Agenda and draft minutes

To receive Declarations of Interest (if any)

There were no declarations of interest. 

To confirm the non-exempt minutes of the Improvement and Scrutiny - Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction meeting held on 16 September 2024.

RESOLVED – to confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Improvement and Scrutiny – Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction committee held on 16 September 2024.

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.

There were no public questions. 

Caroline Toplis, Climate Change Manager introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting that provided an annual review of progress on the delivery of the Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy: Achieving Net Zero (2021-25) and sought Committee’s support to note the progress being made.  A slide presentation was made highlighting the main points of the report.

To-date, the Council had made good progress towards its net zero target and was on track however, the speed of reduction was at risk of slowing and a potential shortfall was projected.  Better planning was required to reduce emissions, particularly from heating Council buildings and emissions from core and grey fleet, as well as for dealing with residual emissions.  Funding and resources were needed to achieve this.  A significant number of targets and actions were on track and action was being taken to address any targets and actions currently not on track.  A new Climate Change Strategy would be prepared during 2025 for 2026 onwards.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the information provided.  It was acknowledged by officers that there was a lack of electric charging points and that a programme was in place to increase this plus effort needed to be made at national level to standardise costs.  With regards to staff working from home, there were too many variables involved to calculate costs/levels but this was generally considered to be a more carbon efficient way of working.

Corporate emissions were estimated to be 70% of the total.  Electrical heat pumps were being installed in corporate properties where able however, it was recognised that co-lobbying of central government was required to encourage carbon neutrality as well as remaining competitive.

RESOLVED to note:

1)      The progress being made against each target and action within the Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy: Achieving Net Zero (2021-2025); and

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

Rupert Casey, Assistant Director of Climate Change and Environment introduced a report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, updating committee on the work being led by the Council in its role as responsible authority for the preparation of Derbyshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).  A slide presentation was made highlighting the main points of the report.

The next steps of the process would be focussed on developing the public consultation draft of the Strategy which would be followed by a pre-consultation draft.  Public consultation would be held on the draft, with the preparation of the final document that would incorporate all findings and outcomes.  Following a final review, the Strategy would go to Cabinet for approval in July 2025.

Members were given the opportunity to ask question s and comment on the information provided.  This Strategy goes some way to showing where the work being done was succeeding.  It was acknowledged that there was much demand on landscapes and the Council was working closely with sector representatives and champions, such as the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust around species at risk.  The Derbyshire Natural Capital Strategy remained a key piece of work and was a pre-cursor to the new Strategy.

RESOLVED to note the work being led by the Council in its role as responsible authority for the preparation of Derbyshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

John Kinderman, Principal Climate Change Officer introduced a report, which was circulated in advance of the meeting, that provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Council’s graduate cohort during 2024 to assess and seek opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the approaches to stakeholder engagement applied by the Council during its delivery of the Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy: Achieving Net Zero (2021-25).

The students showcased their projects:

•         Engaging the agriculture community in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) – which aimed to identify effective engagement strategies to improve the participation of the farming community in the LNRS and future initiatives.  Findings indicated the need to adopt a direct approach that was tailored to farming lifestyles.

•         Increasing textile recycling through school SWAP Shops – in conjunction with the DCC Waste team and schools and colleges. Engagement with staff and students saw 62% of participants committed to donating unwanted clothes and buying more sustainably made or second-hand clothing. 

•         Engaging with schools on renewable energy – to alter the perception of young people and the community around renewable energy infrastructure in Derbyshire through the introduction of a schools art competition which would emphasise ‘the beauty of renewable energy’.

•         Engaging with schools around the new food legislation – a communication campaign to ensure schools were compliant with DEFRA Simpler Recycling Legislation by 31st March 2025 through standardising recycling and food waste disposal across the country.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the information provided. It was found that farmers could be apprehensive about change and wanted more tangible results.  Awareness and understanding of their requirements was therefore fundamental to any engagement.  It was hoped to take the outcomes of all initiatives forward over the next year,

All graduates Holly Chambers, Lydia Naylor, Bintu Dibba, Sam Morgan, Robyn Dent and Emily Westman were thanked for their hard work on the projects and were wished well for the future.

RESOLVED to note and endorse the work undertaken by the Council’s graduate cohort during 2024 to assess, and seek opportunities to improve, the effectiveness of the approaches to stakeholder engagement applied by the Council during its delivery of the Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy: Achieving Net Zero (2021-2025.

RESOLVED to note the work programme for February 2025.