Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer       

The Council declared a Climate Emergency in July 2019 and developed a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) 2020-25, which was approved by Executive in March 2020.

This report provides an update on progress in Quarter 3 2021-22 (October – December 2021)

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer that described that the Council had declared a Climate Emergency in July 2019 and developed a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) 2020-25, which was approved by Executive in March 2020. This report provided an update on the progress in Quarter 3 2021-22 (October – December 2021).

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

·         Welcoming the reported progress to date;

·         Requesting that questions and issues raised through the scrutiny process were tracked and reported;

·         The need to use the procurement process to address the use of plastics as the continued use and production of plastics contributed to the continued use of fossil fuels;

·         What were the number of journeys undertaken by air travel in Quarter One, noting that none were undertaken in Quarter Two;

·         Was the delivery of Social Value being monitored;

·         More work needed to be done to ensure all staff and Members undertook the Carbon Literacy Training;

·         Noting that a previous request had been made for a report that described how the Staff Travel Policy supported and contributed to the ambitions of the Action Plan and information also to include the policy applied to Members; 

·         Had there been any response from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund in response to the continued call to divest from fossil fuels;

·         Further information on the Green Skills Action Plan and the outcomes from the Climate Assembly were requested to be circulated for information;

·         A quarterly update report on recycling was requested;

·         Noting the issue of safety and street lighting, would an increase in luminosity result in a corresponding increase in carbon emissions; and

·         Noting that a report that summarised the topics relating to climate change that had been considered by each of the other scrutiny committees would be submitted for consideration at an appropriate time, noting the Chair’s comment that this would be in the next municipal year. 

In response to the comments and questions raised Officers responded by advising that the comments regarding plastics and the procurement process would be relayed to the relevant team; the issue of tracking and reporting progress against scrutiny comments would be reviewed to consider how this could be best reported in future updates to the Committee; and in response to a specific question asked regarding the emissions from the works to address the Council buildings emissions and how this was captured and recorded within the overall carbon budget, this would be investigated and reported back, noting that a report entitled ‘Manchester City Council Estates Decarbonisation’ was considered by the Committee at the November 2021 meeting.

In response to the question raised regarding air travel in Quarter One (April to June 2021) it was advised that the number was six domestic flights, and these were as a result of fulfilling statutory social service obligations. The Committee were further informed that a training session had been arranged for all Members who had not undertaken their Carbon Literacy to be delivered following the meeting of Council, 2 February 2022. With regard to staff training, this was not currently mandatory however discussions were ongoing with HR colleagues to progress this issue. An assurance was also provided that the monitoring of the delivery of Social Value would be undertaken.

In response to the question regarding emissions and street lighting, officers reported that if the brightness of the lights were increased this would increase the carbon emissions generated. The issue raised regarding safety was noted and officers advised that if there were specific issues of concern regarding a specific location individual cases could be investigated to review the current local arrangement and look at what steps could be taken to mitigate the concern.

The Executive Member for Environment acknowledged the comment and request for a report on how the Staff Travel Policy supported and contributed to the ambitions of the Action Plan and added that a separate briefing note to Members would be provided regarding the travel policy for Members. She further confirmed that the information requested on the Green Skills Action Plan and the outcomes from the Climate Assembly would be circulated to the Committee for information. With regard to the response from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and the continued call to divest from fossil fuels, she stated that a statement had been published on their webpage and the link to this would be circulated following the meeting to enable Members to locate this information and consider the response.

The Executive Member for Environment noted the request from the Committee for a regular quarterly report on recycling and said she would discuss this with Strategic Lead, Waste Recycling and Street Cleaning to agree how this could be best presented to the Committee.

Decision

The Committee recommend;

1.  That a report that summarises the topics relating to climate change that have been considered by each of the other scrutiny Committees is submitted for consideration at an appropriate time. 

2. That a quarterly report on recycling rates is submitted to the Committee for consideration.