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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Matlock. View directions

Contact: Juliette Normington  Email: Juliette.Normington@derbyshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

39/22

Declarations of Interest

To receive Declarations of Interest (if any)

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

40/22

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 76 KB

To confirm the non-exempt minutes of the Improvement and Scrutiny - Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction meeting held on 10 October 2022.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – to confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Scrutiny – Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction committee held on 10 October 2022.

 

41/22

Public Questions pdf icon PDF 61 KB

30 minutes maximum in total for this item.  Questions may be submitted to be answered by the Scrutiny Committee or Council officers who are attending the meeting as witnesses, on any item that is within the scope of the Committee. Please see the procedure below for the submission of questions.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

42/22

Climate Change Strategy: Annual Review of Progress pdf icon PDF 687 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Caroline Toplis, Programme Manager – Climate Change introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and which provided an annual summary of progress against the delivery of Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy and the Council’s net zero targets.  The report provided a summary of the relevant national and regional policy, legislation and governance changes and updates, the progress made against the Council's net zero targets and each target and action within the Strategy, plus details on other key projects, initiatives and schemes. 

 

The report was accompanied by a presentation and highlighted elements and a breakdown of the Cabinet Annual report, which gave a summary of progress against delivery.  Key points from the report showed reductions in property, streetlighting and fleet carbon emissions  however, progress was slowing and the Council was facing a potential shortfall in necessary emissions by 2021/32.  These could be offset through renewable energy however the focus needed to remain on reducing emissions and the steps being taken towards this were discussed.

 

The Committee recognised that a lot had already been achieved however there were still some challenges ahead including the nationally recognised issue of the lack of bicycle infrastructure and the setting of more ambitious, local targets.  To aid understanding, Committee again requested that emission targets be expressed in more tangible ways rather than tonnage.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1.    Note the relevant national and regional policy, legislation and governance changes and updates over the past 12 months that might have implications on the Council's climate change;

 

2.    Note the progress being made against the Council's net zero target of 2032, or sooner, and the county’s net zero target of 2050, and the challenges being faced to reduce emissions from corporate property, streetlighting, core fleet and grey fleet;

 

3.    Note the progress being made against each target and action within the Strategy; and

 

4.    Note the other key projects, initiatives and schemes that are contributing to the Council's climate change and wider sustainability agenda and objectives.

43/22

Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Action Plan pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Caroline Toplis, Programme Manager – Climate Change introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and which presented the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Action Plan.  This provided further understanding of and supported the climate change work being undertaken with the district and borough councils through Vision Derbyshire and to enable the Action Plan and overarching Strategy be delivered to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the County.  The report was supported by a presentation.

 

The Plan set out actions for each of the five key themes and a series of actions related to offsetting and communication and engagement, together with the priority actions.  Next steps were to complete a mapping exercise to establish existing activity and to inform the development of delivery plans.  The Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Officers Group would have a co-ordinating, influencing and oversight role for the most part.

 

Committee members raised a number of concerns currently being faced.  Fast charging hubs and street furniture were some of the many options being considered to deal with the impracticability of charging electric cars and the Planning Guide was to become a nationally recognised document to assist with planning regulations.  Local and district councils were on board however it was recognised that this was a work in progress but resources were limited and that work needed to be done in some instances.

 

RESOLVED to note the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Action Plan that had been developed by the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Officers Group.

44/22

The Council’s Role in Decarbonising Derbyshire’s Housing pdf icon PDF 113 KB

Minutes:

Denise Ludlum, Climate Change Officer introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and provided an update on the work being undertaken by the Council to understand the motivations and barriers experienced by homeowners when considering improving the energy efficiency of their homes and to co-design and co-deliver a programme of activities to support homeowners to undertake energy efficiency work. 

 

The report was supplemented by a presentation which outlined the issues faced and the demand for support for private homeowners.  Some progress had been made and a number of themes had emerged.Early feedback had indicated a number of support options from which a draft programme of activities would be co-delivered as soon as possible.

 

Committee members expressed their concerns around what was currently available to homeowners and the costs involved, resulting in only a limited number of homeowners being in a position to afford the retrofit costs.  They recognised that the consultation process was still taking place and the limited resources, budget constraints and priorities experienced by the climate change team.

 

RESOLVED to note the work being undertaken by the Council to understand the motivations and barriers experienced by homeowners when considering actions to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and to co-design and co-deliver a programme of activities to support homeowners to undertake energy efficiency work.

45/22

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Minutes:

Members were invited to consider the work programme for the remainder of 2022/23.  It was recognised that the agendas for each of the next two meetings were full and that no further items should be added at this stage.  Members were invited to submit future items for consideration to the Clerk.

 

RESOLVED to note the 2022/23 work programme.