Decisions

The Chair exercised his discretion to bring this item of business forward on the agenda.

In accordance with the Council's Public Participation Rules, the relevant Cabinet Member responded to seven questions from Members of the public on the global environmental impacts of animal agriculture and the steps being taken by the Council to encourage staff and residents to reduce their consumption of meat and dairy, the power to cancel 5G exposure, speed of internet access over safety regarding 5G, invitation to independent non industry funded experts to future Council meetings regarding the impacts of non-ionizing radiation, the appropriateness of ICNIRP guidelines and application of the precautionary principle, the duty of care and democracy, attendance at international conference and the health effects of exposure to non-ionizing radiation and the provision of independent peer reviewed studies.

Copies of the responses would be sent to those who could not be present at the meeting.

The Cabinet Member also responded orally to supplementary questions arising from the above.  

[NB: A copy of the questions and answers are appended to these minutes and are also available on the Council’s Website at http://www.devon.gov.uk/dcc/committee/mingifs.html]

(Councillors Atkinson, Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade and Hannaford attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

(Councillor Davis declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being a Member of the Joint Committee, appointed by Exmoor National Park).

(Councillor Dewhirst also declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of being a substitute Member of the Joint Committee, appointed by Teignbridge District Council).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Executive (CX/19/01) which had been circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Report provided an update for Constituent Authorities on the Heart of the South West (HotSW) Joint Committee’s governance arrangements and budgetary position for 2019/20 and contained recommendations for amendments to the Committee’s Arrangements document, following a governance review.

The Council had been a member of the Heart of the South West Joint Committee since its

creation in August 2015 and the Committee had become a formal body in March 2018 with currently twenty-one members. The Committee acted as a single voice to Government on socio-economic and environmental issues and made the case for additional powers and funding for the benefit of the people of Devon and Somerset.

In terms of the review of the role and functions of the Joint Committee, it had refined its focus into strategic policy development, influencing Government and key agencies to achieve direct intervention, support, funding and powers, designing and delivering strategic HotSW responses to ‘Government’ offers, designing and delivering public sector reform where this would deliver improved productivity, e.g. in health and education, delivering at scale (beyond what individual councils could achieve) and oversight of the delivery plan.

The refinements to the focus of the Committee had been reflected in amendments to the list of functions in the Joint Committee’s ‘Arrangements’ document, at Appendix A of the Report.

The Report also outlined that the Committee had agreed to change its meeting arrangements to achieve a better balance between formal decision-making meetings (fewer) and more opportunities for informal engagement and challenge sessions.

In January 2018, the Constituent Authorities had appointed Somerset County Council as the Administering Authority for a two-year period from 22 January 2018. The Report recommended a reappointment of Somerset County Council for a further two-years (until 22 January 2022), which had been endorsed by the Joint Committee.

The diagram in Appendix B to the Report showed the revised management support arrangements of the Joint Committee.

The Joint Committee remained reliant on the Constituent Authorities for its budget to support running costs and delivery of the work programme. Contribution levels for each Council tier were based on population levels. The Joint Committee approved ‘in principle’ to seek agreement from Constituent Authorities to double the 2018/19 core contributions as a one-year arrangement for 2019/20. For the County Council this meant a maximum of £21,000, but the additional monies would only be requested if the budget proved to be insufficient to fund the work required and only if fully costed work programme proposals were available.

The Cabinet noted that the Joint Committee had reviewed and updated its governance arrangements in the light of experience and in response to changing Government policy and local circumstances. It was essential the Joint Committee remained fit for purpose, represented a sustainable way of working into the future and delivered value for the resources committed to it by the Constituent Authorities.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability (including carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Chief Executive’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED

(a) that as a constituent member, Council be asked to approve the amendments (highlighted in italics) to the Heart of the South West Joint Committee’s list of functions in the Arrangements document – Appendix A attached and note the updated budget position for 2019/20;

(b) that as a constituent member, Council be asked to approve the recommendation from the Joint Committee on 27th September 2019, to re-appoint Somerset County Council as the Administering Authority for the Joint Committee; and

(c) that Council be asked to make provision of £21,000 as a contribution to the administration and work programme of the Committee in 2020/21 financial year subject to all other Constituent Members making a financial contribution based on the methodology agreed in previous years.

(Councillors Atkinson, Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade, Hannaford and Whitton 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/19/35) on a revised Energy and Carbon Strategy, setting carbon reduction targets for the Council’s activity, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet heard from the Chair of the Climate Change Standing Overview Group (Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee) updating the Cabinet on a meeting that took place on 4th October 2019. The Group had supported the recommendations in the Cabinet paper to declare the Authority would be carbon neutral by 2030 through the Corporate Carbon Footprint and Supply Chain Carbon Footprint targets outlined in the recommendations.

Additionally, the Climate Change Standing Overview Group had asked the Cabinet to

(a) Add additional targets and strategies in the plan to address the 30% (of current figures) residue corporate emissions after 2030 and not rely on carbon offset;

(b) Undertake discussions with Town and Parish councils to switch off streetlights;

(c) Write carbon reduction expectations into contracts for new leases;

(d) Review the heating strategy across the Council estate to encourage less carbon being used;

(e) Ask the LEP to invest in improvements in the link with national grid to support greater use of renewable sources of energy;

(f) Use influence to Improve and increase the grid capacity for electric vehicles;

(g) Explore the local opportunities around school transport to move to carbon neutrality;

(h) Explore the encouragement of train travel on Council business by putting on a shuttle bus to the station;

(i) In line with the Friends of the Earth ’33 actions local authorities can take on climate change’ report; Does not have a default position to build new roads, considering other options where possible, and have regard to the carbon impact of building new roads; and

(j) Explore greater opportunities to use the residual heat from waste processes including incineration for heating in localities.

The Leader highlighted that the issues raised could be considered further by the Cabinet Member for Community, Public Health, Transportation and Environmental Services and the Environmental Performance Board for incorporation into a revised Energy and Carbon Strategy.

The Cabinet noted that the Council’s corporate carbon footprint had fallen by almost 40% since 2012/13. The current target was to reduce the 2012/13 emissions by 50% by 2030, which was likely to occur by 2021, therefore a more ambitious target was needed, with consideration of when and how to achieve carbon neutrality. The Authority also explicitly needed to increase efforts to reduce emissions from its supply of procured goods and commissioned services, not currently included in the corporate carbon footprint.

The proposal was that the Authority should elect to be carbon neutral by 2030 by implementing a number of activities within its corporate carbon footprint and supply chain carbon footprints. In relation to the former, a 70% reduction in the corporate carbon footprint on 2012/13 levels by 2030 was a challenging target that required the set of projects as outlined in Appendix 1 to be implemented. This included measures to meet the existing target for 30% of DCC’s energy needs to be met by renewable sources by 2030.

In order to declare the Authority carbon neutral by 2030, supply chain emissions would need to be neutralised alongside the activity to neutralise the corporate carbon footprint. This would involve contractors implementing measures to reduce direct emissions and using carbon offsets.

It was proposed that the Environmental Performance Board would monitor the achievement

against the ambitious and challenging targets, plus any future opportunities to exceed, referring back to Cabinet for any review, as necessary.

The costs of meeting the targets were currently unknown due to uncertainties about the speed at which technologies would be brought to market and their cost competitiveness; but there would be costs, some of which would offer a return on investment and others would not.

Decarbonising the supply chain by 2030 would have some costs with some measures saving money, but carbon offsetting could cost about £3m in the year 2030 and new financial resources would be needed to cover these. However, reducing the carbon footprint by 70% by 2030 would avoid £3.4m in energy costs.

The environmental impacts of the proposals were positive, reducing carbon emissions and their associated influence on global warming.

The Head of Service’s Report also incorporated an Impact Assessment circulated for the attention of Members at the meeting. This highlighted that Climate change would affect everybody in the county, and it would affect people less able to adapt the most (e.g. the less well off, those with physical and mental health conditions, those living in coastal communities or areas prone to flooding, young people who would live with the effects becoming worse over time). Implementing the recommendations would help reduce international carbon emissions and minimise the impacts on everyone. Whilst implementing the recommendations would require fundamental changes, this had the potential to impact negatively and positively on service users depending on the specifics of the proposals. Tactical-level changes to services over the next decade would need their own impact assessment to consider their effect on equality characteristics.

The Cabinet noted the potential risks to Devon’s communities from climate change beyond 1.5 degrees were profound. Whilst the Council was unlikely to influence emissions on a global level, it was vital to demonstrate local leadership. The Council’s corporate risk register had also been updated.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability (including carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Head of Service’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that Council be asked to declare that the Authority will be carbon neutral by 2030 through:

                  (i) Corporate Carbon Footprint

·         Reducing its 2012/13 corporate carbon footprint by 70% by 2030;

·         Retaining its existing target to source 30% of its energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030; and

·         Incrementally increasing the percentage of the remaining carbon footprint that is offset, from 5% in the current year to 100% by 2030.

                  (ii) Supply Chain Carbon Footprint

·         Engaging with contract providers to reduce carbon emissions from their operations and offset the remainder by 2030. As a first step, engage the ten highest-value contract providers.

(b) that Council delegate authority to the Cabinet Member for Community, Public Health,

Transportation and Environmental Services and the Environmental Performance Board to incorporate these principles into a revised Energy and Carbon Strategy, including the issues raised by the Climate Change Standing Overview Group, as outlined above.

[NB: The Impact Assessment referred to above may be viewed alongside Minutes of this meeting and may also be available at:  http://new.devon.gov.uk/impact/].