(a)

the Council had produced a Carbon Management Plan, annexed to the Asset Management Plan, which aimed to increase the use of renewable technologies and reduce the impact on increasing energy costs; the Council had a 20 per cent increase on its energy costs over the past 18 months;

(b)

the Council and schools were charged approximately 12 pounds per tonne of CO2 it produced which was estimated to cost £250k for 2011 – 2012;

(c)

Plymouth had been successful in reducing carbon emissions and compared favourably in a published CRC Performance League Table, which showed which organisations were effectively reducing carbon emissions;

(d)

there was still a lot of work for the Council to do to further reduce carbon emissions and it was focussing on achieving these reductions through –

·         invest to save projects, such as improving school boilers, reducing council properties and reducing energy consumption as part of the Accommodation Strategy;

·         improved energy management by using electronic invoicing which was paperless and more efficient and installing smart meters which accurately report on the energy consumed in council properties;

·         improved awareness, educating school children and staff to reduce carbon footprints and ensuring council department’s business plans commit to sustainability;

(e)

the Council had reduced CO2 by 9.1 per cent since 2010, which was currently 1.1 per cent up on its projection of 4 per cent per year;

(f)

at present a programme of plans and projects on carbon management and green energy was being worked on; this would be submitted to Cabinet in the near future.

(g)

the Council aimed to take advantage of currently low interest rates on borrowing money to purchase and incorporate green energy improvements within its buildings with which the savings generated would then pay for the borrowing in the long term;

(h)

the Council’s measuring standard ISO14064 was an internationally recognised measuring standard and showed that the Council was ahead of most other local authorities on carbon reductions;

(i)

the Council offered on an ad-hoc basis energy and carbon management advice to schools, including academies, at no cost, although this would be reviewed in the ‘services for schools’ work which was currently being undertaken;

(j)

the Council reduced its air travel spend from £111k in 2009/10 to £36k in 2010/11;

(k)

the Energy from Waste plant, being constructed in the Dockyard, was estimated to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by approximately 70 thousand tonnes, due to transport and methane gases from landfill being significantly reduced;

(l)

approximately 90 per cent of the Council House’s and Civic Centre lighting was provided by energy efficient light bulbs;

(m)

there was the potential to improve carbon reductions through increased use of public transport and reducing traffic congestions and pollution.

(1)

Alex Hurth, would email all members of the panel with a breakdown of the air travel spend of £111k in 2009/10 and the £36k in 2010/11;

(2)

Alex Hurth, would email all members of the panel with a report on how the Council aims to work with other organisations, responsible for highways and transport management, to reduce traffic congestion;

(3)

the Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel receive a further update on carbon management following the Cabinet receiving a report on the Council’s plans and projects on carbon management and green energy.