Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer

This report provides an update and overview of progress made in delivering the Council’s refreshed CCAP during Quarter 1 2023-24 (April – June 2023)

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer that provided an update and overview of progress made in delivering the Council’s refreshed CCAP during Quarter 1 2023-24 (April – June 2023).

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background;

·         Key messages from the Quarter 1 Progress Report, noting that since 2020 the Council had remained within its carbon budget each year and the Quarter 1 report showed continued progress was being made with the Council on track to meet its 2025 target;

·         Information in relation to CO2 Emissions, reporting that the Council had used 88.5% of its 2022-23 carbon budget during the year (April 2022 – March 2023) and was therefore on track to remain within its carbon budget for this year; and

·         Key achievements.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·         Noting that the current Climate Change Action Plan ran until 2025, and asking had the worked commenced to plan for beyond April 2025;

·         Clarification was sought as to the carbon budget;

·         Further information was requested on the project delivered in partnership with Wenta and how this was promoted to small businesses;

·         More information was sought on the Refill Scheme, commenting that water filling stations needed to be provided to support this scheme, especially in those areas of high footfall; and

·         An update was sought on the actions in relation to Clean Air.

The Zero Carbon Manager stated that the carbon budget that had been set for the city was a science-based budget and had been calculated by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. She described that the Council’s biggest source of carbon emissions were related to the estate and that a lot of work had been done to address this, adding this activity had been regularly reported to the Committee. She acknowledged that reducing carbon emissions going forward in future years would be a challenge and the team were constantly reviewing progress against this work. She further commented on the reliance on grant funding which was often piecemeal to deliver this important programme. She commented that all opportunities to access additional funding were explored and work was underway to understand and unblock the barriers to attracting private finance to deliver this work at the scale required.

The Zero Carbon Manager further made reference to the ongoing current national conversation in relation to alternatives to gas. In response to a comment regarding a risk register she advised that all associated projects had a corresponding risk register.

The Zero Carbon Manager advised the Committee that planning work had commenced for the Climate Change Action Plan beyond April 2025 and this would be reported to the Committee at the appropriate time prior to its submission to Executive for formal adoption.

The Zero Carbon Manager advised that she would liaise with the Work and Skills Team to provide information on the Wenta project and this would be circulated following the meeting. In regard to the Refill Scheme, she commented that an exercise was underway to obtain base line data to understand the current provision across the city and to explore all opportunities to increase these.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport described that all opportunities to improve air quality were being utilised, including school streets and the use of green screens. She described that work was ongoing at a Greater Manchester level in relation to clean air and monitoring data was being submitted to the government. The Chair stated that a report on this work would be scheduled for consideration by the Committee.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that regular updates on the range of associated activities were provided to Members via the Zero Carbon Quarterly newsletter that was circulated to all Members. In conclusion she stated that the Council remained committed to the City Council becoming a zero carbon organisation by 2038.

Decision

To note the report.