Agenda item

The report will follow in a supplementary pack for the meeting after it has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 18 November).

The Climate Change Manager presented the Carbon Reduction Strategy and Implementation Plan Annual Review for the consideration of Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members were reminded that the Carbon Reduction Strategy had been introduced two years’ previously. At the time that the strategy was introduced, Members had agreed that progress should be monitored on an annual basis and that a new strategy should be presented every three years.  The next new strategy was due to be created for 2025-26.

During the presentation, the recent actions and updates from the review of the Carbon Reduction Implementation Plan were covered in detail with information highlighted including:

• Use of low carbon fleet fuel options – It was noted that Environmental Services use of fuel meant that currently one fourth of fuel used by the Council’s fleet was hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), Using HVO could save up to 90 per cent of the lifetime carbon emissions as compared to traditional diesel. Environmental Services were preparing to increase the frequency of HVO only tanker deliveries to 1 in every 2. It was asked what the financial implication of increasing HVO frequency given fluctuations in HVO costs. It was undertaken that relevant officers would be contacted to obtain the cost-benefit analysis for this.

• Improve energy efficiency of current housing stock – It was reported that these improvements were being made through use of Government funding, including most recently through Sustainable Warmth Competition Local Authority Delivery Phase 3 (LAD3) funding which the Council had been successful in obtaining.

• Crematorium works – Plans are in place to further improve the BEMS at the Crematorium and Abbey Stadium to improve the efficiency of the heat recovery system in place between the Crematorium and Abbey Stadium. Additionally, there are further plans to upgrade the lighting system to an LED system in the building.
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• EV charging - EV charging across Council-owned car parks  would be supported by the £2.1 million partnership with Zest to deliver EV charging infrastructure across the borough over the next 15 – 20 years. First charging points were due to be installed in Redditch in January 2025.

• Reducing impact of staff travel on the environment through use of video conferencing – It was noted that the Council had seen an increase in staff mileage claims over the last three financial years and further investigation was needed to understand why this was the case. It was noted that staff mileage claims did not cover home to office journeys.

• Recruitment for a Graduate Climate Change Officer – The recruitment for this role was ongoing. This role would support the development of the next iteration of RBC’s carbon reduction strategy and continuation of work with services across the Council to reduce their own carbon emissions.

• New strategy, to be developed in 2025, would be produced to monitor progress through to 2030, which was the target year for the Council to reach 50 per cent carbon emissions reduction.

Following the presentation, questions were raised regarding aspects of the report. It was asked what the Council could do to help businesses use solar panels technology. There were comments that it was preferable for solar panels to be utilised on roofs rather than on the ground as there were concerns around safety and unproductive use of otherwise arable land where solar battery farms were in place.

Officers explained that the Council was undertaking a small project with businesses at the Moons Moat North Industrial Estate to help prepare decarbonisation plans for some of the organisations on that site. As part of this, the project was looking at clean power, including solar, and the Council was assisting businesses at the site with showing clean energy options available and to consider what each of the businesses involved could adapt in their organisation.

Some Members highlighted that recycling rates were very poor in some parts of the Borough and asked what more the Council could do to raise awareness of recycling, particularly in communal bins. It was responded that recycling was not set as a specific target in the current Carbon Reduction Strategy but would be included in the next iteration. Work was being done by Environmental Services, particularly by refuse fleet teams to encourage recycling.

In terms of advising the community about recycling, a lot of work had been done in Batchley, around Lock Close and Cardy Close to remodel the way refuse collections were done in those areas. Officers undertook to contact the Assistant Director of Environmental and Housing Property Services with regard to lessons from work undertaken in those areas and whether these were having positive effect on recycling rates and could be rolled out to other parts of the Borough. It was noted that a number of years ago, Councillors had undertaken a task group review of waste collection including recycling. Members asked that the final report of that task group be circulated.

A question was asked as to whether the Council considered putting solar panels on the roofs of council car parks, to drive energy generation from those sites. It was noted that this question would be forwarded to the officers who were managing the contract with Zest to see whether this had been considered as an option.

Members asked about timescales and list of locations for the installation of electric charging points. It was responded that the start date for installation of the first charging points was January 2025 with locations chosen to be subject to viability studies before it was determined whether a given car park would be used. Members requested that they be provided with a list of car parks where EV charging points would be installed in the first tranche of the scheme starting in January 2025.

It was noted that staff mileage claims had been increasing despite the move to agile working. A point was raised about the potential negative effect of agile working in that council office buildings were underutilised while utilities still had to be supplied across all buildings. In response, it was stated that the Council’s Property Services team was working to ensure that council buildings were used to maximum effectiveness with reduced staff on sites. It was highlighted that efforts had been made to rent out space to other organisations in council buildings, particularly the Town Hall, which would result in more productive use of the buildings. It was also noted with regard to the Agile Working that the customer and service needs remained the overriding consideration behind that strategy.

RECOMMENDED that

The Council endorse the findings of this annual review of the Carbon Reduction Strategy (Appendix 2)