Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer

This report is the third Annual Report of the Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 and provides an overview of progress made during the year 2022-23.

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer that presented the third Annual Report of the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) 2020-25.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background;

·         Noting that this report brought together updates to the Committee provided over the last 12 months (April 22 – March 23) into a single report and highlighted progress made during this time against the CCAP Work Plan 2022-23 as well as progress made on the Council’s direct carbon emissions;

·         Key messages;

·         Key achievements; and

·         Summary and next steps.

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

·         Further information was sought regarding the reported sustainable practices within Highways;

·         Recognising the significant challenges post 2025 to continue delivering on this important work and deliver the stated ambition for the organisation to become zero carbon by 2038 at the latest;

·         Request that comparative data and analysis of the communications strategy was needed to understand the impact on behaviour change, recognising that this could be difficult to quantify and report;

·         Analysis as to the impact of the poster and billboard campaigns was requested;

·         Commenting that Active Travel schemes needed to be coordinated and linked up with neighbouring authority schemes to deliver connectivity across the city region;

·         A request for information on the next round of tree planting; and

·         Commenting on the need to decarbonise the national electricity grid.

The Principal Resources and Programmes Officer, Zero Carbon Team informed the Committee that Scope 3 emissions associated with Highways (Scope 3 encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself and were not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it's indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain) were not accounted in the carbon budget. The Chair commented that responsibility for Highways sat within the remit of the Economy and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee and that she would speak with the Chair to discuss bringing a report on this area of activity to that Committee.

The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer acknowledged the discussion regarding communications campaigns and informed the Committee that a substantive report was scheduled for consideration at the December meeting. Similarly, a report on a Power Purchase Agreement was listed for the November meeting. The Chair referred to a comment made regarding young people and climate change and advised that this had been considered recently by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and asked that the Scrutiny Support Officer circulate the report that had been considered to all Committee members for information.

The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer noted the comments regarding Active Travel and commented that the next stage of planning around this activity would include consideration of joining up schemes as part of wider infrastructure planning considerations. She further commented that she shared Members’ disappointment in relation to national policy towards decarbonisation of the national electricity grid.

The Zero Carbon Manager advised the Committee that discussions and planning were ongoing regarding establishing an action plan post 2025, acknowledging the comment from a Member regarding the importance of adaptation and resilience as part of these discussions.

The Zero Carbon Manager further responded to questions regarding resident engagement by advising that a report on Neighbourhood Teams Engagement with Residents was scheduled for consideration at the December meeting.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that work across Greater Manchester was ongoing in relation to Active Travel and expressed her frustration that funding to deliver such schemes was piecemeal and inadequate to deliver the ambitions of the city region, however lobbying of government would continue on this subject. She advised that a report on the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan was scheduled for the November meeting, and she further acknowledged the comment made regarding the need to promote diversity when encouraging cycling.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport informed the Committee that a report on the Tree and Woodland Action Plan was listed for consideration at the November meeting, adding that Members were informed via the regular Member communication channels when any planting of trees in their ward was scheduled.

The Chair concluded this item of business by acknowledging the work delivered by all the officers working in this area of activity and paid tribute to their continued dedication to this important work.

Decision

To note the report.