The Director of Technical Services reported upon the progress of the various projects currently being undertaken by his department to ‘Reduce the Council’s Carbon Footprint’, as set out in the Wirral Carbon Reduction Programme. The Wirral Carbon Reduction Programme project plan which was updated every six months enabled the Council to plan and monitor progress in achieving National Indicator 185, reducing the Council’s CO2 emissions. This third six monthly progress update of the Project Plan was attached to the report (Appendix 1).

The Council’s Carbon Budget provided each department with a CO2 allowance in which to operate and deliver their services thus enabling service managers to plan for CO2 reductions at a departmental and operational level. Each service's carbon budget was expected to decrease annually by its target figure which equated to a 5.25% reduction to enable the Council to achieve its target of a 60% reduction by 2025. The aim was that over time the Council would be able to continue to deliver services to the borough whilst decreasing its carbon emissions.  Whilst the Council’s CO2 emissions had significantly reduced since 2005, setting an annual carbon budget for each department would provide a clear picture of the environmental impact of the Council’s spending and would help to achieve both local and national carbon reduction targets.

The Director outlined progress on individual Council projects including: details of energy efficiency schemes; the awareness raising programme and promotional work; the launch and use of the CRed website; key educational projects; development of green specification designs for the Council’s new and refurbished buildings; waste minimisation and recycling; Travel Plan initiatives and potential fuel savings.

He responded to a range of questions from members including:-

-  awareness raising sessions for teachers, the appointment of school Energy Champions, and ongoing work in this area to increase “sign up” to CRed

-  identification of potential savings from the Awareness Raising Programme based on research and case studies

-  details of the staff travel survey

-  the returns from the Boiler Scrappage Promotion

-  attendance at the Annual Green Transport /Corporate Health Event

-  the take up of the car share scheme

-  monitoring of carbon budgets and the achievement of annual savings in energy costs

-  the pilot scheme at the Cheshire Lines Building for renewable energy projects being integrated directly into building projects (also linked to the Green Building Specification Guide and Key Educational projects).

-  Signage Energy Efficiency with Keep Left Bollards being converted to solar power.  

Resolved – That the Committee note and endorse the performance and progress of the various Council ‘Carbon Footprint Reduction’ projects.