To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008.

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The Subject Overview and Scrutiny 3 Chairperson presented a report to Cabinet on the recommendations of the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 3 (SOSC 3) from their meeting held on 4 January 2023, following the decision of 3 Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and a Scrutiny Chair to Call-In the decision of the Executive in relation to Bridgend 2030 Net Zero Carbon Strategy.

The Scrutiny Chair explained that Members of the committee discussed the decision at this meeting and highlighted the points as set out in section 4 of the report. Following this, the committee recommended that the decision be referred back to Cabinet for reconsideration for the reasons set out in section 4.5 of the report. 

The Corporate Director Communities explained that a report was presented to Cabinet on the 13^th December 2022 on Bridgend’s 2030 Net Zero strategy following Welsh Governments mandate for all Local Authorities in Wales to have an appropriate strategy in place. Bridgend’s 2030 strategy was attached at Appendix C of the report.

She added that while this was not a fully funded initiative, Welsh Government did set out the requirements of this strategy and the scopes that they wanted included. Bridgend’s strategy was the culmination of 18 months work and it was subject to assistance from Carbon Trust, who were industry experts in this field. She added that the 2030 Strategy went to a Scrutiny Committee in 2021, was subject to two Cabinet reports, and also went out to public consultation for 12 weeks.

The Corporate Director Communities explained that the Bridgend 2030 Net Zero Carbon Strategy was a corporate strategy that set out aspirations to get our Council operations to a net zero carbon position by 2030. This was based of a calculation of 90,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, this calculation was provided by Carbon Trust.

She explained that the Strategy in line with the original Cabinet report would be reviewed every three years in line with the corporate plan and will evolve as part of the net zero carbon national agenda and so with further guidance from Welsh government is provided, the strategy will evolve and mature. She added that the strategy also had a supporting action plan that would be reviewed annually in line with the MTFS and Greenhouse Gas Reporting Protocol as set out by Welsh Government.

The Corporate Director Communities highlighted the call in notice at Appendix B of the report. The call in reasons given were asking clarification on a number of points as highlighted below:

1. the financial implications of the strategy
2. performance and monitoring
3. oversight and governance
4. resources

The Corporate Director Communities explained that the financial implications were going to be significant for all of the public sector, particularly in the current financial climate. Whilst all 21 local authorities have produced a 2030 strategy, none of them have included detailed costings in their strategies. She added that the reasons for this was that it would be impossible to determine accurate costings for implementation over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

To consider any items of business that by reason of special circumstances the chairperson is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency in accordance with paragraph 2.4 (e) of the Cabinet Procedure Rules within the Constitution.

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