Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Tina Clements, and apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sheree Peaple and Councillor Dr Simon Peaple attended as her substitute.

The meeting of the previous Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 8^th December 2020 were approved as a true record.

(Moved by Councillor P Brindley and seconded by Councillor M Greatorex)

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair reported that he proposed to move forward the agenda items covering the Forward Plan and the Green Agenda ahead of the agenda item for the Young People Working Group, which was generally supported by the Committee.

(To receive the Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee update from the meeting on 30 November 2020 and an update from County Councillor T Clements)

The Chair reported that there had been no Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee meeting held since this Committee had last met in December, however, there was a Healthy Staffordshire meeting scheduled for 1 February 2021, which had as one of its agenda items an update on vaccinations.  The Chair invited members to contact himself or County Councillor T Clements if there were questions they wanted to be raised.

Councillor R Rogers joined the meeting at 6.15pm.

Please see the link to the Forward Plan:

http://democracy.tamworth.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=120&RD=0&bcr=1

The Chair reported that the Forward Plan had a Climate Change Declaration Update due for consideration by Cabinet in February.

(Discussion item)

The Chair introduced this item and the Officers who were attending to provide an update on the Climate Change Declaration Update which was due to be considered by Cabinet in February.

The Assistant Director, Growth and Regeneration provided an overview of the Declaration adopted by Council in November 2019 which included a resolution to make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon by 2050.

The Assistant Director reported that:

·       The Council’s declaration focussed on the Council’s activities and the achievement of net zero carbon by 2050;

·       Net zero carbon required the balancing of the amount of emissions against those offset or sequestered;

·       Whilst there were already activities underway within the Council, such as work by the Assets Team as well as work on the ICT digital strategy and work from a HR perspective via incentivising low carbon vehicles, a clearer picture of the carbon footprint of the Council’s activities was required;

·       Assessment of the Council’s carbon footprint would require specialist advice following which areas of focus would be identified to reduce and /or offset the footprint and a road map set with milestones.

The Committee discussed and sought clarification in the following areas:

·       The differences between delivering carbon reduction related to the Council’s own activities; and those of the wider borough’s activities and the infrastructure supporting that, such as electric vehicle charging points.  It was noted that Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee were engaged on the wider electric vehicle charging point infrastructure;

·       Assessment of the contribution of the Council’s housing stock towards the Council’s overall carbon footprint and the role of the recently appointed housing repairs contractors in reducing this;

·       When the Council would have a clear picture of its carbon footprint, following receipt of specialist advice, which the Assistant Director, expected could be available at the end of the 2021/22 municipal year, provided the funding was available to start the required procurement process.

·       The role of the Local Plan and planning policy.  It was reported that it was expected that these would play a key role in moving this agenda forwards.  It was noted that evidence gathering was a crucial part of any Local Plan review work and that this was now underway.  Review of the work undertaken by the West Midlands Combined Authority had formed part of this process.

·       The capacity of the electricity system infrastructure locally.  It was reported that the Government agenda included a national infrastructure plan and that one of the 10 key areas covered was the upgrading of the energy infrastructure for energy saving solutions.

The Committee thanked the Officers for their input and attendance at the meeting.

The Committee made the following recommendations to Cabinet.  

RESOLVED to recommend to Cabinet that:

1. A working group be set up comprising the responsible Portfolio Holder, Chair of the Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and a member of the Opposition to review the contents of any report produced to help understand the Council’s baseline carbon footprint.
2. A commitment be made to engage with members of the public regarding the green  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

(To receive a report from the Vice- Chair)

The Vice-Chair updated the Committee on the progress made by the Young People Working group.  He reported that the impact of the further lockdown and the closure of schools had meant that some of the expected progress in this area had not been possible.

The Committee agreed that this item should be deferred until the March meeting of the Committee.

To consider items for 2020/2021 Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Plan

The Committee considered the Work Plan and agreed to update it as follows:

Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Work Plan