Agenda item

Consideration was given to report of the Managing Director.

The Managing Director presented the report which outlined the response to Welsh Government’s Net Zero reporting requirements, and sought comments on an initial response to the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly report.  The report also provided an update on the action plan development for the Decarbonisation Plan transitions.

The Managing Director spoke to the report and highlighted points contained therein as follows:

Welsh Government Net Zero Reporting

The Council had responded to Welsh Government’s Net Zero Reporting requirements at the end of October and this would form part of annual report to Welsh Government.

Section 2.5 of the report showed a fall in our carbon footprint of just over 3k tonnes of CO2e for 2020-21 which equated to a 6% reduction.  However, it was recognised that the Covid pandemic had contributed to this reduction, particularly in the way we are now working and delivering services and this would continue to be monitored in future years.  The Managing Director said this was a positive start but demonstrated that in order to reach the Net Zero target there was a lot of work to be done.

Section 6 of the report provided a breakdown of the reduction in our carbon across different sections of the Council.

Responding as a Council to the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly

Also included within the report was the Council’s proposed response to the recommendations of the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly.

The Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly was held in March 2021 and was the first of its kind in Wales.  A number of residents took part in the Assembly and recommendations were made.

The Council continued to take an active role in responding with our partner organisations from the Public Services Board, and attached to the report was the proposed response.  The Managing Director referred to Section 2.14 and said this was a real opportunity to continue to engage with members of the Climate Assembly, as it was recognised that climate change needed a whole population response and working with the community was very important to bring about change.  The report also highlighted the commitment to continue to engage with Climate Assembly members into the future.

Further Progress on Decarbonisation Plan Transitions

The Managing Director said the final aspect of the report was the action plan arising from the Council’s latest transition works on electricity, heating and procurement (works), as part of the Decarbonisation Plan which set out how we could reduce our organisation emissions across nine transitions.  Section 2.20 detailed the high level actions around energy use and the future of construction.

A Member said this was an excellent report and commended the Managing Director and the Team involved.  He referred to page 56 which stated that it was intended to have all public buildings supplied with low carbon heating by 2030.  He said this was a very ambitious target and questioned the viability of Anvil Court moving forward, as it was a leased building.  He asked what energy category the building was currently in, the life expectancy of the building; and what improvements would be required to achieve the low carbon heating target.

In response the Corporate Director Regeneration & Community Services said Anvil Court was energy rated ‘C’.  He said work was being done to determine what works would be required across all our buildings and this would lead to a number of decisions moving forward.

Another Member asked whether funding would be available from Welsh Government to help achieve these targets.

The Managing Director said significant investment would be required across the Council’s property portfolio, including schools, as Welsh Government had made a commitment through its 21^st Century Schools Programme that any new school must be built to net zero carbon standard; and there were a number of existing schools that would need refurbishment.  Section 2.20 of the report highlighted the work being done to understand the condition of current buildings and what work would be needed to bring them up to standard.  The Managing Director confirmed that some of this work would be funded through the Council’s capital programme, but she assured that Officers would seek funding opportunities to support our own investment, and while Welsh Government had not provided any indication of funding commitment at this stage this may change during upcoming budget process. 

In response to a further question the Managing Director said the work outlined in the report would be undertaken early 2022.

A Member commended the report, but asked whether there was sufficient capacity and expertise within the Council to undertake this significant piece of work.

The Managing Director confirmed that she led on the Decarbonisation Board, and the Team was pivotal to that and included all services of the Council, and recently the Aneurin Leisure Trust.  Work was also being done to embed the action plan into the business planning process across all services of the Council moving forward, and make the decarbonisation agenda ‘business as usual’ in terms of how we deliver our services.  In terms of the expertise required, she confirmed that external support would be required in developing parts of the plan and the transformation fund would be used to support and boost capacity for specific pieces of work.

The Service Manager Policy & Partnerships said this was an organisational approach, including Members in their scrutiny role.  He pointed out that decarbonisation would form part of the reporting framework for all reports to Committee and provide Members with an opportunity to challenge specific areas.  The structures set up in response to Bridging the Gap arrangements had appropriately embedded this work within the Council, and the Team would have corporate oversight moving forward.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and support the progress made and supports

the response to the Climate Assembly and submission of report to the Executive Committee (Option 1).