Presentation by Emma Wakeham Senior Policy and Partnership Officer and Ross Cudlipp Carbon Reduction Manager
Minutes:
This agenda item on Climate Change was presented to the meeting by Emma Wakeham (Senior Policy & Partnership Officer).
Main points:
The Senior Policy & Partnership Officer stated that they had lead on developing the Climate Change Plan for Newport City Council which was published earlier this month.
- The first thing that was considered was what kind of scope was needed for the plan. Two areas were decided which was reaching net zero carbon as an organisation by 2030 and to review the services we provide to ensure they supported the city’s journey to net zero and adaptation to climate change.
- Welsh Government has set out reporting guidance on working on carbon emissions as an organisation, so this was used to baseline carbon emissions.
- A graph showed the councils Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions- Scope 1 emissions were from sources owned by the Council. Scope 2 emissions from purchased electricity and heating.
- Scope 3 were substantial but not directly owned or controlled by Newport City Council which was the supply chain, goods we’ve purchased, water we consume and business travel.
- When baselining was completed, it showed how emissions were split up.
- Once we knew the organisations emissions the areas of focus were then considered, and the Welsh Government framework was used- A Route Map to Public Sector to help decide this.
- From this framework 6 different themes were selected –
Theme 1: Organisational Culture & Leadership
Theme 2: Our Buildings
Theme 3: Our Land
Theme 4: Transport & Mobility
Theme 5: The Goods & Services we Procure
Theme 6: Our Wider Role
-Theme 2-5 were directly related to carbon emissions and theme 1 and 6 considered the wider role of the Council and the impact on the city as a whole.
- Under theme 1 training and guidance for staff and elected members was considered.
-Theme 2 thought about renewable heat and reducing natural gas, theme 3 considered how land was managed, meadow planting using nature-based solutions.
- Theme 4 considered business commuting and fleet with active travel being encouraged.
-Theme 5 considered how the Council needed to get a better understanding of carbon emissions while making decisions on purchasing goods and services.
- Theme 6 considered energy planning across the city and working with partners and communities.
Copies of the plan could be found in the links on the presentation and each theme was explored with time scales etc and how they will be delivered.
The Welsh Government Energy Service provide a dedicated development manager and they support public sector and community enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and energy. They were happy to provide advice in procurement advice and were looking for the most impactful projects on energy and carbon emissions.
There were also opportunities around funding and there was an event on the 31 March 2022- Meet the Funders Climate Change Event where community councils could meet funders.
Questions:
The Wentlooge representative enquired about House Warm schemes and whether they come under this topic where government grants were given to make homes more energy efficient and in some areas some people have had their houses improved as their houses were older e.g., older farmhouses. These were visible on some other Councils websites, but they did not see anything similar for Newport as there was nothing on the website.
The Senior Policy & Partnership Officer confirmed that Welsh Government did have a Warm Homes Programme which was a national scheme but there were certain eligibility criteria such as receiving certain benefits or being on a low income. The other scheme that was being developed was a Local Area Energy Plan looking at renewable energy across the city such as fuel poverty, but this was still in development and would take a few months.
The Wentlooge representative commented that the other schemes they had seen in terms of eligibility were not means tested and the eligibility was the age of the property.
The Senior Policy & Partnership Officer confirmed that there were more funding streams coming up as the Cardiff Capital Region were looking to bring a scheme in for the whole of the Cardiff Capital Region and those details would then be sent on to the community councils. The Wentlooge representative also agreed to send the Senior Policy & Partnership Officer details of the schemes she had seen.
The Bishton representative stated that they had completed their carbon literacy training and they stated that most properties were not suitable due to the lack of insulation so would not suit ground force heat pumps and commented as to whether building regulations would change so they would be suitable and would future houses be built with solar panels.
The Senior Policy & Partnership Officer stated that in relation to air source ground pumps a rating of C and above was needed to be effective. Some houses were now being built with air source heat pumps already installed but this was not in the Newport area. Some houses were already in the right regulation, but a lot of older properties would need a lot of retro fitting to have heat pumps installed. The Senior Policy & Partnership Officer stated that they did not know the answer as to whether solar panels would be installed on all new builds as this would be a planning matter, but this was not known at the moment