Agenda item

Ben Watts, General Counsel; Stephanie Holt-Castle, Director for Growth and Communities and Deborah Kapaj, Sustainable Estates Programme Manager were in attendance for this item.

1) Miss Carey introduced the report which was focused on the work KCC was doing to achieve Net Zero for KCC services and estates by 2030.  It was important that there was proper measurement of what was achieved but the achievement of Net Zero was a clear aim. KCC had been measuring its carbon emissions since 2005 and these were reported as part of the Quarterly Performance Monitoring. The pace and focus on reduction of carbon emissions had increased here, nationally and internationally. £20.6million of funding had been awarded to KCC projects from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which was significantly more than other local authorities in the south east had been awarded.

There was an obligation to spend the funding and deliver the projects before the end of March 2022 and the team had been working across the whole council to delivering the projects and to reduce KCC’s carbon emissions.

2) Ms Kapaj said that a huge amount of progress had been made since the target had been set. There was a very detailed action plan and much of the action plan had been initiated and progress was being made on reducing KCC’s emissions. Details of the plan and roadmap were included as appendices to the report.

Wider work was ongoing through the Climate Change Network which was overseen by the Kent & Medway Environment Group. Alongside KCC’s commitments, the districts had plans for their areas. More would need to be done to support businesses who would not have the expertise or resources.

3) Ms Holt-Castle said there were 3 areas that would need to be tackled in order to meet the Kent target of Net Zero by 2050: roads and transport, domestic housing and industrial commercial buildings. These areas made up 90% of emissions and support was needed from central government in terms of national legislation and in terms of funding to incentivise in those areas.

4) Mr Watts said it was vital that KCC stayed within the legal and governance confines. The projects were complicated to deliver and work was moving at pace, requiring significant resources. 

In response to questions, it was noted:

·       The climate had already changed and there would be more work with adapting to climate change. KCC was ahead of other local authorities and in a strong position in terms of the climate change agenda. KCC had identified the risks and mitigations to be put in place to deal with climate change. It was acknowledged that even when targets are met, climate change would still have an effect in the county.

·       KCC’s fleet of vehicles were moving towards being fully electric and there was a fleet of 39 (soon to be 48) electric vans which were being lent out to businesses for free.  This was done through Highways England funding the capital costs and KCC meeting the revenue costs. Low Carbon Across the South East (LoCASE) had tremendous reach in terms of helping businesses move into low energy sectors but also in supporting them to reduce their carbon emissions. It was felt there was increased interest as businesses could save money and measures such as ‘greening’ also meet social responsibility. New technology and innovations would assist in reaching the 2050 target.

·       It was noted that the grants from government came with very tight timescales, it was difficult for local authorities to respond thoroughly. KCC was lobbying government on this point so that quality projects with long-lasting impacts could be delivered.

5) RESOLVED to note the report.