Agenda item

To consider and make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste as to the:

1.    Progress in and proposed timelines for the development of the Strategy; and

2.    The Themes and Project Models proposed in the TRI-LEP Energy Strategy outlined in Section 3, and their relevance to the Kent and Medway Strategy.

Carolyn McKenzie (Head of Sustainable Business and Communities) and Deborah Kapaj (Sustainable Estates Programme Manager, Sustainable Business and Communities) were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr M Payne (Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which provided an update on the development of a Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emissions Strategy and the emerging priorities within the TRI-LEP Energy Strategy to which the Kent and Medway Strategy would contribute to.

2.    Mrs C McKenzie presented a series of slides which set out the strategic framework, themes, actions and technical interventions of the Energy and Low Emissions Strategy and the next steps for Kent and Medway in the development of the TRI-LEP Strategy.

(a)    In response to queries regarding the Governments policy on Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and the illegality of selling or renting out properties that breached the minimum E rating requirement, Mrs McKenzie said that the cost of insulation was entirely dependent on the building type, however, this was a demand placed on both privately and commercially owned properties. Kent County Council worked in partnership with the Associate of Landlords and other key stakeholder groups to ensure that the policy targeted the correct properties that could benefit from a more energy efficient model and lobbied against Government to safeguard the properties that would not benefit from the policy. Mrs McKenzie informed the Committee that landlords could apply for funding through the Low Carbon Across the South East (LoCASE) programme which helped to make businesses more profitable whilst protecting the environment and encouraging low carbon solutions. However, the funding was only available for shared spaces and could not be accessed by the resident themselves.

(b)    Members queried whether Kent County Council had applied for the Governments grant scheme for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Mrs McKenzie said that Kent County Council had secured funding for 30 electric vehicle charging points which had been located on Council owned estates across the districts. Kent County Council was in the process of extending the charging points and a bid had been submitted to the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) in conjunction with the districts. Kent County Council had also been approached by On-street residential ChargePoint providers who were due to present to the cross-party working group. A workshop was also due to be held to identify Kent County Council’s role in respect of the electric vehicle charging points and how best to assist. As part of the European Regional Development Fund Kent County Council launched an electric vehicle scheme for black taxi companies which encouraged drivers to switch towards an energy efficient vehicle. Mrs McKenzie agreed to send Members a copy of the taxi scheme.

(c)     Mrs McKenzie confirmed that the Energy and Low Emission Strategy would be delivered within the expected timescale.

(d)  In response to concerns regarding what would happen if the District Council’s did not ratify the strategy and what had been done to encourage partnership working, Mrs McKenzie said that there was a working group for the strategy that was linked to the Kent and Medway Air Quality partnership, on which the District Council representatives sat. The discussions of that working group were focused on the commonalities of the strategies and identified actions that should be dealt with on a strategic or local level. Whilst Kent County Council could ratify the elements owned by the local authority, the process required to be undertaken by the Districts would be extensive as they held greater ownership over specific parts of the strategy.

(e)  Mrs McKenzie said that there would be measures included within the strategy, however, it would be difficult to measure the strategies success in relation to the number of lives saved. Kent County Council was working in conjunction with Public Health to generate an evidence-based data set that captured a range of statistics from public health sectors to map where the risks were more prominent.

3.    RESOLVED that the:

(a)  progress in and proposed timelines for the development of the strategy; and

(b)  the themes and Project Models proposed in the TRI-LEP Energy Strategy outlined in Section 3, and their relevance to the Kent and Medway Strategy,

be noted.