The Chairman to respond to any questions received from Members in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.
The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 31 May 2022.
Minutes:
The Executive received the following question(s) in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:
1. From Councillor Brian Edmonds, Farnham Wrecclesham and Rowledge ward:
“The Government Policy is carbon neutrality by 2050 accelerating this programme brings additional cost and the need for explicit, deliverable plans. Recent webinars have revealed the difficulty in meeting zero carbon emissions such as Helsinki by 2040 and China by 2060. Ms Koskinen Helsinki’s head of the City’s climate unit states there will have to be a shift away from driving to reach zero emissions. It is not enough that you change your car to electric." This change at national and local level is likely to prove a difficult behavioural change and result in the loss of critical income streams.
A progressive start would be to encourage less consumption to reduce the 100 billion tonnes of stuff produced every year. Using less should also reduce the locality’s waste a strategy being used by Hong Kong. With a carbon at a nominal cost of £50 per tonnes can WBC deliver value for money.
It would be helpful to understand why funding is the critical issue. Please could Councillor Williams advise why he considers Waverley BC can achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 20 years earlier than the current UK target and why taxpayers should fund this accelerated local ambition.”
Reply from Councillor Steve Williams, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability:
I thank Councillor Edmonds for the question and will answer the three parts of the question separately:
· Why has Waverley Borough Council set an ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 rather than the current UK target of 2050?
· Why should taxpayers fund measures to reduce the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030?
· What role do reducing consumption and changing behaviour have in reducing our carbon footprint?
Why has Waverley Borough Council set an ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 rather than the current UK target of 2050?
The simple answer is that the UK government’s target of carbon neutrality by 2050 is simply not ambitious enough.
To avoid catastrophic climate change, the world needs to be carbon neutral by 2050. Maintaining a UK target no more ambitious than 2050, passes the burden of holding the world to a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures onto the shoulders of the poorest countries who did the least to cause the problem. In the 1850s, Britain was referred to as the workshop of the world, leading the industrial revolution. 170 years on, Britain needs to be in the forefront of the green revolution to save our planet. That is a challenge the present government has not taken up, but it is a challenge that many local councils have.
According to data from Climate Emergency UK,
336/409 councils across the UK have declared a climate emergency (82%)
316/409 councils have developed an action plan to take them on this journey (77%)
And 211/409 councils have set the ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 (52%).
Despite the challenges faced by local government, the majority if councils in the UK have set themselves the ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, of which Waverley is one.
Why should taxpayers fund measures to reduce the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030?
The costs of catastrophic climate change are astonishing and far outweigh the significant costs of mitigating the impact of climate change by carbon reduction strategies. Recent research at University College London suggested that although there is still considerable uncertainty about how much climate change affects long-term growth, the economic costs of warming this century could be up to 51% of global GDP.Study co-author Dr Chris Brierley said: “Climate change makes detrimental events like the recent heatwave in North America and the floods in Europe much more likely. If we stop assuming that economies recover from such events within months, the costs of warming look much higher than usually stated. We still need a better understanding of how climate alters economic growth, but even in the presence of small long-term effects, cutting emissions becomes much more urgent.”
Waverley Borough Council, having set a target of net zero by 2030, recognises the challenges and costs of this trajectory. Given that funding is being withdrawn from local government by the present government, we are supporting the various cross-party calls on the government to provide funding to councils with robust, fully developed and costed action plans for action on climate change. Councillor Edmonds will be aware that a motion calling on the government to fund Waverley’s action plan and that of other councils was passed at the last full council meeting. I am sure Councillor Edmonds will also be aware that many of the steps we have taken to date are not costly, they are not even cost neutral, they are cost effective on financial grounds alone. Decarbonisation, cutting energy use, is now cost effective even by the narrowest definition.
What role do reducing consumption and changing behaviour have in reducing our carbon footprint?
Waverley recognise that reducing consumption and changing behaviour are important in reducing our carbon footprint. It is for this reason that
· we have supported the “Take The Jump” initiative which is about helping people to lead more carbon-friendly lifestyles;
· we have supported a more rapid implementation of the National Waste Strategy, pushing the burden of responsibility for wasteful packaging onto the producers with the “Producer Pays” principle
· we are constantly working as a council to encourage the modal shifts in behaviour to a more sustainable lifestyle – for example, through our working with others to develop active transport solutions, pushing for more and better public transport, reducing air travel and building sustainable homes.
So in short, funding is critical and we shall continue to explore every avenue to secure funding for promoting carbon reduction and encouraging biodiversity. And we shall maintain our ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2030, encourage other organisations within our community to do the same, and encourage our government to put itself at the forefront of the global fight against the disastrous effects of global climate change.
2. From Councillor Joan Heagin, Godalming Holloway ward:
Reply from Councillor Mark Merryweather, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Assets:
The latest announcement by the Chancellor about the Household Support fund confirms a third tranche of this funding. £500m was allocated across the UK in October 2021, another £500m in April 2022 and now this further £500m in June. I believe the £421m referenced by Councillor Heagin in her question was just England’s share of the initial £500m tranche. The Government is paying to Surrey County Council the shares of this funding allocated to the whole county, including Waverley, with Surrey then deciding how to allocate Surrey’s shares to us and our fellow districts and boroughs. Waverley received £243k from the first tranche. Waverley has worked with its community organisation partners including the CAB, the hygiene bank, the Godalming Rotary Club, 3 Counties Money advice and our town and parish councils across the borough to get this money to those that need it most as quickly as possible. The second tranche allocations, which cover the period April to Sept 2022, have just been finalised with £236k allocated to Waverley. This allocation has a greater focus on over 65s with £175k of the grant being allocated directly to these residents with the balance for general application for families and individuals under the age of 65. This funding is for residents who are experiencing fuel and food poverty and, once the funds have been received, the application process will be publicised by us, including on our website and through our third sector partners. We understand that Surrey County Council is still waiting for the guidance and funding amount for the latest tranche which covers the period Oct 22 to March 23.
In terms of the pension credit, I very much regret that we still have not received the information from the DWP that Councillor Heagin refers to. However we do have some related data, albeit just in relation to residents in receipt of benefits that we administer on the DWP’s behalf.
The number of residents in receipt of Pension Credit (this is not all recipients of Pension Credit in the Waverley area, only those claiming Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support). This as at 31/03/2022 was 1148, of which 173 residents were receiving Pension Savings Credit and 975 residents were receiving Pension Guarantee Credit.