Issue - meetings

To give consideration to a report on the Carbon Management Programme Annual Review

Consideration was given to an update the Carbon Management Plan Annual Monitoring Report. The plan identified a range a projects to be developed to achieve a 25% reduction in energy consumption from the 2008/09 baseline, which would be equivalent to 51,037 tonnes of CO2. If action was not taken to meet the target, it would cost the authority an estimated £13.2 million over the next 5 years.

Members noted that while the authority had done well over the past 3 years to reduce its carbon footprint, a number of quick wins had been achieved.

Within the original plan, the identified projects did not account for all the savings needed, leaving a gap of 4.8%, or 2504 tCO2. This gap would be likely to grow larger with time, therefore new projects needed to be developed.

It was noted that Children and Families had a paper going to schools on how to share responsibilities, proposing a ‘pay as you go’ model which would be ready for implementation on 1 April 2013. Members agreed that the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee should be made aware of this.

Members agreed that this issue should be closely monitored and an update report be received in 6 months time, highlighting what had been done to engage with schools to reduce to reduce their carbon footprints.

RESOLVED

1.    That an update report including information on what had been done to reduce the carbon footprint in schools be received in 6 months time.

2.    That the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee be informed of the work ongoing to reduce the carbon footprint in schools.

3.    That Cabinet be recommended to:

·         Accept the figures presented as the Carbon Management Plan annual monitoring report 2011-12.

·         Support the proposal that additional resources would need to be made available to projects yet to be identified within the Plan in order to achieve the savings target set.