Agenda item

To scrutinise the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan: Annual Report 2023/24 as part of the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28 – A Green Gwynedd.

Resolved:

1.    To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

2.    To recommend that more information should be included in the Annual Report about what is responsible for the carbon emissions percentages.

3.    That the committee scrutinises the conclusions of the review of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan prior to being considered by the Cabinet.

4.    To request that the Council Leader lobbies the Welsh Government in the context of reviewing the methodology of measuring carbon emissions that derive from procurement processes.

 

The report was presented by the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and Climate Change Programme Manager. ⁠

 

Members were reminded that a Climate and Nature Emergency Plan was adopted by Cabinet on 8 March 2022 with the ambition that 'Cyngor Gwynedd will be carbon net zero and ecologically positive by 2030'. It was added that the issue of responding to a climate change crisis was one of the priorities of 'Improving the Council' within the 2023-28 Cyngor Gwynedd Plan.

 

It was explained that the Council's carbon emissions had been reduced by 16% compared to the baseline established in 2019/20, including procurement. It was recognised that carbon emissions from procurement processes presented a challenge to achieving this ambition as it was purely expenditure-based and did not take into account the locations where the Council purchased goods. It was noted that this painted a misleading picture of the true impact of climate expenditure.

 

It was noted that £3million had been earmarked for the creation of a Climate Plan fund through the one-time revenue bid process. An update was provided that £792,015 remained in this fund at the end of December 2024 as £2,207,984 had been spent or earmarked for expenditure. It was explained that this expenditure included £500,000 on electric car charging points and £2.1million on a low carbon heating scheme.

 

It was explained that issues relevant to the Plan were developing rapidly and that it was timely to consider reviewing the Plan. Members were encouraged to share any appropriate ideas and developments to consider them when reviewing the Plan.

 

During the discussion, the following observations were made: - 

Reference was made to the proposed review of the Plan. It was proposed and seconded that conclusions from the Plan review be submitted to this Committee when timely so that the Committee could provide input before submitting the review to the Cabinet.

 

It was asked whether the Board was effectively realising the needs of the objectives of the Plan, or whether other options need to be considered to ensure that the ambition was addressed. The Chief Executive noted that the review of this Plan would assess whether the projects that are in place are sufficient to meet the ambition, or whether new plans need to be developed. It was added that other aspects of the Plan would be assessed to consider if it was fit for purpose, to save money and protect services. It was also confirmed that consideration would be given to establish if the Board was the best vehicle to drive the Plan forward or if there was a need to re-consider the structure.

 

It was noted that investing in schemes to reduce carbon emissions had saved the Council a great deal of money. The Council was encouraged to continue to invest in these schemes in the future.

 

It was asked how this Committee or Elected Members could help lobby the Government in relation to the challenges of the Procurement processes to call for a change to how procurement was recorded in the pursuit of reducing carbon emissions. In response to the comments, the Climate Change Programme Manager confirmed that work was being undertaken to reduce carbon emissions in the procurement field despite challenges within the processes. It was detailed that officers were working with Business Wales to hold specific seminars within the care field to see how they could reduce their carbon emissions. It was elaborated that support was available for external providers to encourage them to de-carbonise, in the hope that they would see the benefit of this. Pride was expressed that most providers working with the Council within the care area see value from these schemes but that financial challenges were preventing some companies from realising the changes.

 

Reference was made to the chart on page 8 of the annual report which demonstrated that 'Buildings' were responsible for 45% of carbon emissions (excluding procurement) during 2023/24. It was noted that it would be useful to have more detailed data to be able to identify what challenges were contributing to carbon emissions. It was thought that detailing this data would lead to solutions to the current challenges.

 

It was noted that the Report confirmed that the construction of solar panel farms had been removed from the Plan due to financial issues. It was mentioned this would have had a major impact on the area's landscape, and it was considered whether the Council had considered putting solar panels on other locations such as on buildings or car parks. In response to the comments, the Chief Executive confirmed that not all areas were suitable for solar panels but extended work was being carried out on car parks to install solar panels in appropriate spaces.

 

It was highlighted that the Report identified an 11% increase in carbon emissions from street lighting since 2022/23. In response to the comments, the Chief Executive confirmed that this figure has increased this year due to the Council inheriting more street lighting following developments such as the Caernarfon bypass. It was confirmed that this figure was expected to fall by the next annual report.

 

Reference was made to integrated public transport plans as part of the Plan's 'Moving and Transport' priority, noting that bus timetables were creating problems in some communities. It was detailed that residents' confidence in using public transport needed to be gained, by confirming that bus timetables allow them to come and go from the workplace, socialise and travel around with certainty in order to increase the use made of the services. It was also considered that this would discourage residents from buying personal cars as public transport addressed their needs.

 

Comments were noted which questioned the need to try to reduce carbon emissions. In response, it was confirmed that the Council had decided to strive to make the Plan a reality in line with the recommendations of experts.

 

It was asked how much of the money saved by implementing the Scheme's projects was invested back into the Plan for funding future projects. In response, the Chief Executive confirmed that the money saved was not currently being reinvested in the scheme due to the current financial pressures on the Council. However, it had been confirmed that the financial saving was being made to ensure that other services offered by the Council were protected when trying to cope with the situation.

It was asked what developments were underway in connection with the Council's 'Green Fleet' plan. In response to the query, the Chief Executive confirmed that consideration was being given to see if the Council's fleet could be reduced by considering what jobs required their use and what impact reducing the fleet would have on services provided by the Council. It was also noted that efforts were being made to purchase electric vehicles when replacing vehicles but it was acknowledged that this could currently be done for all vehicles, such as waste collection lorries. It was ensured that all Council electric vehicles would be charged at the centres where the vehicles were stored and there would be no expectation for any member of staff to do so in a personal household.

 

Several ideas which could be developed as part of the future Plan were shared, such as letting the Rural Energy Developments (DEG) social enterprise to rent car parks from the Council for the installation of solar panels with the agreement that they would sell the electricity to the Council at a discounted price. Reference was also made to community energy enterprises stating that working with these would be able to benefit the Plan. In response to these ideas, the Chief Executive confirmed they would be considered and he welcomed that community energy enterprises and other organisations be invited to attend Board meetings to share information and presentations.

 

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

 

       RESOLVED

1.     To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

2.     To recommend that more information should be included in the Annual Report regarding what was responsible for the carbon emissions percentages.

3.     That the committee scrutinises the conclusions of the review of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan prior to being considered by the Cabinet.

4.     To request that the Council Leader lobbies the Welsh Government in the context of reviewing the methodology of measuring carbon emissions that derive from procurement processes.