Issue - meetings

(Item to be taken in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 with the consent of the relevant Scrutiny Committee Chair on the grounds that any delay would mean the Building Decarbonisation Scheme works may not be completed to the grant timescale, and the Council may miss out on grant funding that will support it meeting its carbon reduction targets)

Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/21/39) on proposals to deliver retrofit decarbonisation enhancements to four corporate estate buildings to deliver carbon, energy, and cost reductions, attached.

An Impact Assessment is also attached for the attention of Members at the meeting.

RESOLVED

(a) that the £3.3m capital spend on the energy-efficiency retrofit of four

corporate buildings be approved, made up of the Government Grant from Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme of £2.1m and the Council’s Carbon Reduction Plan of £1.2m; and

(b) that the scheme for progression to construction be approved and delegated authority is given to the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, to make minor amendments to the scheme details.

(Item taken in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 with the consent of the relevant Scrutiny Committee Chair on the grounds that any delay would mean the Building Decarbonisation Scheme works may not be completed to the grant timescale, and the Council may miss out on grant funding that will support it meeting its carbon reduction targets)

(Councillors Connett, Hannaford, Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/21/39) on proposals to deliver retrofit decarbonisation enhancements to four corporate estate buildings.

The Cabinet noted that the Council had secured funding from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) to retrofit corporate estate buildings to deliver carbon, energy, and cost reductions. Additional “top up” funding was required from the Council in order to meet the necessary standards.

A scheme had been developed to use existing DCC capital, provisionally allocated to the Carbon Reduction Plan, as a local contribution, in order to top-up additional PSDS funds to deliver the retrofit of the Great Moor House, Abbey Rise, St Michaels and Taw View buildings to the required standard.

This would exceed the Carbon Reduction Plan targets for the corporate estate as set out in the Carbon Reduction Plan by 2030. The recommendation reflected the Authority’s recognition that emissions must be reduced rapidly.

The works would be carried out while the buildings were occupied and generally consisted of the installation of insulation to building fabric, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, LED lighting, building management systems, solar panels, and air source heat pumps. There would be some anticipated disruption, but this would be mitigated as far as possible.

The programme for the works was due to start in November and be completed in 2022.

Section 6 of the Report outlined the project costs in relation to each building as well as the breakdown of the PSDS grant and DCC contribution.

The Head of Service’s Report contained an Impact Assessment which had been attached to the agenda for the attention of Members at the meeting which was available at Zero Carbon Buildings - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk). This highlighted that Climate change would affect everybody in the County, and would affect people less able to adapt the most, including those less affluent, those living with physical and mental health conditions, those living in coastal communities or areas prone to flooding and young people who would live with the effects becoming worse over their lifetimes.

Implementing the recommendation would help grow efforts to reduce

international carbon emissions and minimise these impacts on everyone and there were no equality impacts anticipated directly from the retrofit activity. The buildings would be monitored once retrofitted to understand the extent of the benefits and users’ experience of using the buildings.

The matter having been debated and / or alternatives the other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability, including carbon impact, risk management, equality  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70