Draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from John Roseblade, Ric Bravery, Oliver Thomas, Kester Sleeman and Wolverhampton’s Youth Parliament Representative.

There were no declarations of interest.

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28 March 2023 be approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

Perminder Balu, Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy, provided an update on carbon monitoring. He noted that the Council had reduced its carbon emissions by 29% since 2019 and this was largely related to the LED Street Light Programme.

He outlined the actions that had or would be taken in regard to the 2028 Net Zero Action Plan, including the establishment of the Green Cities and Circular Economy team, a review and continual monitoring of the Action Plan, and the commencement of fifty energy audits on Council assets starting later in June 2023. He noted that the results of the energy audits would be known by the end of 2023.

Responding to questions, he noted that all assessments were calculated on the base year of 2019 as data from the government that all Local Authorities used had a time-lag of two years. He advised members that there were a number of works needed to meet targets and a number of financial and implementation challenges to address. 

Responding to further questions, he noted that local monitoring was carried out each quarter and an update on the Quarter 1, 2023 - 2024 carbon monitoring figures would be provided at the next meeting.

He advised members that a breakdown of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions would be brought to a future meeting. He noted that Scope 3 emissions were outside of the Council’s remit. He advised members that he would meet with the Data Insights team to feed that information into the carbon monitoring dashboard.

David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, stressed the importance of transparency with regard to climate change matters. He clarified the remit of the Climate Change Advisory Group in relation to the Climate Change, Housing and Communities Scrutiny Panel. He advised members that a positive trajectory could be seen from the work undertaken so far.

Members of the Advisory Group discussed the update.

Responding to a question, the Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy clarified that the city centre’s 30mph speed limit was implemented to help with traffic movement and alleviate stop-start congestion and idling.

He provided an update on the Net Zero Strategy 2041 and noted that its development would begin in this calendar year. He advised members that citizens and stakeholders would be consulted through the Citizens Assembly and Stakeholder Reference Group respectively and feedback from these would be fed back to a Key Reference Group.

He advised members that further details on the Net Zero Strategy 2041 would be provided at future meetings as the strategy developed.

Resolved:

1.       That the Carbon Monitoring Update be noted.

2.       That an update on the Quarter 1, 2023 - 2024 carbon monitoring figures be brought to the next meeting.

3.       That a breakdown of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions be brought to a future meeting.

4.       That updates on the Net Zero Strategy 2041 be brought to future meetings.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy presented an update on the LED Street Light Programme. He noted that the project would be completed by the end of 2023 and there had been an estimated bills saving of £2 million and a reduction in energy consumption and CO2 by 60% related to the programme.

Members of the Advisory Group commented on the update and thanked the service for their work in delivering the project.

Responding to questions, he advised members that he had not been made aware of any safety issues related to the replacement of streetlights with LEDs and that LED streetlights would still propel a similar amount of light to traditional streetlights. He noted that LED streetlights produced enough light to not compromise driver safety, but that accident statistics would be investigated to determine if inadequate lighting was to blame.

The Chief Operating Officer advised members that information on accident claims would be shared with members.

Responding to further questions, the Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy advised members that all streetlights that had been replaced in the programme were on the Public Highway. He advised members that information on Wolverhampton Homes and their streetlights would be shared. He noted that information on the breakeven point would be shared and advised members that the Council would enjoy the benefit of LED streetlights for the next 20 - 30 years.

He advised members that a link to the online live map, which included a ward-by-ward breakdown, would be provided in the minutes.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on the LED Street Light Programme be noted.

2.       That information on accident claims be provided to members.

3.       That information on Wolverhampton Homes’ streetlights be shared with members.

4.       That information on the breakeven point for the LED Street Light Programme be shared with members. 

5.       That a link to the online live map be provided to members:
           LED City-Wide: http://35.177.157.9/LED.aspx

          LED by Ward: http://35.177.157.9/LedWards.htm

Elizabeth Hartle, Fleet and Transport Change Manager, and Kaleem Raza, Project Manager, provided an update on Fleet Electrification and Transformation. The presentation contained information on Electric Vehicle (EV) Procurement, Infrastructure Delivery, the Fleet Replacement Programme, and the Fleet Replacement Strategy.

The Fleet and Transport Change Manager noted that Wolverhampton was the leading Council in the Black Country in this area.

Members of the Advisory Group commented on the update.

Responding to questions, she noted that the Council had taken advantage of the grants available from the Government and had met with the Department for Transport to raise the issue of further support. She noted that the West Midlands Combined Authority had pledged future support to help deliver on a scheme of infrastructure across the Black Country, but that fleet funding needed more attention for the Council to meet its targets.

She advised members that the Fleet team currently had sixteen actions on the Climate Change Action Plan and three had been closed. The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy advised members a number of things were still in the early stages but noted that tangible information would be brought to the group on a quarterly basis.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on Fleet Electrification and Transformation be noted.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy presented an update on internal waste. He advised members that additional recycling mechanisms had been implemented at the Civic Centre and communications on the importance of recycling would continue to be sent out. He stressed that the program was still in the early stages and the team would look to roll out the programme to other Council assets and spread the messaging further.

Members of the Advisory Group commented on the update.

Responding to questions, he noted that Council properties would be targeted by the programme, but that the Council would work with businesses as part of its Net Zero Strategy 2041. He advised members that several schools already had green strategies in place.

Responding to a comment, the Waste Manager advised that the issue of lack of recycle bins in schools had been raised with youth groups. He noted the need to target groups with the right messaging and advised members that his team would start to look at internal recycling.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy advised members that he had presented to the Youth Forum and that feedback had suggested that the communications and messaging should be changed. He advised members that this would be carried out moving forward.

Responding to a question, Jeremy Bannister, Waste Manager, noted that schools were subsidised if they used the Council’s recycling services. The Chief Operating Officer advised members that this information would be communicated to schools in the Local Authority.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on Internal Waste be noted.

The Waste Manager presented an update on waste management. He noted that whilst Wolverhampton was the best council in the Black Country for recycling, contamination issues still needed to be addressed. He outlined the negative impacts of recycling contamination and the actions being taken to address this issue.

Members of the Advisory Group discussed the update.

Responding to a comment, he advised members that the Waste team did not take recycling left outside of approved receptacles due to health and safety but that the team could look at offering further capacity for people who need it. The Chief Operating Officer advised members that a video link would be shared in the minutes that outlined why certain things were not picked up.

The Waste Manager advised members that a Black Country Waste Partnership had been established to allow for the sharing of ideas to improve recycling rates and education.

He advised members that the team were watching out for government directives and were trying to change the waste strategy in response to those. He outlined the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the Deposit Returns Scheme (DRS) and Consistent Collections Step 1 - Mandatory Food Waste Collections and the status of these schemes.

Members of the Advisory Group discussed the update.

He noted that the waste strategy was also concerned with helping people to prevent waste in the first place.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on Waste Management be noted.

2.       That a link to the video outlining why certain items cannot be picked up by bin crews be provided to members:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2F
www.wolverhampton.gov.uk%2F&source_ve_path=M
jg2NjQsMTY0NTA2&feature=emb_share&v=ok7LfWfNiZ8

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy provided an update on the Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicles (ULEV) Programme. He advised members that the programme differed to the Fleet Electrification programme as it related to the installation of chargepoints for domestic use. He noted that all chargepoints would be installed on the public highway and would always be available to the public.

He advised members that the team would work with private entities to look at installing chargepoints in private locations. He noted that the Council had been approached by businesses moving to the area on this issue and that this was currently being explored.

He noted that roll-out of the programme had been delayed due to backlogs, but that work would begin soon.

Responding to questions, he advised members that the team was exploring installing chargepoints in certain car parks. He advised members that an update on the proposed Car Club would be included in the minutes.

Members of the Advisory Group discussed the update.

Responding to further questions, he noted that the installations would be a mix of slow and fast chargepoints and that these aided the Council with both its digital and climate targets.

He noted that a further update on the programme would be brought to the next meeting.

Members of the Advisory Group were advised that they could contact Kester Sleeman, Black Country Transport ULEV Programme Manager, to discuss the programme and suggest additional locations for charging points.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on the Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicles Programme be noted.

2.       That an update on the proposed Car Club be included in the minutes:

Procurement documents have been sent by WMCA colleagues and are under review by CWC procurement, we are awaiting a copy of the contract to pass on to legal for review. Once these documents have been reviewed and accepted, we will be able to engage directly with Enterprise to discuss opportunities for staff use of car club vehicles, and possible locations.

3.       That a further update on the Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicles Programme be noted.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy provided an update on the Kuppa Wolverhampton Pilot. He outlined the scheme and noted that Wolverhampton was the first council in the UK to roll out a pilot.

He advised members that the pilot was working well, and significant engagement had taken place. He noted that the pilot was due to run until September 2023 and further comms and marketing would be developed.

Members of the Advisory Group commented on the update. Responding to a question, he clarified that the pilot was citywide but there was targeted engagement in two wards: Park and St Peter’s.

It was suggested that all Councillors be made aware of the pilot scheme through the Chief Operating Officer’s weekly Councillor Update email and residents be made aware through the Love your Community meetings.

Resolved:

1.       That the update on the Kuppa Wolverhampton Pilot be noted.

A Councillor raised the Community Energy Projects using Public Buildings scheme to the Advisory Group’s attention. The Chief Operating Officer advised that he would liaise directly with the Councillor in regard to this scheme.