Agenda item

The Committee has had a long standing interest in the work of the Energy, Change and Opportunity Team. In March, 2011 members received a report outlining the Carbon Reduction Commitments (CRC) of the Council and recognising this work a further update is attached which informs the Committee of the Council’s first submission under the CRC Scheme.

The Committee is asked to note report provided and comment as appropriate.

The Chairman invited the Head of Climate Change and the Cabinet member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services to update the committee on the Council’s first submission under the Carbon Reduction Commitments (CRC) scheme.

The Head of Climate Change highlighted the following points:

·         November’s publication of results would mark the first time council had been asked to submit its carbon footprint reduction efforts in this way.

·         Officers estimated Wiltshire would place at the top of the bottom quartile of all organisations, based on an initial analysis undertaken by the Local Government Improvement Unit (LGiU).

·         Only emissions from static sources were taken into account by the scheme.

·         Schools accounted for 48% of the Council’s CRC emissions in 2010/11 (approximately 48,000 tonnes CO₂, rising to a projected 60% the following year.

·         The Council planned a net investment of £3.5 million over the next 5 years for energy efficiency.

·         The first year’s league tables were based on two proxy measures of success – namely the proportion of emissions covered by smart meters and the Carbon Trust Standard (an accreditation scheme).

The Cabinet member then highlighted the importance of the redevelopment of the Council’s County Hall site, which would deliver approximately 40% energy efficiency savings compared with the current building, and facilitate the disposal of various other council buildings.

In relation to schools’ emissions, the emissions of Wiltshire’s Academy schools did form part of the council’s measured carbon output, although the council’s direct control over these schools was limited. Discussions were also being held with all schools across the county regarding the actual level of out-of-hours lighting needed to ensure security.

It was also confirmed by the Cabinet member that the Council was launching a programme to educate children in Wiltshire’s schools and an officer was in place to deliver this. Improvements to improve insulation in schools and investigations into the possible use of biomass-powered combined heat and power plants in Schools and leisure sites are ongoing.

Although Street Lighting was not considered under the CRC scheme, it was the subject of a separate invest-to-save programme.

The committee recommended that, if it did not already, Wiltshire’s statement to be submitted to the CRC portal should emphasise the large, sometimes rural nature of the Council, and the extant measures taken to address emissions.

Campaigns to drive behavioural change had begun across the Council staff and members, in particular the ‘Green Champions’ programme amongst staff and efforts to synchronise and compress meetings of the Cabinet and ELT to avoid unnecessary travel where necessary.

The Cabinet member was mindful of the need to balance the carbon reduction benefits of selling property with his duty to obtain best value for the council. The committee was assured that the Council was flexible and responded to market conditions when choosing whether to sell, let, lease or retain property.

The committee expressed an interest in the payback times of the investments to be made over the next five years. It was explained that for most projects under consideration this was 4-5 years, however larger scale renewable energy generation schemes generally had longer pay-back periods and the efficacy of various schemes was considered by the officer transformation board.

Resolved:

1)    To thank the Cabinet member and officer for their attendance and for the update provided.

2)    To request that reports from the ECO board be circulated to the committee.

3)    To invite an update to return to the Committee in early 2012, which would detail the effects of behavioural change efforts on Carbon Reduction; include details of the renewable energy projects currently active / planned by the Council; and to give precise figures of the expected benefits of the ongoing Transformation programmes (including the County Hall re-fit).