Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Managing Director.

The Managing Director advised that this was the first progress report since the adoption of the Council’s Decarbonisation Plan. The Managing Director spoke to the report and outlined the progress made along with the actions of the Board.  The Council had made good progress but there was still a significant amount of work to be done to overcome the challenges presented by climate change.

In terms of the next steps, the Managing Director noted that further readiness assessments on the remaining transitions would be undertaken. It was anticipated that all of the readiness assessment will be completed during this financial year and progress on agreed actions would be monitored via the Council’s existing business planning process on an ongoing basis with updates provided on a quarterly basis. The Managing Director added that the Council was well placed to respond to the Welsh Government’s Net Zero Reporting for Local Authorities.

It was further reported that Blaenau Gwent was the first area in Wales to host a Climate Assembly and referred to the members briefing session which was held and the commitment given to publish a Council Response to the findings. This work was underway and would be reported to the Executive and Scrutiny Committee in due course. The Council was also taking a lead role in developing the response provided to the Climate Assembly on behalf of the Public Services Board which would be completed this autumn.

The Deputy Leader stressed the importance of Climate Change and advised that this report helped us to understand the work undertaken to date and further work to be achieved. The Deputy Leader noted that this matter was a worldwide issue and he felt that Blaenau Gwent would play its part. The work done to date placed the Authority in a good position to play our critical part in climate change and decarbonisation. There was a significant amount of work to be undertaken in our communities and as Elected Members we needed to play a part in this work to assist in reducing Blaenau Gwent’s carbon footprint.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted along with the progress made as presented (Option 1).