Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Waste Management, Green Spaces and Operational Planning and the Community Development Manager will be in attendance to provide an update on the progress in actioning the recommendations of the Carbon Management Plan Task Group.  (A copy of a form listing the Cabinet’s response to the Task Group’s recommendations is enclosed, together with details of updates received).

 

 

The Portfolio Holder for Waste Management, Green Spaces and Operational Planning attended the meeting to provide an update on the recommendations made by the Carbon Management Plan Task Group.  Previous updates had been received at Panel meetings held on 7 December 2011 and 6 March 2012.

 

Updates on each of the Task Group’s recommendations, and additional information, was provided as follows:

 

1.      That a Carbon Reduction policy, together with performance indicators for individual buildings, vehicle emissions etc, be formally adopted.

 

• The Performance Management Team had advised against undertaking a policy, but to incorporate information into the Performance Management System.  The general corporate view and steer was not to have separate policies when there was already a plan in place.

 

• Data was collected for each of the buildings however, targets had not been set.  There would need to be specific targets for each of the separate buildings as some had already made reductions.

 

• The potential for reduction for each building would need to be assessed if specific targets were to be set for each one.  This would depend how much had already been done to reduce energy consumption and how the energy was used there.

 

2.      That the Policy be made a corporate priority with overall responsibility identified at Director level.

 

• Carbon Reduction was a priority in the corporate plan.  The Assistant Chief Executive (at Director level) and the Joint Community Development Manager had now taken over responsibility for carbon reduction, and the Carbon Management Officer had also been given more authority within her role.

 

3.      That an authority wide awareness of the need to reduce energy consumption and consequently cost be created and enforced.

 

• As part of the Big Energy Saving Week in October 2012, an e-bulletin was produced giving energy saving tips for work and home situations, and ‘The Green Office’ set up to show how an office could be more environmentally friendly.  The branding used for this would also be used to distribute the message further across the organisation and could be used to get the message out to wider audiences, including community groups and businesses.

 

4.      That the data required be identified, to be collected so that energy performance for individual buildings (or part of buildings where these were sublet) could be properly monitored.

 

• Some additional sites were now having meter readings taken annually.  There had been difficulties with the automatic metering project run through Lincolnshire County Council, and data had not yet been made available by the software provider.

 

• With regard to service charges for rented areas, these were based on running costs of the building at the time and then apportioned for their occupied areas and fixed for the terms of their leases.

 

5.      That the thermal efficiency of all of the Council’s buildings and housing stock be brought up to the highest modern standards, subject to consideration of the cost implications.

 

• At the Priory Road offices, the roof space of the ‘new’ building was insulated, and quotes had been received by the Property Team for insulation of the roof space and cavity walls for the ‘old’ building.

 

• In addition, a quote had been received for the insulation of the roof space at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum.

 

• Housing stock did not form part of the Carbon Management Plan and had not been part of the Carbon Management Officer’s monitoring, however, the following requested update was provided:

 

 

• The work programme was now out of date, as it was put together in late 2011.  A business planning day had taken place on 7 March 2013 to renew the work programme.

 

6.      That the authority engage with companies, at no additional cost, to find ways of replacing lighting, for example, and equipment to reduce energy costs.

 

• An LED lighting trial had been carried out for the 600mm fittings at Priority Road offices, with the rest of the fittings due to be installed, starting within a month.  Lighting at the Castle Sports Centre was also being investigated, to upgrade to LED if possible.

 

7.      That preparations be made for the delivery of a Carbon Reduction policy, to be the responsibility of one Portfolio Holder or Champion.

 

8.      That the East Lindsey Carbon Management Plan be reviewed, to see what could be learnt from it.

 

• Project ideas and best practice across the districts were discussed at county carbon management meetings. 

 

• A number of projects had been jointly run through the county-wide group – Voltage Optimisation (information found from the Lincolnshire-wide schemes was used to implement SHDC’s own installation), Automatic Metering (still be to completed as there were problems with the software company) and PV installations (the Authority was not in a position to take up the installations, due to work being done on the roof of the South Holland Centre at the time of tender).

 

9.      That a joined up approach to carbon management between South Holland District Council and Breckland District Council be ensured.

 

• There were few comparisons that could be made between the energy requirements at South Holland District Council and Breckland District Council, due to the nature of the buildings and the way the two councils worked.  Dialogue had been taking place between Breckland and South Holland Officers, and information shared.  Whilst any information was readily exchanged between the two districts, there were many differences between the ways buildings and vehicles, for example, were managed.

 

• The Waste Collection, Street Cleansing and Grounds Maintenance Services were outsourced at Breckland District Council, but the equivalent services were provided in-house at South Holland District Council.  The Breckland leisure centres were provided under a private finance initiative and therefore little control was available to the Council.  The decision on the future of the Castle Sports Complex in South Holland had been deferred for two years.

 

10.That the Council’s ‘Climate Change Reserve’ be used to fund suitable carbon management projects and other related work for example, better roof insulation or inner lobbies to the entrance doors at Priory Road; and

 

• There was still money in the Climate Change Reserve (£67,000 as at the end of March 2012), some of which (£24,610) had been allocated to upgrade the lighting at the Priory Road offices.

 

11.That the use of alternative fuels for Council vehicles, in particular refuse collection vehicles as a means of improving energy efficiency and costs and reducing emissions, be considered.

 

• Weekly Collection Support Scheme funding was secured, part of which was for new, more efficient vehicles, the procurement of which started in 2013/14.  A total of 14 vehicles would be purchased over the 2 years.

 

In addition to the Task Group’s recommendations, updates were received on issues raised at a previous meeting:

 

• Solar panel project – A display panel had now been installed in the atrium at the Priory Road offices, a few issues were to be resolved for it to be in full working order.
• Update of the heating system at the Priory Road offices – A heating engineer, from a different company than the usual engineers used, had been contacted by the Carbon Management Officer.  As the boilers had to work too hard as only two of them were firing, heat could not be supplied effectively for the building, resulting in cold areas.  This had been rectified but was likely to result in an increase in gas use.  It was hoped that as a result, there would be less need for the use of electric fan heaters.

 

During the update, members of the Panel raised the following issues:

 

• Recommendation 4 – It was important that relevant officers communicated with the appropriate department at Lincolnshire County Council with regard to the automatic metering project, in order for this to move forward.
• Recommendation 4 - With regard to service charges for rented areas within the Priory Road offices, these should not be set and fixed at the start of the period.  A cost escalator needed to be built in to allow for probable rises in the cost of fuel and reduction in fuel usage when energy was saved.  Rental arrangements needed to be looked at more closely to ensure that neither party was disadvantaged by changes in cost/usage.
• Recommendation 5 - With regard to insulation of the roof space and cavity walls for the ‘old’ building, the Panel asked how it could help to progress this.  The Portfolio Holder advised that at the Panel’s request, he could request the Carbon Management Officer to pursue this project, and the Panel agreed that this should be done.
• Recommendation 5 – There should be a work plan for carbon management improvements to the council housing stock similar to existing improvement schemes such as kitchen replacements.
• Recommendation 5 – Thermal imaging should be undertaken at the Castle Sports Centre and the bowls hall to ascertain its levels of carbon efficiency and to identify areas for improvement.
• Members suggested that a visit to the recycling centre used by the Authority could be useful to members, to provide an understanding of processes involved.

 

DECISION:

 

 

a)     That the update provided by the Portfolio Holder for Waste Management, Green Spaces and Operational Planning be noted;

 

b)     That the issues raised by the Panel during the update be noted and actioned where appropriate; and

 

c)      That the Portfolio Holder for Waste Management, Green Spaces and Operational Planning, and the Joint Community Development Manager, be requested to attend a meeting in six months time to provide the Panel with a further update on progress.

 

(The Portfolio Holder for Waste Management, Green Spaces and Operational Planning left the meeting following discussion of the above item.)