Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder Environment – Nature and Climate introduced this item and highlighted key achievements over the past year. The Portfolio Holder thanked Officers for their work.

The Assistant Director Environmental Health introduced the report which provided a review of the Climate Change Action Plan, looking at actions achieved and impact on carbon emissions. The Assistant Director provided a presentation which highlighted key points from the report.

It was noted that the Action Plan forming part of the report is an interim Plan which is slightly different from the previous Plan considered by the Committee. The new draft Strategy and Action Plan are currently being produced, and when finished, will be presented at Councillor workshops for members’ feedback.

Responses to questions and discussion included the following points:

·        Councillor workshops would take place prior to the Strategy and Action Plan going to the Overview Committee and Cabinet to enable members to have input;

·        It was noted that the carbon footprint increased in 2023-24, compared with UK figures, however the Council had seen an almost 5% reduction in carbon emissions in 2024-25;

·        Supporting others, such as repair cafes, is vital and community action has a further reach than the Council can achieve alone;

·        The Council promotes community action on the website and through social media;

·        Devon County Council has a dedicated officer to promote reuse and recycling throughout communities;

·        Encouraging and supporting Councillors, neighbours and community groups, including town and parish councils, to work together to deliver the Strategy will be key to its success going forwards;

·        It was noted that scope 3 emissions were hard to measure and it was unlikely that an alternative measuring tool would be introduced before Local Government Reorganisation. Changing the metric for measuring scope 3 emissions would also require retrospectively amending previous years’ figures for accurate comparison;

·        Carbon literacy training is on-going and there is now a short presentation as part of the Council’s induction training;

·        The appointment of the new interim Corporate Lead Programmes and Strategies would ensure that climate change is embedded in every Council project in a consistent way going forwards;

·        Increased tree planting would assist with effective carbon capture and flood prevention;

·        Hedges are also vital for biodiversity and for flood prevention and, wherever possible, the Council should be working with partners to increase tree and hedgerow planting;

·        Reducing the carbon footprint becomes harder over time and it was unlikely that the target would be met;

·        Adaptation was also a key factor in dealing with climate change;

·        Planning enforcement should be more robust with regard to removal of trees and hedges, and climate action should be embedded across the whole Council so that each part of the Council abides by the commitment to carbon reduction;

·        The Council could provide support for community groups by way of advice on governance;

·        It was disappointing that local actions on climate change were not supported by Government decisions.

The Chair thanked Officers for attending and for their report.

AGREED

That the Scrutiny Committee complimented the service for their excellent work and progress being made in achieving the actions specified in the Climate Change Action Plan.