Climate Change Reporting 2023/24
Argyll and Bute Council · 27 November 2024
Back to Argyll and Bute HSCP Integration Joint Board (IJB) — 27 November 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 Integration Joint Board Date of Meeting: 27 November 2024 Title of Report: Climate Change Reporting 2023/24 Presented by: James Gow / Malcolm McMillan The Integration Joint Board is asked to: • Note that the IJB is required to submit a Climate Change Duties Report by 30 November 2024; • Approve the proposed submission attached as Appendix 1; and • Endorse the partnership approach taken by the HSCP in respect of its Climate Change Duties. 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Climate Change legislation introduced by the Scottish Government requires all public bodies to report on their carbon emissions and provide information on how carbon reduction and climate change is governed. This report provides members of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) with an opportunity to review and approve the report for financial year 2023/24 in advance of its submission to the Sustainable Scotland Network. 1.2 Integration Joint Boards are unusual public bodies as they do not directly own assets or employ staff and therefore submit nil returns. This ensures IJB returns do not double count emissions reported by Health Boards and Local Authorities. However, the submission does provide the opportunity to highlight some of the actions, projects and challenges in delivering carbon reduction. This report also summarises some of the proposed developments which will improve HSCP’s approach to this agenda. It is apparent that there were increasing expectations from the Scottish Government that IJBs will take a more pro-active role in this policy area, however the Scottish Government have not provided direct access to funding to facilitate this and have closed the scheme which would have enabled the HSCP to bid for capital funding following the completion of the pre- capital work during 2023/24. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 The IJB is recommended to: • Note that it is required to submit a Climate Change Duties Report; • Approve the proposed submission attached as Appendix 1; and • Endorse the partnership approach taken by the HSCP in respect of its Climate Change Duties.
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2 3. DETAIL OF REPORT 3.1 The draft submission for 2023/24 is attached as appendix 1. As stated above, this is a nil return in respect of the calculation of carbon emissions as these are reported by NHS Highland and Argyll & Bute Council. The IJB is therefore placing significant reliance on the actions of both partners. 3.2 Argyll & Bute Council have a section on their web site which provides details on their approach to sustainability and carbon reduction: https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/sustainable-development-and-climate-change They report a 33% reduction in emissions since 2015/16 and lay out a £1.2m investment plan to progress towards net zero. Several of the projects undertaken by the council will have a positive impact on emissions generated by HSCP activities. For example, these seek to reduce energy consumption and emissions relating to office accommodation, invest in the electric fleet and charging points and in renewable energy sources to power ICT infrastructure. 3.3 NHS Highland have also reported reduced carbon emissions. A recent Scottish Government summary indicates building related carbon emissions reported by NHS Highland reduced by 23% between in 2015/16 and 2022/23. The most recent NHS Scotland report is available from the link below, this outlines carbon emissions across from a range of emissions drivers including buildings, medical gasses, prescribing, waste and fleet: https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-nhs-scotland-climate-emergency- sustainability-report-2024 The NHS Highland carbon reduction strategy is incorporated in the Together We Care document. 3.4 The Argyll & Bute IJB and HSCP does not have responsibility or delegated budget for capital investment. This has made it difficult for it to prioritise carbon reduction projects. Carbon emissions predominately relate to energy usage within buildings with travel and transport being the second focus of attention. Insufficient investment in the estate overall has impacted on the suitability and standard of buildings as well as their energy efficiency performance. The HSCP has taken a lead in progressing a number of projects including: • Electrification of the vehicle fleet; • Direct funding secured for increasing electric vehicle charging points; • Innovative project to pilot the use of drones in remote and island areas; • Supporting increased use of remote / home working for patients, clients and staff; • Purchase of new Electric vehicles for delivery in early 2025; and • Completion of the pre-capital project to develop options for building related carbon reduction. The HSCP has improved its approach to the management of its infrastructure and estate as planned. The Senior Estates Development and Sustainability Manager has been appointed and an Infrastructure Board has been established to oversee the development of the Estates Strategy and ensure projects are appropriately prioritised. The return seeks to outline some of the pro-active
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3 steps being taken by the HSCP. The HSCP has also highlighted to Scottish Government that it is not able to access funding directly and is not resourced to undertake review or adaptation work. Capital funding for carbon reduction has been reduced substantially which does create a risk that the work completed in 2023/24 will become obsolete and require to be re-visited before any projects are progressed. The scale of backlog maintenance requirements also means that it will be difficult to fund carbon reduction projects to change sources of energy. However, a fabric first approach to carbon reduction does align with firstly addressing backlog maintenance to reduce energy consumption and heat loss. 4. RELEVANT DATA AND INDICATORS 4.1 Carbon emissions reporting places reliance on data provided by Argyll and Bute Council and NHS Highland. 5 CONTRIBUTION TO STRATEGIC PRIORITIES 5.1 Addressing climate change is a Scottish Government priority and their declaration of a climate emergency underlines their commitment. Specific and ambitious targets have been set and the HSCP is seeking to contribute to these where it can with the resources it has available. 6. GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Financial Impact – the HSCP has very limited financial resources available to it to progress this agenda. It does not have delegated responsibility for capital budgets or investment. 6.2 Staff Governance – None 6.3 Clinical Governance – None 7. 7.1 PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY There are no recommendations which require to be consulted on with Professional Advisory leads. 8. EQUALITY & DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS 8.1 None 9. GENERAL DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES COMPLIANCE 9.1 None 10. RISK ASSESSMENT 10.1 The steps outlined in this report are intended to provide assurance of the actions being taken by the HSCP to reduce emissions, comply with the requirement to submit a climate change report and ensure it is perceived as being pro-active within the resources available. There remains a risk that the HSCP and / or its partners are perceived as not taking sufficient action to address climate change. Likewise there is a risk that the focus of financial and
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4 management resource on carbon reduction adversely impacts on resources available for other priorities. 11. PUBLIC & USER INVOLVEMENT & ENGAGEMENT 11.1 All public sector climate change submissions are publicly available. 11. CONCLUSIONS 11.1 This report provides a draft Climate Change report and seeks IJB approval for its submission. It outlines the reliance that the IJB places on both of its partners and the positive steps being taken by the HSCP to contribute to carbon reduction within the resources available. 12. DIRECTIONS Directions required to Council, NHS Board or both. Directions to: tick No Directions required √ Argyll & Bute Council NHS Highland Health Board Argyll & Bute Council and NHS Highland Health Board 14. PREVIOUS REVIEW OF THE REPORT Meeting Title of report Date Output (if relevant) N/A AUTHOR NAME: Malcolm McMillan, Strategic Estates & Sustainability & James Gow, Head of Finance and Transformation EMAIL: malcolm.mcmillan2@nhs.scot / james.gow@argyll-bute.gov.uk APPENDICES: Appendix 1: Draft Climate Change Report