carbon emissions were being reduced. She asked for a more direct correlation in future reports to outline, progress, costs and timescales. She requested that in future reports, it would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74