Agenda item

Report of the Director of Built Environment.

Link to Appendix referred to within the report:-

http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s36619/CarbonMgtPlanAnnex1.pdf.pdf

Further to Minute No.43, of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) held on 15 November 2011 - Work Programme Key Decision Forward Plan.  Members were reminded that the Committee had requested to pre-scrutinise the above item which had appeared on the Council’s Key Decision Forward Plan.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Built Environment which proposed the adoption of a Carbon Management Plan for Sefton.  It was reported that the proposed plan should reduce emissions and associated consumptions from the Council estate by 25% by 2016.

The report highlighted that Sefton Council were the first in Merseyside to develop a Carbon Management Plan back in 2006 and had delivered 14% reduction in carbon emissions and associated costs within 3 years, above its original target.

It was reported that the Carbon Management Plan, Appendix 1 to the report, defined a strategic and practical process that Sefton Council would take to reduce carbon emissions and meet the targets set.  The plan sought to adopt a whole new business approach, meaning that no individual Council service would be wholly responsible, and that the objectives of carbon reduction be embedded across all Council activities.

The report highlighted the following advantages to a Carbon Management Plan:-

·        Reduced energy costs against steeply rising market.

·        Reduced liability and greater accuracy for Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme reporting.

·        Sustainable and transparent working practices.

·        Greater responsibility and understanding of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It was reported that the Carbon Management Plan should act as a central pillar to the range of policies and working practices the Council operates that has enabled Sefton to be a more sustainable authority. 

The report sought to endorse and embed the Carbon Management Plan in Council Policy.  Measurements were proposed, in the business plan, whereby carbon management could be treated as a core element of all Sefton’s services ensuring maximum financial and carbon savings could be achieved.

Members referred to the new internationally recognised standard “The Covenant of Mayors” which had recently been developed and sought clarification.

It was reported that signatory to the “Covenant of Mayors” standard was a lever to access new sources of funding.  It was also highlighted that Sefton Council may have an option to either sign up to the covenant of Mayors on its own or as a joint signatory with the Liverpool City Region.

It was further reported that the Council could not sign up jointly and individually and so would need to choose between the merits of either approach.

RESOLVED: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services be recommended that the Cabinet:-

(1)       agree as Sefton Council corporate policy that “Sefton Council will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from its activities by 25% from the 2009/10 baseline by 2016 through delivery of the 2011-2016 Carbon Management Plan”;

(2)       agree as Sefton Council corporate policy that “Carbon Management be a common thread integrated through all service plans and binds together existing and future policies/strategies under a single umbrella of Carbon Management”;

(3)       adopts the Carbon Management Plan 2011-2016, as detailed in Annex 1 to the report;

(4)       agree as Sefton wide policy that “Sefton Council will meet challenges and seize opportunities to enable households, businesses and all stakeholders to reduce their reliance on costly utility supplies, transport costs, reduce carbon emissions, maximise available resources and services for Seftons Communities to bring tangible benefits to Sefton’s economy”; and

(5)       approves the development of a Sefton Sustainable Energy Action Plan that considers carbon reduction and economic development progress for the maximum benefit of Sefton communities and meets the criteria of the Covenant of Mayors.