Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence received for the following Councillors:

Cllr Wendy Dalton

Cllr Stephanie Haynes

Cllr Jeszemma Howl

Cllr Ellis Turrell substitute for Cllr Wendy Dalton

There were no declarations of interest recorded

[David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Cllr Craig Collingswood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, to make some introductory comments to the report. The Cabinet Member commented on his priority since being appointed was to ensure that Council was moving in the right direction to achieve its net zero target by 2028.

The Cabinet Member advised the panel that based on review of evidence that progress is being made highlighting the reduction in the Council’s carbon footprint by over a third since 2019. The Cabinet Member offered the meet to discuss issue of concern with Councillors at a future date.

David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, advised the panel that he was appointed in 2022 to be the responsible officer ensuring that there was one council approach to delivering critical aspects of the climate action. The aim was to be adopt the approach taken on the approach to equalities, diversity, and inclusion where the focus was on working collectively across the Council to ensure action led to significant improvements.

The Chief Operating Officer introduced Perminder Balu, Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy, who was appointed in 2023 to role and would provide a summary of the main report to the panel.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy thanked the panel for the opportunity to present the report and commented on building on the One Council approach to help move things forward in achieving climate change goals.

The Head of Green Cities and Circular Economy commented that following the climate change emergency declaration in 2019 the Council set out an ambition to achieve Net Zero for the City across “all Council activities” by 2028. There is also a commitment to support decarbonisation across the city by 2041, in line with regional targets.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy updated the panel on progress since the ‘Future Generations: Our Commitment’ document was approved at Full Council in September 2020. The document sets out the Council’s commitment to reducing emissions from centralised corporate controlled sources, for example, gas central heating from corporate buildings.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy commented on the findings from a recent benchmarking exercise with 19 similar local authorities and the results showed the Council’s approach to meetings its corporate net zero emission targets were similar.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy commented on progress to date and changes to 2028 Net Zero Action Plan published in July 2021. The success of the Climate Change Advisory Group referred to by the Cabinet Member was highlighted. The minutes and agendas from the meetings are available to the public on the Council website.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy advised the panel that as part of the Council’s commitment to transparency a climate action assessment tool has been introduced. The tool will be used when consideration is being given to take forward any new projects or schemes and to identify opportunities to further reduce the carbon footprint of the scheme.

The Head of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

[Steve Woodward, Head of Environmental Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Craig Collingswood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, to make some introductory remarks. The Cabinet Member commented that the issue of fly tipping is a key concern of residents based on the number of complaints received. The issue of fly tipping is an endemic problem nationally. The Cabinet Member commented that the approach taken in response to this has been to develop innovative solutions and achieve the best that can be done with the resources available.

The Cabinet Member offered the panel reassurance that he and the members of the team area are doing everything possible to develop innovate solutions across the City which will be outlined in the presentation.

The Chair invited John Roseblade, Director of Resident Services, to make some comments. The Director acknowledged that the issue of fly-tipping is high in the casework of Councillors and welcomed the opportunity to bring the issue to the panel talk about the work being done to think differently to find solutions based on use of good local intelligence in how resources are used.

The Chair invited Steve Woodward, Head of Environmental Services, and Claire Walters, Edwards Environmental Place Based Development Manager, Liz Grimshaw, Environmental Project Manager and Thomas Hawkins, Section Leader: Fly Tipping to give their presentation.

The Head of Environmental Services that colleagues would be presenting different sections within their areas of responsibility.

The Head of Environmental Services commented that the issue of fly tipping as stated by the Cabinet Member is a national issue, but the report will set out the positive measures being taken to combat the issue in Wolverhampton.

The Head of Environmental Services outlined the main headlines to provide an overview of the current situation. The Head of Environmental Services commented that the issue of fly tipping remains a constant challenge and that is an ever-evolving issue that the service is working to deal with. The Head of Environmental Services reassured the panel that progress is being made to deal with issues about fly tipping reported by councillors and the public.

Claire Walters, Environmental Place Based Development Manager, gave an overview of the Shopper a Tipper project.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that the approach of the project is evidence based.

There is also a recognition that because Wolverhampton is a very diverse city it is important to better understand the reasons why someone would fly tip in an area and develop the right local interventions to respond to the issue.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that in trying to understand why people fly tip, three groups were identified:

·         people who do not know what they are doing is wrong in terms of leaving rubbish outside of their home for the Council to collect.

·         people who can't dispose of their waste correctly because landlords of Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are not giving them the opportunity to do the right thing.

·         residents who just won't do the right thing and know what they are doing is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

[Martin Stevens DL ,Scrutiny Team Leader,to present report]

The Chair invited Martin Stevens (DL) Scrutiny Officer to present the report.

The Scrutiny Officer gave a brief overview of future items on the panel work programme.

The panel were invited to comment on the draft work programme.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to note the report.