Report of Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer

Manchester City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 sets out the actions that need to be delivered to ensure that the Council plays its full part in delivering the city’s zero carbon ambition. The Plan includes the actions which will achieve a 50% reduction in the Council’s direct CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2025, as well as the enabling and influencing actions which will support the city’s zero carbon ambitions.  

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer that described the actions which would achieve a 50% reduction in the Council’s direct CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2025, as well as the enabling and influencing actions which will support the city’s zero carbon ambitions.  

The Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         The Plan made a number of specific commitments;

·         A summary of the estimated savings which would need to be achieved over the next 5 years;

·         The different roles the Council had including enabling and influencing, reducing direct emissions and reducing indirect emissions;

·         Noting that additional revenue and capital funding had been identified to respond to the 10 July 2019 Climate Emergency Declaration and to deliver the Plan;

·         Presenting the table of actions;

·         A summary of climate change research and insight;

·         A summary of the second Youth Climate Action Summit that took place on the17 January 2020; and

·         A Summary of policy and funding asks of Greater Manchester and government.

The Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport commented that following feedback from the Committee, the plan had been updated to include saving metrics in tonnes, a quarterly update against the actions would be produced and an annual carbon savings report would be produced. She further thanked Members and Officers for their work in bringing this plan together.

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

·         Noting the risk to future European funding arrangements;

·         Local events and meetings on the issue of climate change should be organised across all wards to engage with local residents;

·         Welcoming the Plan as presented and noting the inclusion of metrics in tonnes;

·         Further information was sought on the Phase 2 Carbon Reduction Plan for the Council’s operational estate;

·         What was being done to understand the condition of housing stock within the Private Rented Sector;

·         The approach to planting new trees; and

·         Had there been a skills audit undertaken to ensure the correct work force was available or trained to deliver this agenda.

In response to the comments expressed regarding future European funding arrangements the Strategic Lead Policy and Partnerships informed the Committee that confirmation was still required regarding future access to Horizon 2020 funding. He described that work continued with other Core Cities and Euro cities to understand the options for future funding streams to support this activity. In response to the other comments he stated that the Private Rented Sector was a diverse housing sector and the proposed stock condition survey was proposed to provide a better understanding of this sector. In response to the issue of trees, he stated that the challenge would be to accurately record the numbers of new trees planted, especially if they were planted on private land. He further commented that the Council had a Tree Action Plan and that a Tree Opportunity Mapping assessment would inform the planting to ensure that the appropriate species of trees were planted.

The Head of Corporate Estate and Facilities provided an overview of the anticipated activities relating to Phase 2 of the actions to reduce CO₂ emissions from the Council’s operational estate by a further 50% reduction between 2025 and 2030. He informed Members that they would be kept informed of this work as this developed.

The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer described that there were many positive examples of resident engagement around the issue of climate change and ward plans would incorporate climate change actions.

In response to the question regarding a skills audit across the city to deliver the climate change agenda, the Chair informed the Committee that the Economy Scrutiny Committee had considered this item at a recent meeting and requested that the Scrutiny Support Officer circulate those reports to the Members for information. The Strategic Lead Policy and Partnerships stated that the Work and Skills Board oversaw this activity and that a ‘Skills for a Zero Carbon Economy’ subgroup had been established.

The Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport reiterated the importance of delivering actions and reducing emissions in the next five years. She stated Manchester had developed an ambitious, informed and visionary plan for the next five years to respond to the climate emergency. She stated that the government had failed to respond adequately to the climate emergency and she called upon the government to establish a dedicated Climate Emergency Budget to support Manchester and other local authorities to respond to climate change.  

The Chair advised that updates on the Action Plan would continue to be received by the Committee and the Climate Change Subgroup would continue to monitor specific aspects of the action plan in further detail.

Decisions

The Committee;

1. Note of the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25.

2. Endorse the recommendations that Executive:

1.    Adopt the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25.

2.    Delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport, to update and amend the action plan as necessary. Future editions of the action plan to be reported to the Neighbourhoods and Environment Scrutiny Committee and published on the Council’s website at: www.manchester.gov.uk/zerocarbon