Agenda item

[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 Green City and Circular Economy commented that the Climate Action Programme Board meet regularly to check on progress of the action and this also provides a process to escalate matters to the Chief Operating Officer. 

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy advised the panel that 17 of the actions on the Net Zero Action Plan have been completed and further actions will be completed over the next few months. There is a detailed reporting mechanism, and this will be supported by the development of a new dashboard that will be shared with officers and directors to help keep people updated on progress.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy advised the panel about the progress of three key interventions aimed at achieving Net Zero target by 2028 which have been completed during the last 12 – 18 months. The achievement of 40 per cent reduction in energy use was the equivalent in savings of about £2 million.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy added that about 85 per cent of the streetlights with low efficiency bulbs being replaced by more efficient LEDs. There were further examples given of the progress made to deliver deliverables (quick wins) which can achieve large carbon reductions and energy cost savings without significant investment.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy commented that the Council needs to make a concerted effort to move forward and explore other options to help it make further progress to achieving its Net Zero climate change goal. The commitment of the team and the Council to this aim was praised.

The Chair thanked the presenter for the report and invited panel members to comment.

A panel member congratulated the presenter on the report and considered that it was very informative and a significant improvement on earlier reports. The consistent use of measures and metrics in the report was welcomed. The panel member commented on the difficulties in changing the culture of in organisations and businesses and queried if there were any objectives for the senior leadership team to drive forward cultural change needed.

The Chief Operating Officer acknowledged the importance of changing the culture and that he was appointed to lead a One Council approach referred to earlier and provide the level of challenge needed to achieve this. The success of new projects listed in the report were highlighted as good examples of this approach in offering challenge at the early stage and asking if this could be done in a way to have a more positive impact on climate change goals.

A panel member queried the costs involved in switching to alternative fuels, the value for money considerations and the capital costs of making major changes to fleet vehicles were requested.

The Chief Operating Officer reassured the panel that the funding for different projects is being achieved within existing budgets but accepted that other future schemes may well have significant potential budget and capital revenue implications. The funding for these projects will be built into the budgets going forward and will be presented as part of the budget setting process in February 2024 for Councillors to consider.

A panel member commented on future budget challenges which will make harder to achieve the climate change goals.

The Chief Operating Officer acknowledged that there will be a need for additional funding and the Council will be looking to maximise opportunities from central government to secure funds to support this.  The Chief Operating Officer commented that with reference to changing fleet vehicles to use HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) that the challenge was the affordability and availability of electric vehicles which is leading to lengthy waits.

The Head of Green City and Circular Economy reassured the panel that no mechanical changes were needed to vehicles as the HVO is a drop-in replacement so there is no other cost to the Council than the fuel used. There are no additional costs related to the vehicle fleet because of this change.

The panel discussed the wider impact and additional costs to the Council and residents of adapting to meet climate change targets and the possibility of grants to help meet the costs. The issue will be discussed at future meeting of the panel.

A panel member commented on the Government Net Zero Target of 2050 and queried the rationale for the Council setting a target of 2028 to achieve this while other local authorities used for comparison in the report have set a target of 2030. There was concern about setting this target date without having details about the full costs involved. The report refers to the challenges to achieving the Net Zero Target and there was concern these will add further costs.

A panel member queried if the internal audit review (March 2023) of the Council’s climate change programme has been published and if so, a request was made for it be shared with the panel. There was concern expressed about the reference in the audit report following a review of progress which stated that some targets have not been achieved.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the decision to set the commitment to 2028 as target for Net Zero was made by Council in 2019 and the reasons were set out at the time.

The Chief Operating Officer confirmed that copies of the audit report can be shared with the panel.

The Chief Operating Officer acknowledged the issues about climate change related costs and the uncertainty about estimating future costs. The Chief Operating Officer commented on the impact of the volatility in the market for electric vehicles as an example of the challenge in finding cost effective and value for money solutions that will deliver the Council’s commitment to achieve its Net Zero target.  The Chief Operating Officer added that Wolverhampton is the first authority to undertake an audit review.

The Chair invited Cabinet Member to make a few closing comments on the report.

The Cabinet Member thanked the panel for the comments and stated his commitment to the Council reaching Net Zero target by the end of 2028. The Cabinet Member commented on his commitment to openness and transparency in decision making, highlighting the decision when appointed Chair of Climate Advisory Group to ensure minutes of the meeting were published. The Cabinet Member was happy to meet with panel members to talk about ideas that support progress towards reaching the Net Zero target.

Resolved:

The Panel agreed to receive a progress report on the Net Zero Action Plan in October 2024.