A report by the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management advised Members of the corporate and departmental progress made against the Carbon Budget 2012/13.  Attached as Appendix A to the Director’s report was the Carbon Budget Performance Timetable for Local Authority buildings which informed of the revisions that were required to meet the Corporate Goals and proposed the Carbon Budget for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The Cabinet was reminded that Members had requested that a Carbon Budget be established at the Council meeting on 14 December 2009 (Minute No. 77 refers).  The resolution had included instructions to prepare carbon budgets for each Department to be presented at the Budget Cabinet meeting and the Budget Council meeting, alongside the Council’s Financial Budget.

Councillor B Kenny confirmed that the Carbon Budget was not a statutory requirement but was the Council’s only method of managing CO₂ emissions in order to reduce its carbon footprint by delivering the Carbon Budget as stated in its Corporate Plan.

The carbon budget was not financial but meeting the annual targets would have an impact on costs.  Reductions in carbon emissions were achieved by reducing energy use and there were financial savings that would be made from the avoided costs of energy and Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES) allowances.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  progress towards the 2013/13 target included in Appendix A to the report be noted;

(2)  the Carbon Budget for 2013/14 included in Appendix A to the report be approved;

(3)  the current Carbon Budget method be applied until the impacts of the simplification of the CRCEES are assessed and that Officers be instructed to report further to Members to make recommended alterations as a result of the simplification process;

(4)  Corporate targets for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 proposed in Section 2.2.4 of the report be approved; and

(5)  managers be directed to ensure that Carbon Reduction Implications of projects and initiatives are assessed and reported as required by the standards report template.  Impacts must be reported to the Sustainability Unit to support the carbon management process.