Agenda reports pack
Argyll and Bute Council · 5 November 2024
Back to Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group — 5 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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Kilmory, Lochgilphead, PA31 8RT Tel: 01546 602127 Fax: 01546 604435 DX 599700 LOCHGILPHEAD 29 October 2024 NOTICE OF MEETING A meeting of the BUTE AND COWAL COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP will be held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on TUESDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2024 at 10:00 AM, which you are requested to attend. Douglas Hendry Executive Director BUSINESS 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 3. MINUTE OF THE BUTE AND COWAL AREA COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP, HELD ON TUESDAY 13 AUGUST 2024 (Pages 5 - 12) 4. COMMUNITY PLANNING PARTNERSHIP FULL PARTNERSHIP MEETING (Pages 13 - 16) Report by Committee Manager, Argyll and Bute Council 5. COMMUNITY RESILIENCE Verbal Update from Corporate Resilience Manager and Resilience Officer, Argyll and Bute Council 6. ARGYLL AND BUTE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP (a) Partner Update - Public Health (Pages 17 - 22) Report by Health Improvement Senior, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership and Alcohol and Drug Partnership Coordinator, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership Public Document Pack
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(b) Public Health annual reports: what does the work of Argyll and Bute Alcohol and Drug Partnership and Public Health mean for Community Planning? Presentation by Health Improvement Senior, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership 7. TELECARE AND BROADBAND UPDATE Presentation by Strategic Transportation Policy Officer, Argyll and Bute Council 8. PARTNER UPDATES (a) Police Scotland Update (Pages 23 - 26) (b) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Update (Pages 27 - 32) (c) Fyne Futures Update (Pages 33 - 34) (d) UHI Argyll Update (Pages 35 - 36) (e) Argyll and Bute TSI Update (Pages 37 - 40) (f) Opportunity for Verbal Updates 9. THE POVERTY ALLIANCE - TAKING ACTION ON RURAL POVERTY (Pages 41 - 48) Presentation by Development Officer, The Poverty Alliance 10. REST AND BE THANKFUL - ONGOING MANAGEMENT Verbal Update from Area Manager, Transport Scotland 11. COMMUNITY FOCUS (a) Holy Loch Nature Reserve Presentation from Warden Ecologist, Holy Loch Nature Reserve 12. CLIMATE CHANGE (a) ACT's West Cowal rainforest restoration project Verbal Update from Woodland Coordinator, Argyll & the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (b) Argyll and Bute Climate Action: developing a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll and Bute (Pages 49 - 98) Report by Climate Change Project Manager, Argyll & the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (c) Opportunity for verbal updates on community based initiatives
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13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 4 February 2025. Bute and Cowal Community Planning Group Reeni Kennedy-Boyle (Vice-Chair) Jean Moffat (Chair) Contact: Julieann Small, Democratic Services Assistant - 01546 604043
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BUTE AND COWAL COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP HELD BY MICROSOFT TEAMS ON TUESDAY, 13 AUGUST 2024 Present: Jean Moffatt, Bute Community Council (Chair) Reeni Kennedy-Boyle, Fyne Futures Stuart McLean, Committee Manager, Argyll and Bute Council John McLuckie, Partnerships Lead - Community Planning, Argyll and Bute Council Ailie Law, Community Development Officer, Argyll and Bute Council Amie Dow, Community Development Officer, Argyll and Bute Council Kevin Grant, Senior Development Officer, Argyll and Bute Council Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Peter Wallace Ross McDougall, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Rhona Altin, UHI Argyll Ann Campbell, Dunoon Community Development Trust Jennifer Dryden Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership Olena Mishanina, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership Lucy Sumsion, NFU Scotland Chief Inspector Allan Dickson, Police Scotland Rhyddian Knight, Friends of Glenan Wood Melony MacLean, ACHA John Glen, Bute BID Dorothy McDonald, Bute BID John Parker, Sandbank Community Development Trust Thomas McCowan, Dunoon Community Council Attending: Councillor William Sinclair Hugh O’Neill, Network and Standards Manager, Argyll and Bute Council Rachel McGruer, Scottish Government Place Director Takki Sulaiman, Argyll and Bute TSI Nikki Brown, Bute Community Forrest Andrew Galloway, Local Democracy Reporter, Argyll and Bute 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and general introductions were made. Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of: Councillor Ross Moreland; Councillor Audrey Forrest; Dee James, Bute and Cowal Living Well Network; Sergeant Sophie Marshall, Police Scotland; Rhona Grant, Community Learning Services, Live Argyll; Janis Marshall Reilly, Argyll and Bute TSI; Susan MacRae, Skills Development Scotland; and Becky Hothersall, The Poverty Alliance; Page 5 Agenda Item 3
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2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest intimated. 3. MINUTE OF THE BUTE AND COWAL AREA COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP, HELD ON TUESDAY 30 APRIL 2024 The Minute of the Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group meeting held on Tuesday 30 April 2024 was approved as a correct record. 4. ARGYLL AND BUTE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP (a) Partner Update - Public Health Consideration was given to a public health update from Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership’s Public Health Team on the ongoing wellbeing and prevention activities overseen and delivered by them in Argyll and Bute. The update provided information on the positive outcomes from the evaluation of the Community Link Working Service in Argyll and Bute; Suicide Prevention Activity aimed at providing resources needed to understand and improve mental health and understanding and preventing suicide; World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September; and the Art of hosting at The Living Well Programme. The update also provided information on alcohol and drug prevention and early intervention; families affected by alcohol and drugs; medically assisted treatment standards; The Argyll and Bute Mat 8 Group and recovery orientated systems of care. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report by Report by Health Improvement Lead, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership and Alcohol and Drug Partnership Coordinator, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership, submitted) (b) Community Link Working (CLW) in Argyll and Bute The Group gave consideration to a presentation on Community Link Working. The presentation highlighted that Community Link Working is part of Modernising Primary Care and that Community Link Workers follow a social prescribing model. Community Link Workers are embedded in GP Practises and aim to address socio- economic and person circumstances that affect health and wellbeing to improve the outcomes for patients and reduce pressure of GP’s time. The presentation also provided information on the Argyll and Bute Model; the Argyll and Bute Impact; and client feedback. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report and Presentation by Public Health Team, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership, submitted) Page 6
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(c) Analogue to Digital Switchover and Telecare Update Consideration was given to an update in relation to the Analogue to Digital Telecare Switchover. It was highlighted that all telephone lines within the UK are migrating from analogue lines to digital ones and that the deadline for this is June 2025 with this being led by industry (the telephone providers). As a consequence of this Telecare requires to switch analogue devices to ones that are compatible with a digital telephone line (broadband) or which operate over the mobile signal. It was highlighted that there is a programme to swap over all analogue units with digital ones and that it was currently being rolled out and that the Telecare team are continuing to focus on those who have already moved onto a digital line and those who live in areas of very good mobile signal. It was noted that 46.5% of all clients in Argyll and Bute currently have a digitally capable telecare device and that if people do transfer to a digital line but live in an area with no mobile signal, that they have a work-around solution that enables them to still have telecare whilst they are awaiting connection via broadband/the digital line. It was advised that the Telecare team will continue to support both analogue and digital telecare devices for as long as required and will not be insisting that people have to be on a digital line in order to receive telecare if they still have an analogue line in their property. Councillor Sinclair highlighted his concerns for what would happen should there be a power outage, advising that previously with an analogue system you could plug in an older type of phone and it would work. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group: 1. considered and noted the information provided; and 2. noted that in the absence of a representative from the Technology Enabled Care Team, any questions could be forwarded to them following the meeting and any responses circulated to the Group. (Reference: Report by TEC Lead, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership, submitted) 5. A815 SANDBANK COMMUNITY EVENT - 30 MAY 2024 The Group gave consideration to a report providing an update on the Sandbank traffic management community meeting held on 30 May 2024. The meeting was organised by Argyll and Bute Roads and Infrastructure Services staff with local community representatives, elected members and the Sandbank Community Development Trust invited to attend to discuss various issues including speeding on the A815, general condition of roads and pavements, pedestrian crossing facilities and on road parking. Partners who attended the meeting thanked Hugh O’Neill and his team for the very informative meeting and advised that they have a better understanding and insight into the issues around traffic regulations and associated funding pressures. Page 7
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Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group noted the update in relation to the initial meeting between the Sandbank Community Development Trust, local residents, local elected members and Council officers. (Report by Network and Standards Manager, Argyll and Bute Council, submitted) 6. PARTNER UPDATES (a) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Update The Group gave consideration to a report highlighting the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) FQ1 review of local performance across Bute and Cowal for the period 2024-25. The report included information on the local firefighter training plan; incidents during this period; unwanted fire alarm signals; road and water safety campaigns; community engagement activities; East and West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute Local Senior Officer Activities; and home fire safety. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, submitted) (b) Fyne Futures Update The Group gave consideration to an update from Reeni Kennedy-Boyle from Fyne Futures. The update highlighted that Bute Produce had reopened to the public and that Fyne Futures had held a very successful event on the 21 June which saw over 50 people take part in a range of activities. The update also provided information on a new programme of activities; Bike Bute activities; ReStyle’s venture into West Cowal; the Incredible Edible Bute volunteer programme; the Employability programme which has begun and the Cookery skills programme which is being ran again. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report by Fyne Futures, submitted) (c) UHI Argyll Update Consideration was given to an update from Rhona Altin, UHI Argyll. The update included information on an open day held in June for applicants and potential students and activity and information sessions on Early Years education and funding. The update also provided information on funding received to continue the multiple programme; forthcoming commercial courses; new courses for the academic year 2024-25 and the “Keep Warm” project which is up and running. Page 8
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Rhona highlighted that students return on the 26 August and that there is still availability on the Maritime Skills Course, which is a 17 weeks full time course. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report by UHI Argyll, submitted) (d) Argyll and Bute TSI Update Consideration was given to an update from Argyll and Bute TSI. The update provided information on policy activity; local strategic partnerships; TSI Scotland, contracts, sector support and strategic action plan delivery; the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Year 4 grant; General Elections hustings held in Oban and Helensburgh; the Taking Action on Rural Poverty workshop event held in June and the Wellbeing Development Manager role. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Report by Argyll and Bute TSI, submitted) (e) Live Argyll Community Learning Services Update The Group gave consideration to a written update from Rhona Grant, Live Argyll - Community Learning Services. The update provided information relating to a celebration day event held in May for adult learners and Youth Services School Partnership programmes in collaboration with the Scottish Government and other Scottish Attainment Challenge partners to promote the role of youth work in closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group: 1. considered and noted the information provided; and 2. noted that in the absence of a representative from Live Argyll Community Learning Services, any questions could be forwarded to them following the meeting and any responses circulated to the Group. (Reference: Report by Live Argyll Community Learning Services, submitted) (f) Opportunity for Verbal Updates Argyll and Bute Council’s Community Planning Partnership John McLuckie highlighted that a development session had been held with the Page 9
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Community Planning Partnership on 26 June where they discussed the proposed national self-assessment programme for Community Planning Partnerships; the promotion of the new outcomes improvement plan for Argyll and Bute; approaches to developing actions needed to deliver the new priority outcomes for the plan and how the cross cutting themes of Community Wealth Building, Digital Inclusion and climate change would fit into these actions. John advised that the next meeting of the Community Planning Partnership is on 16 September and that the Community Planning team have created a promotional leaflet and short video to explain what the Community Planning Partnership is and what the priority outcomes are, to assist partners with promoting the new plan. John agreed to circulate details of the promotional materials following the meeting. Argyll and Bute Council’s Community Development Team Amie Dow highlighted that a free craft workshop for cycling and walking in the dark was being held on 5 October at the Pier Building in Dunoon in conjunction with the opening of the Cycle Bothy and that they are also having a treasure hunt in the Castle Gardens. Amie added that the same workshops are being delivered to schools on Fridays throughout September. Amie further advised that she is currently working with community land managing organisations across Bute and Cowal and that if partners knew of any community land managing organisations where food growing is a priority to make her aware of them. Dunoon Community Development Trust Ann Campbell highlighted that Dunoon Community Development Trust had now taken over the lease for Castle House Gate Lodge and would be using it as base for ‘What’s on Dunoon’ which is a community led events website and that they are, currently recruiting information volunteers with a planned drop in being held on 21 August at 11am for anyone who is interested in finding out more information. (g) Police Scotland Update Consideration was given to an update which provided information on the ongoing work of the Service and information on serious and organised crime; acquisitive crime; road safety and road crime; violent crime; public protection; fraud prevention and awareness; the work of the Youth Engagement Officer for Bute and Cowal and the continued work on pro-actively engaging with the public in Cowal and Bute. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Report by Police Scotland, submitted) 7. PLACE DIRECTORS - SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Consideration was given to a presentation by Rachael McGruer, Place Director at the Scottish Government. The presentation highlighted that the role of Place Directors is to Page 10
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understand how public services can best work together and support partners to work with communities across Scotland. The presentation also included information on Place Directors responsibilities; the history of Place Directors with it being highlighted that they have existed since 2008 and prior to 2022 were known as Location Directors; and personal involvement such as attendance at CPP meetings and supporting visits for the Permanent Secretary and Travelling Cabinet. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Presentation by Place Director, Scottish Government) 8. COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING IN ARGYLL AND BUTE Consideration was given to a presentation by Takki Sulaiman, Argyll and Bute TSI, in relation to Community Wealth Building. The presentation highlighted what Community Wealth Building is, related local activities and the actions being taken forward by the CPP Management Committee to develop and integrate the model. Takki encouraged the Group to consider what actions they would like to see to establish Community Wealth Building within the locality and whether a local Working Group would be beneficial and whether this would take an athematic or place-based approach; integrating the Community Wealth Building work into a Local Place Plan or if there were any training needs of the Group. Reeni Kennedy-Boyle advised that she would be interested in getting involved and would like further discussions on this and what existing community benefits are available across Argyll and Bute. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Presentation by CEO, Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface) 9. COMMUNITY FOCUS (a) Bute Community Forest The Group gave consideration to a presentation from Nikki Brown from Bute Community Forest. Nikki advised that the charity was formed in 2009 and that they are responsible for the community ownership and management of the forest which is 160 hectors of mixed woodlands located at the north end of the Isle of Bute. It was highlighted that that the focus is on responsible management and managing access and engaging with people in the woodlands through engagement events and that they work with a number of local and regional groups. Nikki provided information of projects undertaken; future plans; events which had been held and funding received. It was highlighted that a Forest Ranger has been in post for just over 2 years and Page 11
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that they have partnered with the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Foundation to deliver a joint crowd funding campaign to raise money to support the continued Forest Ranger post. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group considered and noted the information provided. (Reference: Presentation by Project Officer, Bute Community Forest) 10. CLIMATE CHANGE (a) Opportunity for verbal updates on community based initiatives There were no verbal updates provided under this item. 11. WATER SAFETY SCOTLAND COMMUNICATION TOOLKITS Consideration was given to communication toolkits produced by Water Safety Scotland for use in developing people’s understanding and awareness of the danger of open water and enabling safe participation in water-based activities. Decision The Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided for promoting water safety for kayaking/canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding. (Reference: Report by Water Safety Scotland, submitted) 12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The Group noted that the next meeting of the Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group would take place on Tuesday 5 November 2024. Page 12
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Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group 5 November 2024 Community Planning Partnership Full Partnership Meeting This briefing relates to the meeting of the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) Full Partnership meeting which was held on 16 September 2024. The briefing is for noting and relevant discussion. Summary HIGHLIGHTS Argyll and Bute Employability Partnership Delivery Plan Ishabel Bremner, Economic Growth Manager Argyll and Bute Council, outlined the overarching Argyll and Bute Employability Partnership Delivery Plan (ABEP) for 2022-2025. The ABEP recognises that through stronger and more collaborative partnership working, focused on a place-based person-centred approach, will help to ensure suitable opportunities for individuals of all ages and capabilities through tackling socio-economic disadvantage, inequalities and removing multiple barriers to securing sustainable employment. Climate Change Andy Macpherson, Climate Change Project Manager, delivered a presentation that covered the key principles and process and progress regarding the CPP initiative to develop a Climate Change Strategy and Framework. Mr Macpherson also outlined climate trends, climate risks, findings, current actions and main areas of opportunity to make Argyll and Bute climate ready. Community Wealth Building The CPP Full Partnership met on the 16 September 2024 with the meeting being held in the Corran Halls, Oban. This update provides an overview of the discussion which took place. Reports which were discussed at the meeting can be found by following this link - (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership - Full Partnership, 16/09/2024 10:00 (argyll-bute.gov.uk) Page 13 Agenda Item 4
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John McLuckie, Partnership Lead Argyll and Bute Council, provided a short history of Community Wealth Building within the Community Planning Partnership including development as a cross-cutting theme during the pandemic, the work of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) commissioned by the CPP and the final Community Wealth Building report approved in April 2024. John also outlined the five Community Wealth Building pillars, the wider local and national context including an anticipated Scottish Government Community Wealth Building Bill and provided an update on the work of the CPP Community Wealth Building Steering Group including discussions on strategy and prioritisation. Transport Infrastructure Ranald Robertson, Director HITRANS, provided a presentation concerning the key priorities for the new Regional Transport Strategy for the development of transport in the region over the next 20 years. Colin Young, Transport Planner Argyll and Bute Council, outlined the dependencies for Argyll and Bute in terms of sectors that rely on transport, highlighting Council infrastructure, services supported and subsidised by the Council and the areas where residents rely on services not provided by the Council including the national trunk road network, ferry routes operated by Calmac and rail services. Mr Young also spoke of the transport priorities such as the Rest and Be Thankful and West Highland Line. Housing Douglas Whyte, Housing Strategy Manager Argyll and Bute Council, highlighted the current housing emergency, the factors that resulted in the declaration of a housing emergency by Argyll and Bute Council in June 2023 and the housing emergency action plan agreed in June 2024. Actions include enabling the delivery of more market homes, enabling the delivery of more affordable homes, enabling the delivery of workforce homes and making the best use of existing homes, with the importance of the private sector being round the table emphasised. Community Wellbeing Mahailia Kateryna and Sam Campbell, Third Sector Interface, delivered a presentation outlining the proposed Population Health Framework for Scotland which is to be adopted by the Scottish Government, CoSLA, Public Health Scotland and Health Boards. They spoke of the whole systems approach to the prevention- focussed system which would seek to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce health inequalities, the strategic drivers of health improvement and how these would be delivered through the framework. For further information, please contact: Page 14
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Stuart McLean, Committee Manager, Argyll and Bute Council (01436) 657605 Stuart.mclean@argyll-bute.gov.uk Page 15
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1 Argyll & Bute Community Planning Partnership Area Community Planning Group Partnership update Date: October 2024 Partner update – Public Health The Public Health team are in the process of completing their annual report, detailing the work of the team over 2022-2023. Further information on this will be available from the Living Well website in due course - Living Well (ablivingwell.org). Smoking Cessation Stoptober campaign launches in Highland, Argyll and Bute | NHS Highland (scot.nhs.uk) The Stop Smoking team (Smoking Cessation Advisers) support people across Argyll and Bute to quit smoking, and during the month of October have been promoting the Stoptober Campaign by raising awareness of the service. Stoptober is an annual campaign to encourage smokers to quit in October. This was an opportunity to raise awareness of the Smoking Cessation service, how people can access the service, and how health and social care professionals can refer people to the service. Research shows people are up to five times more likely to quit for good if they manage to go smoke-free for 28 days. People who wish to give up smoking or vaping can receive 12-week support and medication with specialist trained Smoking Cessation Advisers. Referrals or self-referral can be made to the Smoking Cessation Team via the details below: • Stop Smoking Service: nhsh.absmokefreeservices@nhs.scot • Quit Your Way freephone: 0800 848484 • Further information can also be found at: Smoke Free Highland | For a smoke free life (scot.nhs.uk) Screening The Public Health team continue to work to increase awareness of the five adult screening programmes available in Scotland: abdominal aortic aneurysm, bowel, breast, cervical and diabetic eye screening. This work, led by a Health Improvement Officer, will include: • Visiting community groups and 3rd sector partners to deliver training and raise awareness of screening programmes. Page 17 Agenda Item 6a
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2 • Working with community groups to identify specific screening learning needs. e.g. promoting screening information in languages other than English. • Promoting the new Turas Screening Training module developed in NHS Highland which is available to anyone in Scotland supporting screening. The module can be accessed via the link below: NHS Scotland National Screening Programmes | Turas | Learn. • To set up a Turas account, visit Turas | Sign up (b2clogin.com). Living Well Networks (LWNs) The Living Well Networks provide an opportunity for people and partners interested in Health Improvement and healthy communities to come together, network, and share information. In 2024, all the Living Well Networks held community events to allow partners, local and national organisations, Third Sector etc. to come together to showcase their services and provide information about the support they offer to communities. The events were well attended with valuable connections established. The final event was held in Tiree in August, with fifteen mainland-based Living Well Network partners providing information stalls. A good community attendance saw people keen to find out about support that is available for them, their relatives, friends and neighbours. Argyll and Bute Health & Social Care Partnership - Living Well Grants Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership HSCP has launched Year Five of the Living Well Grants, aimed at Third Sector Organisations and community groups supporting the Living Well Strategy. This year, the grants are focused on improving health and wellbeing in rural island communities by connecting people to community activities. The application process opened on 16th September and closes 25th October. Grants of up to £4,000 are available. Further information is available here: www.ablivingwell.org/living-well-funding Health Intelligence The Argyll and Bute Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) will be published in November. The JSNA is a systematic approach to assess health and social care needs in the population based on available data. The requirement for the HSCP to consider the needs of the population and service-users is embedded with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. It is an essential foundation to inform commissioning and service planning and provides an evidence base for the next Joint Strategic Plan and Joint Strategic Commissioning Plan. The Public Health Intelligence team, as part of the PH team, produced the JSNA together with a short life working group were tasked with scoping out relevant data sources and collecting the relevant context to this data from colleagues throughout the HSCP. Page 18
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3 Living Well The Public Health team continue to support the Living Well Strategy aims of prevention, and self-management of health and wellbeing. Working with communities is one aspect of this work. Working effectively with communities and local people helps to ensure actions are relevant and more likely to make a difference. Partners working on Living Well in Argyll and Bute recognise the potential of having consistent approaches to working with our communities. The power of local people and the voices of communities will strengthen action on bigger challenges like health, climate and the economy. The Art of Hosting method gives us tried and tested ways of working with our communities. The recent successful Art of Hosting pilot in June 2024 enthused partners working on challenging agendas. In the future, Locality-based Art of Hosting workshops will be organised by the Community Champions who have attended the Art of Hosting training sessions. These champions will take the lead in engaging their communities and hosting workshops tailored to local needs. Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP) Prevention and Early Intervention Alcohol Screening and Brief Interventions (ABIs) are effective and evidence- based early intervention for those individuals who are drinking at hazardous and harmful levels. Training dates to learn how to deliver Alcohol Brief Interventions have been released and bookable on Turas https://turasdashboard.nes.nhs.scot/ Planet Youth continues to grow and build momentum across the five areas in Argyll and Bute: Lochgilphead, Dunoon, Oban, Rothesay and Tobermory. Recent focus has been on building five strong coalition groups and raising the profile of Planet Youth by engaging with local communities, attending parent events, reaching out to stakeholders, hosting community fayres, organising overview, distributing leaflets and more. Across the five areas, there are approximately 100 coalition members. The next step will focus on action planning and making positive changes to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors to help children and young people make better, healthier and safer choices. Drama Productions The ‘I Love You, Mum - I Promise I Won't Die’ Drama Production is taking place in October in Helensburgh (22.10.2024) and Oban (24.10.2024). This verbatim play tells the true story of 16-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs, who tragically died after taking drugs on a night out. It is told through the words of Daniel's family and friends to help other young people learn and make safer choices. These performances are being piloted with community members in Argyll and Bute. Almost all of the 95 tickets have been booked. Feedback will be evaluated and collated into a report. Page 19
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4 The ‘You Are Not Alone’ drama production was performed in schools during September to S2 and S3 pupils across Argyll and Bute. This annual health programme comprises of three vignettes about different key public health topics relevant to young people. The overall messages portrayed are how to prevent negative situations and access services/ organisations that can support young people. All schools have resources to support the production and highlight the different supports available. An evaluation will be produced. We have 236 responses to date. A full report will be collated in November 2024. Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD) have been carrying out their commissioned work in Argyll and Bute to support implementation of Whole Family Approach. The high-level goal of this work is to grow a model of family support that is connected and effective, utilises community assets, sustains, strengthens and upskills communities to create a cohesive and effective Whole Family Approach. Following on from the engagement events in Inveraray, a full day conference and two design events were held in September. Around 40 people including service providers including advocacy, employability, recovery, substance use services and families attended the conference which to learn about the whole family approach, participate in facilitated discussions, and network with guest speakers including Justina Murray, Chief Executive Officer, SFAD, Melanie McPherson CEO of My Support Day and Neil Hunter, Principal Reporter/Chief Executive, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Chair of the National Whole Family Approach Implementation Group for Scottish Government. For more information about support for families and how to get involved please contact debra@sfad.org.uk. Recovery Orientated Systems of Care (ROSC) Community Learning and Development, the Scottish Recovery Consortium and With You continue to support developments in the recovery community in Argyll and Bute. An agreement has been established with Lomond and Argyll Advocacy Service to provide specific advocacy support to people affected by alcohol and drugs extending their presence in Argyll and Bute. Collaborative work with the Argyll and Bute Alcohol and Drug Partnership Support Team, We Are With You and Campbeltown Picture House led to the screening of the film 'The Outrun' together with popcorn and mocktails on 29th September. This very thought provoking and moving film tells the story of Rona, a young woman, her problems with alcohol and return to home in the Orkney Islands. The event was a huge success with the cinema fully booked. Alcohol and Drug Partnership Strategy and Needs Assessment A Consultant supporting the ADP with their strategy development has been engaging stakeholders to hear their priorities and how the work of the ADP can also contribute to partners strategic plans. Page 20
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5 The ADP support team is working on developing a Health Needs Assessment for the ADP. Once the questions are finalised, we would like to engage with a wide range of community members to hear their thoughts and views. Alcohol and Drug Partnership Annual Report Please find a copy of our 2023 to 2024 Annual Report here: argyllandbuteadp.info/img/adp_annual_report_2023-24_final_for_circulation.pdf. REPORT AUTHOR AND CONTACT Author Names: Angela Coll, Health Improvement Senior and Laura Stephenson, Alcohol and Drug Partnership Coordinator. Email: nhsh.abhealthimprovement@nhs.scot Page 21
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Argyll & West Dunbartonshire Division Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group October 2024 The priorities for your area are decided by data from our strategic assessment which details threats and risks, and also from feedback from local authorities, partners, and residents in the Local Policing Survey. • Serious and organised crime • Crimes of theft and dishonesty (acquisitive crime) • Road safety and road crime • Violent crime • Public protection. Serious & Organised Crime Cowal, Bute & Helensburgh benefits from a dedicated specialist resource, the Serious and Organised Crime Team (SOCT). These specialist officers are supported by dedicated intelligence officers in taking a proactive approach to tackling serious and organised crime in our communities. We have been upskilling officers across our policing division, ensuring they understand and appreciate the importance of community intelligence and information. Through intelligence led policing, officers are able to apply to the courts for Sheriff search warrants and take positive action in the detection and disruption of those involved in the sale and supply of controlled drugs. Community information is key for us and may just provide us with the last piece of evidence required to apply to the courts for a warrant. We encourage our communities to share concerns and suspicions around drug dealing either by calling 101 or by reporting anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their website and online form (https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give- information/forms/pre-form). COWAL, BUTE & HELENSBURGH PRIORITIES 2023-2026 Page 23 Agenda Item 8a
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Acquisitive Crime Although local crime statistics are currently on a downward trajectory, acquisitive crime continues to be a priority. Police in the area remain aware that crimes such as theft by shoplifting are nationally increasing due to socio-economic factors, including the cost-of-living crisis. Frauds have decreased slightly, compared with the previous year to date. However, the Preventions Team remains committed to working with organisations and individuals with their fraud prevention initiatives and we ask that the community remain vigilant regarding particular issues, such as, bogus workmen and online scams. (Figures from 1st April – 28th October 2024) Crime Type 5 Year Average YTD Previous year (2023/24) Year to date (YTD) % Change from previous Year Fraud 18.4 20 7 -65% Common theft 39.2 26 17 -34.6% Theft by shoplifting 25.6 36 16 -55.6% Road Safety & Road Crime Across Argyll & Bute we are committed to reducing road deaths by targeting the five main causes of fatal road accidents. These include speeding, being unfit to drive through drink or drugs, seatbelts and driver distraction. Our officers will continue to pro-actively engage through education and enforcement. Our officers are all trained in the use of hand help speed detection devices and will always look for opportunities to target areas of concern throughout the course of their shift. For this year to date, across our area (including Helensburgh and Lomond) 40 persons have been reported with being unfit to drive through drink or drugs or have refused to supply a specimen when required to do so. These numbers remain on par with the 5-year average but are down on last year’s numbers. Our fatal road accident statistics remain in line with last year and in line with our 5-year average. Within Argyll, Road Safety risk analysis has identified the main causes of serious and fatal accidents are a result of: • Motorcycles • Those unfit to drive Page 24
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS • People’s manner or driving • Visitors to Argyll. We have held a partnership event in Inverary with Roads Policing officers and the Institute of advanced motorists targeting motorcycles. This included assessed drives and advice. The event was well attended, and we have received positive feedback something which we will continue to develop and promote. We have also held more local outreach events, including around cycling and road safety in both Dunoon and the Isle of Bute. Our community events have been a great success and well received in the local community. These events support our determination to reduce road deaths across Argyll. Violent Crime Violent crime continues to be closely monitored and reviewed with investigations being resourced across Local Policing Teams and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Each crime is subject of daily review and scrutiny and thereafter allocated to the most appropriate department to progress to assist in identification of repeat victims, offenders and locations. Any emerging issues and risks are shared and appropriate actions identified. Across Cowal and Bute we continue to support our nighttime economy by providing a visible presence in our licensed premises. Weekend policing plans and patrols allow us to maximise our efforts across our towns as we look for opportunities to reduce early signs of ASB which may escalate into violence. Public Protection Public protection remains a local and force-wide priority and at the forefront of policing. Cowal and Bute continue to be supported by a range of dedicated departments in this area including the Safeguarding team, the Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit and the Concern Hub. Specialist training is also cascaded throughout the division to ensure the provision of a comprehensive approach to victims who fall under the at-risk category. Winter safety initiatives will also include a gender-based violence campaign. Local Policing News Our Youth Engagement Officer (YEO), PC Rachael Wells, continues to drive forward extensive work with young people in our community. This has recently included Police Scotland’s involvement and stall at the Planet Youth Engagement Day, for parents and carers at the Queen’s Hall, Dunoon. Planet Youth is a holistic, wide-ranging partnership approach that looks at improving the experiences of young people by ensuring that their views are truly listened to. Page 25
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Further community engagement has been carried out with a recent visit of the Phoenix Centre group to Rothesay Police Station. Visits to local nursersies and school’s continue on a regular basis and provide excellent opportunities to ensure positive interaction with hard to reach communities whose voices are often less heard. Looking Forward We are looking forward to welcoming some new officers in both Dunoon and the Isle of Bute in the coming months. These officers will bolster our existing officer numbers providing more resilience and support to our communities. As we move towards the winter months, our Winter Safety campaigns will kick in and we will be targeting seasonal crimes. This will include supporting local businesses through the festive season and the Roads Policing department with their drink and drug driving campaigns. Useful Links/Contacts • Argyll and Bute Communtiy Directory - https://abcd.scot/ including warm spaces information • Crimestoppers – Crimestoppers in Scotland | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org) 0800 555 111 • Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime – www.scottishparc.co.uk • Women’s Aid - Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) • Citizens Advice – 0808 164 6000 • Argyll and Bute Council Trading Standards – 01546 605 519 • Argyll and Bute Council – https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/my-council/how-contact-us • Transport Scotland – road related incidents and road closures - https://www.traffic.gov.scot/traffic-information/incidents • Scottish Water - https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Contact-Us 0800 0778 778 • NHS24 (including mental health support) – 111 or https://www.nhsinform.scot/ Follow us on Social Media and help share loacl appeals and education messages • Facebook - Police Scotland Argyll and West Dunbartonshire • X (formerly Twitter) – PSOSArgyllBute and PSOS ArgWestDunb Sign up to Neighbourhood Watch to receive local alerts and bulletins for your community area - https://neighbourhoodwatchscotland.co.uk/#0 Have your say on your local policing priorities - https://consult.scotland.police.uk/strategy-insight- and-innovation/your-police-2023-2024/ Page 26
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Bute, Cowal and Dunoon CPG Briefing Report Q2 2024/25 Performance & Activity Report From: 1st July 2024 To: 30th September 2024 Page 27 Agenda Item 8b
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Introduction Welcome to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Community Board Performance Report. This performance report is designed to provide citizens, stakeholders and partners with information relating to Community Board based activity undertaken by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Whilst using historic statistical benchmarking data, consideration must be taken of the somewhat random nature of fire related incidents and events, and how this can pose difficulties in interpreting emerging patterns and trends. This is of specific relevance where Community Board level data is analysed due to the relatively small number of actual incidents/events that occur in Community Board areas. However, regardless of statistical anomalies, emerging patterns and trends in fire related incidents and events can assist the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Community Planning Partners plan and implement preventative intervention initiatives to target reducing fire related incidents and events. Local Firefighter Training Plan Below is a list of subjects the operational crews have been focusing on within this period. Each subject has been covered both practically and theoretically and recorded in the Fire Service Training recording system. Training Subjects July/August/September • BA/CFBT Q2 • Water Awareness Q2 • SWAH • HAZMAT Q2 • Knotts, Ladders & Pumps • Fire Contaminants Page 28
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Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADF) Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 0.7 1 1 Dunoon 1.7 2 2 Isle of Bute 1.7 1 4 Community Board Total 4.1 4 7 ADF Casualties Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 0 0 0 Dunoon 0 0 0 Isle of Bute 0 0 0 Community Board Total 0 0 0 Deliberate Secondary Fire Setting Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 0.7 1 0 Dunoon 0.7 1 0 Isle of Bute 1 1 0 Community Board Total 2.4 3 0 Fires in Non-Domestic Property Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 1.3 2 1 Dunoon 1.7 1 1 Isle of Bute 0 0 0 Community Board Total 3 3 2 Page 29
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Casualties from Non-Fire Emergencies Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 0.3 0 0 Dunoon 0 0 0 Isle of Bute 0 0 0 Community Board Total 0.3 0 0 Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals Ward 3 Year Average 2023/24 2024/25 Cowal 6 5 2 Dunoon 4.7 4 3 Isle of Bute 12.3 14 6 Community Board Total 23 23 11 Page 30
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Incidents/Activities of Note Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) We continue to work with partners across Argyll & Bute to support duty holders in reducing unwanted fire alarm signal (UFAS) incidents. Our UFAS mobilisation policy has been devised with the aim of reducing UFAS incidents across Scotland. This has been reflected in the relevant KPI’s contained within this report. Road & Water Safety Campaigns In this reporting period, we have continued to work with various partners across Argyll & Bute including Police Scotland, The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) and local business on Road and Water safety campaigns. We continue to participate in Partnership Approach to Water Safety (PAWS) and attend Argyll & Bute quarterly meetings. Our Community Action Team (CAT) and local crews have been delivering Water Safety Scotland water safety presentations across schools in Argyll & Bute. Community Engagement Activities • Post Domestic Incident Response (PDIR) following every domestic incident: Offers homeowners a free safety check and installation of alarms where applicable. • Road Safety Coordinator, Verina Lister assisted with a first of its kind road safety event in partnership with Police Scotland, NHS, MS Centre, IAM and SFRS. Shared advice on ways to keep older drivers driving safely for longer. 10 participants signed up for assisted driving. • In July Oban Red Watch and our CAT attended the Clipper Around the World Race event held in Oban. We used the opportunity to display our dedicated Water Rescue Resources located at Oban Community Fire Station. • Representation on Multi Agency Risk Assessment (MARAC) for those affected by domestic violence. • Continue to support ‘Make the Call’ campaign and On Call recruitment drive for retained and volunteer stations within Argyll and Bute • Argyll & Bute Community Action Team (CAT) recently attended a careers event at Oban High. The event involved engaging with pupils to learn new skills such as CPR awareness and discussing future careers with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service • In July our CAT supported a multi-agency water safety event in Loch Lomond. This was to highlight the dangers around the water and to behave safely. Target age group was Primary 6/7. • Engaging with communities utilising Summer/Autumn Thematic Action Plans TAP (Thematic Action Plan) • Establishing “Referral Pathways” with our partnership agencies. Empowering new referral groups to help us arrange Home Fire Safety Visits for some of our most vulnerable groups in our communities. Page 31
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• In July CC Gerry Ralston from Salen Volunteer unit attended the Royal Garden party at Holyrood house. • Our On Call fire fighters from Craignure on the Isle of Mull who despite the weather carried on with their Charity car wash, all monies raised will go to and Craignure Social Improvement group. EWDAB (East & West Dunbartonshire, Argyll, and Bute) LSO Activities • SC Taylor, CC Mulligan and Senior Coastal Operations Officer Alex Wallace (HM Coastguard) observed Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy team exercise. A simulated casualty rescue form Turbine 1, Carraig Gheal Wind Farm. • LSO McKay and his team were delighted to support World Drowning Prevention Day at Lomond shores, Balloch. A fantastic event with lots of positive educational engagement to keep everyone safe in and around Scotland's water ways • In September our latest course of On Call fire fighters attended Oban to begin their 10-day T&TM course taking another step closer to helping protect their communities in Lochgilphead, Appin, Oban and Tighnabruaich. • Oban crews from SFRS, SAS, Police, Coastguard and Mountain Rescue came together at Oban Community Fire Station to recognise each other’s service to the community. #EmergencyServicesDay • In September we held station days in both Helensburgh and Oban Community Fire Stations. This allowed us to invite partners and members of the public to the respective stations for a day of fun and to raise money for local charities Home Fire Safety As part of our commitment to building a safer Scotland we offer everyone in Scotland a free home fire safety visit. We will help you sort out a fire escape plan and provide information about smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide alarms. For a Free Home Fire Safety Visit, please: • Call 0800 0731 999 • Text "FIRE" to 80800 from your mobile phone. Twitter link: https://twitter.com/abewdhq Page 32
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Fyne Futures Update Fyne Futures Ltd was delighted to be awarded £2,500 from the Supporting Communities Fund. The project has been led by Amanda Thornburn, Employability Coach and Steve Kemp, Volunteer Co-ordinator. Centred around volunteering and food sharing, the programme is entering its final weeks of operation and the team are preparing the end report. People of all abilities and ages have taken part in horticultural activities at sites around Rothesay and Port Bannatyne. These work parties have been growing food at what were once derelict sites. The food is then freely available for anyone to take. At each work party a light lunch is provided. Volunteers have been involved in preparing food with many gaining food hygiene certification as part of their experience. There have been seasonal celebrations – Halloween, Christmas, Burns Night, brining people together through the short days, with last event being a summer BBQ. The project piloted led foraging events which were well attended. The project has been successful in bringing people together, improving health and wellbeing and tackling food insecurity and poverty with dignity. Page 33 Agenda Item 8c
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Principal and Chief Executive: Martin Jones www.argyll.uhi.ac.uk UHI Argyll is a trading name of Argyll College Ltd a charity registered in Scotland No SC026685 Registered address: West Bay, Dunoon, PA23 7HP UHI Argyll – Rothesay and Dunoon: Update for Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group 22/10/2024 Graduation Our 2024 graduation was held on 27th September at Queen’s Hall in Dunoon. It was attended by 75 graduates and their guests from across Argyll, Bute and Arran. HISA coffee morning – Dunoon On 30th September, Dunoon centre hosted a coffee morning with the support of Siobhan Muir, the Argyll depute for Highland and Islands Students Association. Just over £72 was raised for McMillan Cancer Support. Events Dunoon centre staff had a stall at the Planet Youth community event at Queen’s Hall on 12th September. Rothesay centre staff had a stall at the Careers and Pathways Day Event at Rothesay Joint Campus on Wednesday 2nd October. Both events were well attended. Courses We have two ESOL courses scheduled to begin in November. These will be networked and available at all Argyll centres: • ESOL Level 4 Wednesday evenings (2.5 hrs). Starts 13th November. • ESOL Level 5 Monday evenings (2.5 hrs). Starts 11th November. We are also offering the following commercial courses: • Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Training (SCPLH): Monday 11th November • REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene: Monday 18th November Our Semester two (January-start) courses are currently in the planning stages. Details will be released on our website in due course. Open day We will be holding an open day on Wednesday 13th November. Sheena Finlay Assistant Centre Manager (Rothesay) sheena.finlay@uhi.ac.uk Rhona Altin Assistant Centre Manager (Dunoon) rhona.altin@uhi.ac.uk Page 35 Agenda Item 8d
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Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (TSI) update - Nov 2024 Third Sector Support Advisor (TSSA) Cowal and Bute Janis Marshall Reilly: janismarshallreilly@argylltsi.org.uk Update from: Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (ABTSI) Third Sector Support Advisor for Cowal and Bute: Janis Marshall Reilly janismarshallreilly@argylltsi.org.uk Facebook page for Cowal and Bute TSI news can be found by clicking here. This update covers the period from 22nd July to 14th October 2024. TSI activity for quarter two 2024-2025 has included: - promoting the final version of the TSI funded Community Wealth Building report to Area Community Planning Groups - reviewing our budgets - supporting member organisations and the wider community through the council and IJB budget processes - planning for our next business plan and new strategy. Scottish Government, Parliament, the TSI landscape and policy activity - on 3rd September 2024 the Scottish Finance Secretary announced over £500m in direct savings. Much of this was achieved through postponing or cancelling infrastructure projects. Whilst our local community and third sector has not suffered directly as a result, many in the sector are awaiting the outcome of the UK Government’s budget on 30th October 2024 and the implications for the next Scottish Government Budget due in December 2024. We note that transformational change for the public sector is predicated on a third sector able to invest in preventative and early intervention services. This is reflected in our last funding letter from the Scottish Government and indeed in much of the work of this TSI since 2021. - on 4th September the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government was published and included the long awaited Community Wealth Building legislation as well as a Bill intended to address Climate Change – both areas that the TSI has been heavily involved in working with other local partners. Over the past two years in particular the TSI Scotland Network has been focussing on areas where we might work together. Whilst lobbying and communications are obvious areas for the expression of this ambition the activity that will yield the most benefit to our communities is the joint work on five thematic improvement programmes:- • Theme One: Telling our Story: Improving our reporting on our activity, and our ability to use our data to influence decision-makers. • Theme Two: Evaluating Third Sector Activity: Upskilling staff on outcomes and evaluation. Page 37 Agenda Item 8e
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Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (TSI) update - Nov 2024 Third Sector Support Advisor (TSSA) Cowal and Bute Janis Marshall Reilly: janismarshallreilly@argylltsi.org.uk • Theme Three: Improving the Induction for TSI Staff: Harnessing our existing resources to create a better induction for new TSI staff. • Theme Four: Delivering for our Communities: Enhancing the Network’s ability to collaborate. • Theme Five: An Ambitious Network: Embedding improvement for the longer term. Theme Four entails developing joint products and shared services that all TSIs could use and the ABTSI CEO is engaged directly in this workstream. Local strategic partnerships It was previously reported that the HSCP was in a challenging financial position with a need to find £11.4million of cuts and specifically proposed cuts to day care services for vulnerable adults on Bute and Oban. The TSI made representations directly at the IJB by working with family groups and user groups. The cuts have been stalled and a review has been requested which the TSI will be supporting to ensure there is proactive engagement with the affected communities. The TSI is working with a third sector and service user led stakeholder group and the HSCP has agreed to fund a research project to map current provision, need and propose ultimately a new service delivery model. The TSI is procuring this and a project management fee is being taken. Community Wealth Building (CWB) progress Following April’s Community Planning Partnership (CPP) meeting the ABTSI CEO Takki Sulaiman presented the report’s findings to the four Area Community Planning Groups (ACPG) in May and then again in August 2024. The CPP’s CWB steering group will meet for a further time in November to identify how to take forward the specific recommendations contained in April’s report. Given the forthcoming legislation we would expect Argyll and Bute’s anchor organisations to take increasingly more interest in the focus and extent of implementing this new economic methodology. Community Benefits Part of the CWB report outputs was a review of how we approach community benefits arising from major infrastructure schemes. In September 2024 we have worked with some emerging local coalitions in Dunoon to approach the structure of a potential fund via a public event. More strategically there may well be scope to research the whole field of community benefits to analyse how it is spent and identify room for improvement, improve Page 38
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Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (TSI) update - Nov 2024 Third Sector Support Advisor (TSSA) Cowal and Bute Janis Marshall Reilly: janismarshallreilly@argylltsi.org.uk transparency and focus on local needs. We will wrap this up as part of our strategic review. Meeting with Argyll and Bute Council Chief Executive A positive meeting took place between Argyll and Bute’s Chief Executive and our CEO last week. It was clear that the new administration has in mind a collaborative relationship with Communities and the Third Sector. Under discussion was the need to collaborate on the development of local place plans, supporting the third sector to collaborate more deeply in project development and the design and delivery of shared services for the sector. Internal matters, contracts, sector support and strategic action plan delivery A longstanding staff member, Margaret Wallace, retired with our thanks in September 2024 and we welcomed a new TSSA for Mid-Argyll, Caitlin McNeill, as her replacement following a very competitive interview process held in early September. Caitlin’s email address is caitlinmcneill@argylltsi.org.uk. 1. ABTSI strategy development preparations Further to the Board’s decision in April 2024, the CEO has been working on a plan to deliver a survey and focus groups identifying key local third and social enterprise issues in general for three reasons:- 1. Map and identify the concerns and needs of the sector 2. Use the findings to drive an overarching training, events and networking calendar 3. Use the findings to drive the TSI's new strategy, business plan and a sector led campaign. There are significant Venn diagram type intersections with the above, Living Well and Climate Change work streams as well as other identified in conversation with other stakeholders. 2. Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund – Year four grant and preparations Grant letters for year four (2024-2025) of the Communities Mental and Wellbeing Fund were received and signed in July 2024. As with 2023-2024 funding is broadly the same with £280,979.23 for the fund itself and a £13,387.37 administration grant. As anticipated the fund opened in early September 2024 and by the fund’s close on Caitlin McNeill Page 39
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Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (TSI) update - Nov 2024 Third Sector Support Advisor (TSSA) Cowal and Bute Janis Marshall Reilly: janismarshallreilly@argylltsi.org.uk 14th October 2024, 75 applications had been received totaling £503,647.98. That represents 179 per cent of available funds. A Lived Experience reviewing panellist is being recruited and funds are expected to be disbursed by the end of November 2024. 3. Argyll and Bute Climate Action Network (ABCAN) The TSI supported Argyll and Bute Climate Action Network (ABCAN) continues and year two of the seed corn funding programme are currently being disbursed using the TSO platform. A third funding round is anticipated for December 2024 again at the lower level of £10,000. 4. Work of the Wellbeing Development Manager The Wellbeing Development Manager, hosted by the TSI and funded by Macmillan Cancer Support and the HSCP, has continued to work at pace. The outputs from a collaborative workshop held in June has been captured and a video is available from our website. CLICK HERE TO: Meet the Team - Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT THE: Employee/Volunteer Assistance Programme – a new service for Argyll and Bute - Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface Page 40
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Taking Action on Rural Poverty Update for Bute and Cowal ACPG Nov 2024 Becky Hothersall Development Officer (Argyll and Bute) Becky.Hothersall@povertyalliance.org Page 41 Agenda Item 9
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Taking Action on Rural Poverty Our new 3-year project is taking a collaborative approach to develop new ways of addressing the rural cost of living in Argyll and Bute and Aberdeenshire • Income based measures do not take account of the higher cost of living in rural and island Scotland (the ‘rural premium’) • The minimum cost of living in rural Scotland is between 15% to 30% higher than urban areas of the UK. Page 42
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Taking Action on Rural Poverty We will develop practical, local measures aimed at reducing the rural premium. We will test, measure and share them and we will: • Support people with lived experience to collaborate with Voluntary and Community sector organisations, the private sector and public bodies to address the rural premium • Enable people with experience of living on low incomes to contribute to local decision making • Help strengthen evidence-based advocacy work locally and nationally • Share our learning nationally and into policy Page 43
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Taking Action on Rural Poverty: citizens’ panel Argyll & Bute Page 44
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Adaptations Panellists identified better vouchers Flexible approach to childcare Access to data, device or space Differences Experience of participation processes Lack of single urban centre Page 45
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povertyalliance.org @povertyalliance …So far• Getting to know each other • Defining key issues • Writing a Working Together Agreement • Experiences of specific issues – costs; barriers; good practice; potential solutions • Hearing from local projects • Contributing to reviews of funding priorities • Speaking at events • Meeting the First Minister Next… • Consultation – discretionary housing fund • Advising on measures of poverty • Developing criteria for choosing a project to fund Page 46
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povertyalliance.org @povertyalliance Supporting rural organisations • Talking to organisations and groups • Cross Party Group Inquiry: Rural Poverty • Poverty Awareness training • Shared learning and networking event (July) • National event (October – over 100 attendees) • Rural involvement in Challenge Poverty Week Next… • More local networking events from December • Funding a ‘test of change’ project • How can we support you? Page 47
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Breakout Room Discussion 2 – 15 minutes • What networks or structures do you currently use? • Is it useful to come together to have anti- poverty conversations? • What would you want those to cover? www.povertyalliance.org/g et-involved/join-us/ Page 48
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Date: 28 October 2024 Argyll and Bute Climate Action: developing a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll and Bute. 1.0 Purpose The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Community Planning Partnership’s Argyll And Bute Climate Action project: developing a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll and Bute. 2.0 Recommendations The CPG is asked to note the approach and status of the project outlined in the report and to provide any comments or feedback to the project manager. 3.0 Background The CPP sub-group working on climate change is known as the Climate Change Working Group. Its work is currently centred on producing a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll and Bute. The plan is to be produced by employing a Climate Change Project Manager to lead on the process. Argyll & the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT) are the employing body and the post (0.8 FTE) is fully funded by the CPP funded from end October 2023 to October 2025. This update sets out the current position. 4.0 Detail 4.1 Progress Following a literature review and a series of meetings with key Community Planning Partnership and wider regional and national partners, the draft strategy was presented to the Climate Change Working Group and to the SPP Full Partnership meeting 16 September. A copy of this is attached and any feedback or comments to the project manager, Andy Macpherson andy@act-now.org.uk would be welcome, as would appropriate Area-level engagement opportunities. A finalised version of the strategy is to be submitted to the CPP Management Committee’s December meeting, with the intention thereafter to work up the action plan and pilot projects, including seeking funding for projects, with partners across Page 49 Agenda Item 12b
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the region. The project is working closely with the Scottish Government-funded Argyll & Bute Climate Action Network Hub (ABCAN), which sits within the wider suite of Act Now climate projects in which ACT is engaged, and a copy of the ABCAN newsletter is attached. The structure was informed by best and most appropriate exemplars from across Scotland, and by feedback from Steering Group and wider partner meetings including the emphasis placed on brevity and avoidance of duplication. Key principles of the strategy are: • Embed just transition throughout • Align with CPP outcomes o Transport infrastructure o Housing o Community Wellbeing • Emphasise action that is within the CPP’s agency to control or influence • Make links, address gaps • Methodology drawn from existing regional climate strategies • Complement not replace partners’ existing action • Compatible with existing reporting requirements • Make it Simple and Short These are expressed in the vision statement that We make Argyll and Bute climate ready by acting together to understand and adapt to our changing climate 4.2 Next Steps Immediate next steps are: • Produce a short easy-to read summary in addition to a version suitable for young people. • Ongoing mapping, local impact projections and risk assessment informed by engagement • Final draft Strategy to December CPP Management Committee • December – February action plan and project development, ongoing risk assessment informed by engagement • March draft action plan to Climate Change Working Group Andy Macpherson, Climate Change Project Manager For more information, please contact: Andy Macpherson andy@act-now.org.uk Page 50
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Page 1 of 39 Argyll and Bute Climate Action: A climate change strategy for Argyll and Bute Strategic Approach Contents Argyll and Bute Climate Action: A climate change strategy for Argyll and Bute ........................... 1 Strategic Approach................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary................................................................................................................ 2 What does climate change mean for Argyll and Bute? .............................................................. 4 Hotter, drier summers ......................................................................................................... 5 Warmer, wetter winters ....................................................................................................... 8 Sea level rise and storm surges ......................................................................................... 12 How does ABCA work ........................................................................................................... 15 Vision, outcomes, objectives ............................................................................................ 16 Mitigation (to reduce our climate change gas emissions): Climate Friendly ......................... 18 Adaptation to unavoidable impacts of climate change: climate ready ................................. 23 Engagement: Climate Just................................................................................................. 27 Scoping Risk ........................................................................................................................ 28 Bringing it Together: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities ........................................................ 32 Opportunity Areas for Action ............................................................................................. 33 Infrastructure ................................................................................................................ 33 Policy Influence ............................................................................................................ 34 Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration ................................................................ 34 Risk/Economic Assessment .......................................................................................... 34 Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training ............................................................................... 35 Skills Development ....................................................................................................... 35 Other ............................................................................................................................ 35 Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation ................................................................................... 36 Further Information/Contact ................................................................................................ 38 Page 51
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Page 1 of 39 Introduction Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership is the group of organisations and community representatives working together to achieve improvements across the three outcomes of Housing, Transport Infrastructure and Community Wellbeing in ways which promote prevention, reduce inequalities and build community capacity. Community Planning Partnerships have a statutory obligation to create a 10-year Outcomes Improvement Plan under the provisions of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. The Argyll and Bute Outcomes Improvement Plan for 2024-2034 has been developed through community engagement as the area emerges from a global pandemic, and deals with a cost of living crisis and the increasing impacts of climate change. The Outcomes Improvement Plan for 2024-2034 focusses on improving the outcomes of Transport, Housing and Community Wellbeing. The Community Planning Partnership established a Climate Group in late 2021 in order to increase understanding of the facts and the urgency of addressing climate change within the whole of Argyll & Bute and promote actions for adaptation and mitigation for a just and equitable transition to a net zero economy. In support of this, the Community Planning Partnership has funded a Project Manager, employed by ACT, to lead development of a Climate Change Strategy and Action plan for the region. to undertake a region-wide climate risk assessment and to develop an integrated set of adaptation, mitigation and engagement actions, presented in a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll & Bute. Page 52
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Page 2 of 39 Executive Summary Argyll and Bute Climate Action is an initiative of the Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership (CPP) to develop an integrated Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for the region, with ACT as the employing body for the project officer. The CPP is the group of organisations and community representatives working together to achieve improvements across Argyll and Bute in ways which promote prevention, reduce inequalities and build community capacity. Individual CPP organisations already have targets and work in progress to tackle climate change, but in addition we need to work together on: • Mitigation, to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases driving climate change: climate friendly, • Adaptation, to enable us to cope with the impacts of unavoidable climate change: climate ready, and • Engagement across all the community to ensure inclusion: climate just. Climate risks that Argyll and Bute faces are set into seven groups, with seven areas for action proposed to address these. The principles and approach guiding the Strategy are: • This is an enabling strategy: rather than creating new duties or replacing existing ones, it identifies gaps and opportunities, especially those made possible by working together. Climate Risks Flooding (water courses and surface water) Heavy rainfall, storms and landslides Temperature change, heatwaves and drought Sea level rise & coastal impacts Wildfires Multi-hazards affecting people, species, habitats Possible other unknowns Areas for Action Infrastructure Policy Influence Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration Risk/Economic Assessment Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training Skills Development Other/crosscutting Page 53
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Page 3 of 39 • The strategy aligns with the CPP priorities of Transport Infrastructure , Housing and Community Wellbeing which in turn are aligned to requirements in our national climate programmes. • There is significant variation among our communities, places and landscapes, and we are being affected by climate change in multiple ways. • There are also some common challenges across the region, such as the length and vulnerability of transport links, and our low population density can make funding harder. • We need to build up a thorough understanding of the risks and opportunities we face, taking into account local knowledge and also local variations and capacity to adapt. • Climate Hubs are central to community engagement, with Hubs for the four Argyll & Bute administrative areas supporting networks of champions among communities. • We need to develop resilience: to develop skills and capacity to adapt to ongoing change. We need to identify quick wins alongside longer term major capital projects. • We need a socially just transition to a climate ready future: as we prepare for the impacts of the changing climate we do so in ways that are fair and tackle inequality. In addition to incremental steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and transitional steps to enhance our capacity to adapt, there is also a transformational component: as we improve our ability to cope with climate needs we also improve our current circumstances. An example of this sort of transformational change is the importance of developing our local economy through developing appropriate local skills, produce and markets and the housing, energy and other infrastructure to support them. This reduces our transport and waste emissions at the same time as reducing our dependence on vulnerable, extended transport links and enables us to add value locally and reduce economic leakage, at the same time as supporting transformational growth sectors such as energy and valuing our natural capital. Page 54
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Page 4 of 39 What does climate change mean for Argyll and Bute? There are some common challenges across the region but there is also significant variation within and between communities, places and landscapes. We need to build up a thorough understanding of the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to Argyll and Bute, and to identify action both to modify activity that contributes to climate change, and to adapt to impacts of unavoidable climate change both now and into the future. Throughout, we need to ensure that communities are engaged in the process and that local knowledge and experience is valued and used to guide the development of the initiative. We need to make Argyll climate ready, both for today’s climate and for the climate of the future: to reduce emissions to limit the extent of further climate change, to adapt to the impacts of unavoidable climate change, and to engage across communities to ensure a socially just transition to a low carbon future. The region’s characterising features of high diversity, low population density, long coastlines, largely rural small, isolated and ageing communities and long distances all impact on considerations of what “good” climate action means for Argyll and Bute. However, we also have urban considerations with our largest single centre of population being Helensburgh, and other important settlements with urban issues but rural supply chains and correspondingly long and vulnerable transport and other communications links. In short, the outlook for Argyll and Bute is overall increasing temperatures, with • Hotter, drier summers • Warmer, wetter winters • More severe weather events, and more variability • Sea level rise and storm surge Year on year, records for global temperatures and extreme weather events are being broken. Notwithstanding the cold and wet summer of 2024, over the next twenty five years in Scotland, summers are likely to be 7% drier and winters 7% wetter, with 25% increase in intense rainfall events, and sea level rise up to 18cm compared to the beginning of the century1. We see the use of terms such as “likely”, “projected and “estimated”: we have to work with the limitations of information that we have available from a wide range of sources, and in addition some earlier climate predictions have had to be revised as the effects of climate change have started to make impacts more quickly and more locally than previously anticipated, and also because despite massive strides in reducing carbon emissions from a range of activities, overall global emissions have continued to rise. Over the longer term, these trends are even greater: the graph below presents an actual average annual temperature rise of over 1 degree centigrade over the past 60 years, while the graph below that shows the projected increase under our current rate of carbon emissions over the next 60 years, as well as also incorporating the actual observed data as presented in the first graph: 1 A baseline of 1981-2000 is used by UK Climate Projections/Met Office Page 55
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Page 5 of 39 Overall increasing temperatures: Average annual temperature in Argyll & Bute 1960-2022 Projected temperature increase under high carbon emissions scenario to 2080 Hotter, drier summers Individual seasons vary and the cold and wet summer 2024 is in stark contrast to the hot, dry conditions prevailing in recent summers. Below we see summer temperatures for the overall Argyll River Basin area, which approximates closely to the overall Argyll and Bute area, with observed data and projected rise combined. Below for comparison is a further graph using one representative location, Oban. Further climate projections specific to a representative set of settlements across Argyll & Bute are in preparation for inclusion in the appendix, but despite 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 1961 1968 1975 1982 1989 1996 2003 2010 2017 Average temperature in Argyll & Bute 1960-2022 (°C) 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 2021 2031 2041 2051 2061 2071 Projected average temperature in Argyll & Bute RCP 8.5 (°C) -absolute values Page 56
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Page 6 of 39 major differences in day to day weather between different settlements, the differences in overall climate trends on a settlement-by-settlement basis are too small to be well represented in this format. In terms of the “drier” part, below are average summer precipitation rates for Argyll River Basin followed by Oban, both indicating downward trends. 3 4 5 6 7 Argyll River Basin summer average precipitation rate from 1981 -2080 (mm/day) Page 57
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Page 7 of 39 While temperature and precipitation projections indicate trends, another important consideration is minimum night time temperatures in summertime. The reason for this is that when there is less opportunity for buildings and paved surfaces in particular to cool down, the phenomenon of heat stress, particularly in vulnerable people, rises considerably. There is a strong link between heat stress and summer mortalities which are a growing trend particularly further south in the UK and Europe as temperatures increase with climate change, and a counterpart to the better known phenomenon of winter deaths due to cold and poorly heated and insulated housing. At present, for Argyll this is best presented as the “tropical nights” in Met Office terminology2. This is when at no point in a 24 hour period does the temperature drop below 20 degrees centigrade. Currently Argyll does not meet this threshold, but some recent research indicates that a rise of just 1°C above usual summer night-time temperatures could be linked to an increase in the risk of deaths from cardiovascular disease in some vulnerable groups3. This is inconclusive and not based on Scottish data but this remains an area to watch whereas discomfort and disruption to sleep on hot nights is well understood. Scenarios from further south point towards what we can expect in future, such as the example provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for excess mortality in England and Wales during the hot summer (June to August) of 2022 which included five “heat- periods”, or days when the mean Central England Temperature is greater than 20°C. Over the five heat-periods, deaths were 6.2% above the five year average, with this peaking to 10.4% over the second heat-period (10 to 25 July)4. Below we see total annual rainfall in Argyll and Bute over the past 60 years, while the graph below that shows the picture in terms of the steady increase in intensity of rainfall over the past 60 years and into the next, again under the high carbon emissions scenario that we need to work with based on available information and progress globally in limiting our greenhouse gas emissions to date. 2 Annual Count of Tropical Nights - Projections (12km) | The Met Office climate data portal 3 Warmer summer nocturnal surface air temperatures and cardiovascular disease death risk: a population-based study | BMJ Open 4 Excess mortality during heat-periods - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) 3 4 5 6 7 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 2029 2033 2037 2041 2045 2049 2053 2057 2061 2065 2069 2073 2077 Summer average precipitation rate at Oban from 1981 - 2080 (mm/day) Page 58
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Page 8 of 39 Warmer, wetter winters In contrast to the trend for hotter, drier summers, in winter observed data and projections both point to trends to warmer, wetter winters with fewer days of frost under the overall trend for increasing temperatures. Once again, observed data and projections for Argyll River Basin are followed by more specific data and projections for Oban: More severe weather events, and more variability However, we can also expect increases in severity and frequency of severe weather events. Damage and disruption from flooding and landslides is one example: the heavy rain in early October 2023 caused £15m damage to infrastructure (mainly roads & bridges) in parts of Argyll and Bute and was not even one of the series of named national storms that autumn. While we have some sophisticated modelling of future temperature and precipitation, wind is harder to model and the Met Office climate change centre states that 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 2029 2033 2037 2041 2045 2049 2053 2057 2061 2065 2069 2073 2077 Argyll River Basin average winter mean air temperatures from 1981 -2080 (°C) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 2029 2033 2037 2041 2045 2049 2053 2057 2061 2065 2069 2073 2077 Winter average mean air temperature at Oban from 1981 - 2080 (°C) Page 59
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Page 9 of 39 Due to the lack of any observed trends, there haven’t been any studies so far which provide a link between changes in UK storminess and climate change. For example, the all-time record number of storms over the British Isles in winter 2013/14 couldn’t be linked to human-induced warming. In future, most climate projections indicate that winter windstorms will increase slightly in number and intensity over the UK i.e. more winter storms, including disproportionately more severe storms, are projected to cross the UK. However, this has medium confidence because a few climate models indicate differently5. In addition, the Met Office also notes that Winds associated with major storm events can be some of the most damaging and disruptive events for the UK with implications for property, power networks, road and rail transport and aviation. Calm periods with little wind, particularly over prolonged periods, can affect air quality whilst winds from a particular direction can be a critical factor in the spread of pathogens. For example, winds blowing in from continental Europe during winter can lead to substantially colder and often drier weather6. Wind direction can be of especial importance for Argyll and Bute due to the importance of marine transport in the area, with anecdotal evidence from ferry and marine tourism operators on the significance of wind direction events disrupting services and impacting upon coastal infrastructure, in addition to householders’ accounts of damage to roofs due to strong winds from unusual directions. The frequency of storm events over 2023-24 and the significance of wind as in the diagram below in these also point to the likelihood of more potential damage and disruption from wind although not all of these storms affected Argyll and Bute to the same extent, and as noted above the severe weather from 7 October 2023 was not actually a named storm. 5 UK and Global extreme events – Wind storms - Met Office 6 ukcp18-fact-sheet-wind_march21.pdf (metoffice.gov.uk) Page 60
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Page 10 of 39 Historic and projected rainfall intensity 1960-2080 An alternative way of presenting intensity of rainfall is the incidence of occasions with rainfall of 20mm or greater per hour. The graph below shows historic and projected incidence of intense rainfall events, noting that “future changes in extreme rainfall events could be almost 10 times more frequent in Northwest Scotland in 2080 compared to the 1980s, whilst in the south of the UK the value is closer to three times more frequent.”7 7 New research shows increasing frequency of extreme rain - Met Office 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 2021 2031 2041 2051 2061 2071 Projected precipitation rate for Argyll & Bute RCP 8.5 (mm/day) -absolute values Page 61
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Page 11 of 39 Current indications are that Argyll and Bute as a region is unlikely to suffer water scarcity in coming decades compared to other parts of Scotland and the UK, although this does not rule out local impacts and potential infrastructure damage, as indicated in Scottish Water’s 2024 climate change strategy8. However, at local level there have been instances of scarcity including occasional closure of the Crinan Canal. When there are issues relating to sufficiency or quantity with public mains water supplies, Scottish Water take steps to ensure safe drinking water is available to its users. This may include providing bottled water or bowsers. For private water supplies the situation is different and the responsibility lies with the users of the supply or any third party who provides or manages the supply by contract. In some circumstances the Council may be able to provide assistance when supplies run dry or are at serious risk of doing so. Assistance is usually limited to the provision of an emergency supply of bottled water for drinking to overcome the immediate need. Private water supplies may also be at higher risk of contamination after storm and flood events. About one third of the population of Argyll and Bute has a private water supply, which is ten times the Scottish average. This presents an Argyll-specific climate risk as private water supplies may be more vulnerable to either interruption or contamination in periods of low rainfall or drought. A recent illustration of this is apparent from SEPA’s June 2023 summary of water scarcity. While parts of Argyll suffered less scarcity than anywhere else in Scotland, parts of Kintyre and the islands were still at “Alert” level with Mull, Col and Tiree at Moderate (or 4 out of 5 on the scarcity scale from “Normal” to “Significant”)9. 8 290224ScottishWaterAdaptationPlan.pdf 9 20230630-water-scarcity-report-final.pdf (web-cdn.org) Page 62
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Page 12 of 39 Sea level rise and storm surges Sea level rise, both absolute and from storm surges, is also a concern. 80% of the population of Argyll and Bute lives within 1km of the coast (97% within 10km of coast), and we have over 200km of road within 25m of the sea (at high tide), especially Cowal & Bute. Replacement costs of sea defences for this stretch were estimated at £300m in 2015 prices. This would be equivalent to approximately £420m today due to inflation alone, with the actual figure likely significantly greater due to increased materials costs and more severe climatic conditions predicted. The graphs below show projected sea level rise for two sites in Argyll, Tobermory and Port Ellen, to the end of the century under a range of carbon emission scenarios. The upper two lines, green and blue, represent the most likely outcomes as these are based on current and historical global emissions trends. The difference between the two is that the green line, suggesting 0.6m rise at the end of the century, is the mid range of the high emissions scenario whereas the blue line, at over 0.9m, represents what is described as the “upper end allowance” to take into Page 63
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Page 13 of 39 account the most severe impact projections, drawn from UK Government guidance on data interpretation to inform coastal flood planning10: 10 Flood and coastal risk projects, schemes and strategies: climate change allowances - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 2007 2017 2027 2037 2047 2057 2067 2077 2087 2097 Sea Level Rise Projections at Tobermory tidal guage site (m) RCP 2.6 RCP 4.5 RCP 8.5 RCP 8.5 (95th) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 2007 2017 2027 2037 2047 2057 2067 2077 2087 2097 Sea Level Rise projections Port Ellen tidal guage site (m) RCP 2.6 RCP 4.5 RCP 8.5 RCP 8.5 (95th) Page 64
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Page 14 of 39 To help with calibration, Nature Scot’s 2017 assessment of impacts of sea-level rise and storm surges due to climate change in the Firth of Clyde offers a projection of 0.47m over the same period11. This is also under the RCP 8.5 scenario but is based on the UK Climate Projections from 2009 (UKCP09) which was the latest data available at the time of publication as opposed to the UKCP18 data now available. This paper also notes that “Projected future changes in storm surge were very small (millimetres) compared to those of sea-level rise (tens of centimetres) and amount to 1% of the anticipated sea-level rise. This suggests that the contribution of storm surges to sea level will change little with climate change in this area.” The Mat Office UKCP18 fact sheet on sea level rise and storm surge12 indicated likewise that significant increase in storm surges is unlikely, but an important point here is that the impact of storm surges can already be significant and increasing sea levels will make these impacts correspondingly greater. The combined Highland and Argyll flood risk management plan estimates 15,000 homes at risk of flooding (Highland as well as Argyll) increasing to 38,000 by the 2080s due to climate change. Interviews across institutions and communities to date point to climate solutions not necessarily around single issues but rather bringing together and encouraging local skills, produce and markets including through procurement initiatives. 11 SNH Commissioned Report 891: Impacts of sea-level rise and storm surges due to climate change in the Firth of Clyde (nature.scot) 12 ukcp18-fact-sheet-sea-level-rise-and-storm-surge.pdf (metoffice.gov.uk) Page 65
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Page 15 of 39 How does ABCA work Under the leadership and guidance of the Community Planning Partnership and sub groups including the Climate Change Working Group and the Argyll & Bute Climate Action Steering Group, the priority for the project is to undertake a region-wide audit & gap analysis to identify current activity, overlaps and gaps; to undertake a region-wide climate risk assessment and to develop an integrated set of adaptation, mitigation and engagement actions, presented in a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for Argyll & Bute. Climate risks have been identified as seven groups, with seven main areas for action proposed to address these: The mandate and funding to develop a Climate Change Strategy for Argyll comes from the Community Planning Partnership and reflects the community’s stated priorities of transport infrastructure, housing and community wellbeing. The project is advised by a Steering Group drawn from to the Climate Change Working Group of the Community Planning Partnership. Three guiding principles are • Argyll and Bute communities, places and landscapes are being affected by climate change in different ways. There are likely to be common challenges across the region but there will also be significant variation within and between communities, places and landscapes. • The proposed climate risk and opportunity assessment and follow on mitigation, adaptation planning and implementation must identify region-wide climate risks and opportunities for action and take account of local variations and capacity to adapt. • All aspects of the initiative including governance and leadership arrangements, identifying climate risks and opportunities and developing mitigation, adaptation and Climate Risks Flooding (water courses and surface water) Heavy rainfall, storms and landslides Temperature change, heatwaves and drought Sea level rise & coastal impacts Wildfires Multi-hazards affecting people, species, habitats Possible other unknowns Areas for Action Infrastructure Policy Influence Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration Risk/Economic Assessment Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training Skills Development Other/crosscutting Page 66
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Page 16 of 39 engagement strategies and actions will be carried out in an inclusive and accessible way and reflect on just transition. Priority will be given to ensuring that communities, physical or virtual, are engaged in these processes and that local knowledge and experience is valued and used to guide the development of the initiative. This requires: • Working with everyone: council and other public bodies, businesses and charities and the wider community. • Finding out what is already happening and where there are gaps and greatest risks or indeed opportunities: there is already a lot of positive action on climate change taking place and we need to identify this, to maximise the benefits from working together. This could mean areas or communities that are most vulnerable, or where the consequences of inaction can be greatest. • Making links with existing programmes and initiatives. The Strategy will complement and be complemented by the grassroots approach of the Argyll & Bute Climate Action Hub. This can also help us to establish priorities where the need is greatest or where we can attract resources. The structure has been informed by review of a wide range of existing and in-progress climate programme plans and in particular by Climate Ready Clyde, Climate Ready Aberdeenshire, Highland Adapts and Climate Ready South East Scotland. This is on the basis that Climate Ready Clyde as the pioneering regional approach effectively set the standard for an integrated approach, while Climate Ready Aberdeenshire has drawn upon this but also provides relative brevity and simplicity as requested by partners. Highland Adapts has multiple similarities with the Argyll and Bute geography and economy geography but with a more detailed and longer development period, and Climate Ready South East Scotland although dissimilar in geography and economy is working on a comparable timescale. The work also draws on the shared expertise of the Sustainable Scotland Network as well as benefiting from technical support from Sniffer/Adaptation Scotland. Vision, outcomes, objectives Vision Now and into the future, we want a thriving Argyll and Bute where our collective choices and action enhance our continued wellbeing in a changing climate. The climate change strategy addresses • Mitigation to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions: towards a climate friendly Argyll and Bute • Adaptation to unavoidable impacts of climate change: towards a climate ready Argyll and Bute • Engagement to ensure inclusion: towards a climate just Argyll and Bute Our vision is that We make Argyll and Bute climate ready by acting together to understand and adapt to our changing climate Page 67
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Page 17 of 39 Outcomes The Community Planning Partnership originally had a set of six outcomes aligned to the National Performance Framework which following further public consultation have been corralled into three crosscutting priority outcomes: • Transport Infrastructure • Housing • Community Wellbeing. This principle is followed here and national and wider climate outcomes including Net Zero Nation, the Scottish National Adaptation Plan13 and UN Sustainable Development Goals are grouped against the three CPP outcomes. Objectives The objectives for the strategy are grouped under three work packages agreed by the CPP • Governance and leadership o Identifying leadership and champions (organisations and community) o Liaison and reporting with CPP structures o Vision and theory of change o Engagement strategy o Logo, branding and image • Understanding the challenge 13 Climate change: Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-2029 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) NPF Outcomes SNAP24 Draft Outcomes UN SDGs CPP Outcomes CPP Key Partnership Groups CPP 3 Overarching Priorities We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment. We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy Public Services and Infrastructure: Public services are collaborating in effective, inclusive adaptation action. 7, 9, 11 Outcome 2: We have infrastructure that supports sustainable growth Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 Working Group Transport We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment We are healthy and active We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe Communities: Communities creating climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places. 2,7,11 Outcome 6: People live in safer and stronger communities Violence against Women Partnership; Suicide Prevention Group; Multi- agency Road Safety Group; Adult Protection Committee; Community Safety Partnership; Public Protection Group Housing We grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy We are healthy and active We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally Communities: Communities creating climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places. 1,3,5,10,1 1 Outcome 4: Children and young people have the best possible start; Outcome 5: People live active, healthier and independent lives ; Outcome 6: People live in safer and stronger communities Argyll and Bute’s Children Child Poverty Group; Children’s Rights Group; Youth Justice Strategic Working Group; Living Well Steering Group; Health and Wellbeing Partnership (Third Sector); Suicide Prevention Group; Child Poverty Group; Violence against Women Partnership Community Welbeing We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment Nature Connects: Nature connects across our lands, settlements, coasts and seas. 2,6,14,15 Outcome 2: We have infrastructure that supports sustainable growth; Community Welbeing We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone We are well educated, skilled and able to contribute to society Economy, Industry and Business: Economies and industries are adapting and realising opportunities in Scotland’s Just Transition. 2,4,6,8,9, 12 Outcome 1: The economy is diverse and thriving; Outcome 3: Education, skills and training maximise opportunities for all Rural Growth Deal Steering Group; Argyll Economic Resilience Forum; Argyll and Bute Overarching Recovery Group; CLD Partnership; Employability Partnership Transport, Housing We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy We are open, connected and make a positive contribution internationally We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally International: Scotland’s international role supports climate justice and enhanced global action on climate adaptation. 1,5,10,13, 16,17 Outcome 1: The economy is diverse and thriving Rural Growth Deal Steering Group Argyll Economic Resilience Forum; Argyll and Bute Overarching Recovery Group Transport, Community Wellbeing Page 68
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Page 18 of 39 o Audit & gap analysis o Mitigation o Adaptation o Engagement • Planning and implementation o Quick win opportunities o Pilot projects o Training o Funding o Scope options for planning and implementation (Transport, Housing, Community Wellbeing) Proposals for taking forward specifics under these are listed in the Task List in Appendix 2. This refers to development of the strategy as distinct to the Action Plan under development to take forward delivery under the principal Areas for Action identified in the strategy. Mitigation (to reduce our climate change gas emissions): Climate Friendly Crucial to efforts to mitigate our contribution to climate change is the concept of “net zero”. This is the approach to mitigation adopted by the Scottish and UK Governments on the basis that while we can seek to reduce emissions from our actions and processes we cannot always eliminate them altogether. Net zero requires that where we are unable to reduce emissions to zero in some areas we need to ensure that in others we go beyond zero such as by appropriately managed afforestation, peatland and marine (blue carbon) restoration and more controversially through carbon capture and storage technology. This is of particular significance to Argyll and Bute with extensive areas of forest and peatland, extensive coastline and a small population relative to the area. The Operational Plan underlying the strategy notes that, “it is expected that Mitigation will mostly be directed and mandated through national regulatory and incentive programs” and prescribes a route map for net zero and beyond in order to • identify the opportunities for Argyll and Bute to reduce emissions at least in line with national targets • maximise the sequestration of carbon in our natural landscapes • highlight areas where action is needed in the next five years to prepare the ground for these changes • what we can leave to national processes to deliver, and where we can help quicken the pace of change • identify region-wide approaches and also take account of the variation in opportunities across different communities, places and landscapes. Most of the CPP partner members have Public Body Climate Change reporting duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act based on the current (2022-23) set of reports as published by Page 69
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Page 19 of 39 the Sustainable Scotland Network14, collectively these organisations bodies have averaged reductions of 41% since their baseline reporting years. Reductions are presented as percentage rather than as gross figures because many of the bodies cover wider geographic areas than Argyll and Bute. These are summarised in the Emissions 2023 tab of the spreadsheet GORE Gaps Opportunities Risks Emissions provided with the appendix. • Not all bodies have a published Carbon Management/Decarbonisation Plan. Some report that this is planned or in progress and there are potential opportunities in joint working and skill and data sharing across the CPP to support this. • The Scottish Government expects to develop templates for area-wide emissions to complement individual bodies’ reports over the next year to 18 months, which may bring wider emissions within scope of the CPP partner bodies’ duties. Similarly, the Scottish Government have work in progress to make reporting requirements around Scope 3 emissions (supply chain) clearer and more robust. Currently the two emissions data sets specifically covering the Argyll and Bute boundary are Argyll and Bute Council’s emissions figures as presented in its Climate Change Duties Report15, 16 and the Local Authority Greenhouse Gas Map17 from the National Atmospheric Emissions Laboratory. Gross figures from the Local Authority Greenhouse Gas Map are a grand total of 257 ktCO2e, of which • Industry 85 • Commercial 35 • Domestic 152 • Transport 186 • Waste Management 23 • Agriculture 297 • Land Use/land use change and forestry MINUS 532 • Public Sector 10 (yet council alone in its report provides 28 ktCO2e) Due to the high area of afforested land, land use in Argyll delivers a net saving of 532 ktCO2e making our total emissions across all sectors only 257 ktCO2e despite being the second largest county by area This also translates to 3 tonnes per capita which is 25% under the global average of 4 tonnes (although to have the best chance of avoiding a 2℃ rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050). These can easily be interpreted as a recipe for inaction, but if we discount the forestry figure, our county emissions look more like 676 ktCO2e with our per capita emissions up correspondingly. 14 Reports (sustainablescotlandnetwork.org) 15 https://sustainablescotlandnetwork.org/slickr_media_upload?id=2005 16 2021-22 figures used. 2022-23 Climate Duty reports have been published but GHG Map still using 2021 figures as at May 2024. 17 Local Authority GHG Map (beis.gov.uk) Page 70
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Page 20 of 39 Argyll and Bute Council’s emissions figures refer to its own operations rather than to the area as a whole, so the figures are not directly comparable with the Local Authority Greenhouse Gas Map. Other public bodies operating in the region produce their own emissions plans and reports. Meetings to date have identified that for some of these they are currently revising decarbonisation/carbon management plans. However, the other public bodies operating in the area work to different geographical boundaries, with some operating only in part of the area, and others covering wider regional areas such as Argyll and Highland, or operating nationally, so again this means that figures for the various organisations from these reports are not directly comparable. In order to enable some form or comparison, the gap and opportunity analysis exercise looked at percentage emissions changes for these organisations in order to enable a picture of the overall relative direction and pace of travel. Collectively, the public bodies in Argyll with climate reporting duties have achieved an average reduction of 41% in carbon emissions over the period in which thy have been reporting (usually around 10 years) and common consensus is that the easy wins have long since been made with further reductions largely dependent upon major infrastructure developments to support lower carbon energy and transport. Page 71
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Page 21 of 39 A useful piece of terminology to help understand how carbon emissions are reported is the distinction between Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from sources that the organisation owns or controls directly, such as emissions from fleet vehicles or boilers for heating buildings. Scope 2 is indirect emissions and purchased energy such as purchased electricity for heating buildings or running equipment. Scope 3 is more complex as this covers everything outside Scopes 1 and 2, including procurement and the wider supply chain, commuting and homeworking and also waste. For most CPP partners, Scope 3 is the hardest to measure category of emissions. Beyond the public sector, emissions information is much less readily available and there is limited scope for the strategy via the CPP to place requirements on other bodies to take action or make information available, although there is some potential such as via incentive uptake rates where these are reported and this will be an important consideration for the route map. The operational plan makes specific reference to sequestration. This is the term for capturing, stabilising and storing carbon rather than have it escape into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Estimates for economic opportunities for carbon sequestration range from £8.7m, based on restoring 10% of local degraded peatland, to more than £3bn when looking at longer-term high value integrated projects18. Steering Group partners have emphasised the importance of ensuring that sequestration measures and any emissions reductions claimed are genuine, and also the risk of the high amount of forestry in Argyll and Bute artificially reducing per capita and per hectare emissions and that this could be misinterpreted as a recipe for inaction and complacency on climate change. 18 Carbon sequestration Argyll and Bute research | HIE Page 72
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Page 22 of 39 Discussions of carbon sequestration are further nuanced by the concepts of offsetting and a newer and less well known alternative, “insetting”. This concept will be of increasing importance for Argyll and Bute. Offsetting refers to the buying of carbon credits to offset carbon emissions that a body is unable or unwilling to reduce, and has been the subject of repeated criticisms concerning how robust the models employed are and how genuine and lasting any emission savings are. Insetting has been described by the Carbon Literacy Project as “carbon insetting focuses on doing more good rather than doing less bad within one’s value chain. Instead of investing in projects outside their value chains, companies engaging in carbon insetting invest in reducing carbon emissions within their own value chains. At the same time, these projects can also create positive impacts on communities, landscapes and ecosystems.”19 The subtleties of offsetting and insetting are of major potential significance for Argyll and Bute. Research by the Scottish Association for Marine Science for Highland and Islands Enterprise on optimising carbon sequestration opportunities in Argyll and Bute20 indicates that terrestrial ecosystems in Argyll and Bute hold between 587- 990 MtCO2e (million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent), of which 510-898 MtCO2e comes from soils to 1 m depth and 77-90 MtCO2e is held within the aboveground vegetation, half of which is held within the woodlands and forests. Put another way, soil stocks alone hold more than ten times Scotland’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. For the marine environment, the same research indicates that the marine sediments of Argyll and Bute hold an estimated 166 MtCO2e carbon. Distinctions between mitigation/reducing carbon emissions, and adaptation/taking action to reduce the impacts of unavoidable climate change can be blurred and in the case of CPP partners, and opportunities for reducing emissions through working in partnership, this is even more the case. The examples above indicate the amount of carbon stored in land and the potential for enhancing carbon storage through land management, but bringing, for example, peatland and woodlands into positive 19 Carbon Insetting vs Carbon Offsetting - The Carbon Literacy Project 20 https://www.hie.co.uk/media/13011/optimising-carbon-sequestration-opportunities-in-ab-sams-wp1- and-3.pdf ACT are participants in the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS), working to develop a project integrity charter and a governance and enterprise model. The outcome of this project and the other 26 FIRNS projects currently being worked through in Scotland will help to define how natural capital finance can work in Scotland and support delivery of climate action specific to Argyll and Bute, while also potentially helping to address widespread perceptions that more could be done to improve the social and economic as well as environmental impacts of land use, land use change and forestry. Argyll has some of the finest remnants of temperate rainforest in all of Europe. Restoring the rainforest and associated habitats of Argyll & the Isles will give rainforest biodiversity the best chance to adapt to our changing climate, to sequester carbon and to prevent soil erosion and flooding. Scottish Rainforest restoration projects are creating the equivalent of 40 new full-time jobs and investing £3.2 million in rural communities, with over half of that investment being in Argyll. Page 73
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Page 23 of 39 management also offer opportunities to reduce flood and wildfire risk as well as enhancing biodiversity, local amenity and creating job opportunities. Another example is the CPP’s role in prevention and enhancing resilience and addressing vulnerability: if collective action on resilience and community wellbeing can reduce demand on emergency services this can also reduce Scope 1 emissions due to fleet emissions for these organisations, which for this category of services is their greatest single source of emissions. Adaptation to unavoidable impacts of climate change: climate ready With global carbon emissions continuing to rise and increasing incidence of crossing tipping points and temperature records, the importance of adaptation continues to grow. While mitigation is expected to be mostly driven by existing national plans and targets, complemented by partnership opportunities, and where most of the easy wins have already been made, adaptation is less explored and at the same time frequently of greater understandable importance and immediacy to communities: impacts of road and other transport closures, floods and high rain and winds all provide recent examples felt throughout the region. These threats are compounded by the length and vulnerability of transport links and also the low population density making capital funding harder to access, but conversely where taking measures to support community resilience, compounded with building upon local knowledge and experience and wider reviews such as the 2023 Scotland Adaptation Progress Report21 can identify opportunities. A lower number of organisations have adaptation plans than carbon reduction plans, although several indicate that this is a planned area of work in the current year or immediate future. As with mitigation, key achievements or opportunities are indicated where possible and recurrent or major themes are brought into a short list of potential measures. Organisations do not currently have to have published adaptation plans but this is under review and the Scottish Government may mandate this in future for public bodies. Although addressed to the Scottish Government, the top ten of the 51 recommendations from the Progress Report are also relevant at local level: • Ensure that support for adaptation alongside decarbonisation is included in key building policies • Address data gaps on impacts to buildings and adaptation actions by utilising already available data to track resilience of the building stock, monitoring of samples of existing buildings in at-risk locations, and home resilience reporting that include assessments of flood and overheating resilience. • Proactive adaptation measures for overheating and flood resilience in buildings. • Identifying at-risk buildings, awareness raising, training and engagement on property- level flood protection. • Address data gaps on Scottish business preparedness, availability of capital and insurance for adaptation, and the effectiveness of business adaptation actions. • Measures for reducing water use by business. 21 https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/adapting-to-climate-change-progress-in-scotland/ Page 74
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Page 24 of 39 • Supply chain resilience to climate hazards • Adaptation reporting requirements • Initiatives for place-based and cross-sectoral adaptation and including support for vulnerable areas and sectors • Long-term planning, including monitoring of weather-related incident response The UK Climate Change Committee’s 10 adaptation principles applied to Argyll & Bute Principle Progress/Opportunities for Action 1 A vision for a well adapted UK Proposed vision: “We make Argyll and Bute climate ready by acting together to understand and adapt to our changing climate” 2 Integrate adaptation into other policies Examples include links with flood resilience plans, community risk register, housing and transport policies, sustainable procurement, carbon literate training 3 Adapt to 2°C; assess the risks for 4°C Always work to high emissions scenarios 4 Avoid lock-in This links well with integrating with other policies, by seeking to identify co benefits and also to avoid reliance on a single action or technology. The geographic scale and diversity of Argyll and Bute also mandate this approach. Also the importance of factoring climate into eg major infrastructure projects. Building new homes without designing in adaptations to future conditions such as extreme heat is an example. 5 Prepare for unpredictable extremes This requires an acceptance that the unexpected can happen and emphasises the need to enhancing overall resilience in addition to specific flood/heatwave etc measures 6 Assess interdependencies This is one of the great strengths of the CPP model where many of the key agencies and partnership working can help to address interdependencies. Many adaptation measures can also have strong links with mitigation. 7 Understand threshold effects Things happen fast after thresholds or tipping points are crossed (eg algal blooms when water is over 17 centigrade), meaning a new course of action may be needed, but adaptation plans have often focussed on gradual changes over time. Building up a bank of threshold effects appropriate to Argyll can inform how to take these into account. 8 Address inequalities Working through the CPP priority outcomes around transport, housing and community wellbeing provides a strong basis for this. There are well documented links between climate vulnerability and social inequality and the community remit of the CPP can support prioritising accordingly. 9 Consider opportunities Meetings with key partners and literature review to inform the gap and opportunity analysis have identified 6 main opportunity areas for action: o Infrastructure o Policy Influence o Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration o Risk/Economic Assessment o Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training Page 75
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Page 25 of 39 o Skills Development 10 Funding, resourcing, metrics, research A specific task in the operational plan is to identify funding and pilot opportunities. The 5 Outcomes of the draft Scottish National Adaptation Strategy • Public Services and Infrastructure: Public services are collaborating in effective, inclusive adaptation action. • Communities: Communities creating climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places. • Nature Connects: Nature connects across our lands, settlements, coasts and seas. • Economy, Industry and Business: Economies and industries are adapting and realising opportunities in Scotland’s Just Transition. • International: Scotland’s international role supports climate justice and enhanced global action on climate adaptation. Adaptation: Risk Assessment A climate risk assessment for Argyll and Bute will be required as part of ongoing work, and one proposed priority area for action is to collaborate with Community Planning partners who are starting their own processes of developing adaptation plans who need to undertake climate risk assessments. The first draft of this strategy circulated in March 2023 proposed the set of 15 headline “Consequences” identified by Adaptation Scotland as a starting point for scoping climate risk in Argyll to inform future risk assessment work. Fifteen headline risks and consequences for Scotland22, of which some will be of particular significance for different parts of Argyll and Bute, are: • The productivity of our agriculture and forests: potential to improve growing conditions and increase the productivity of agriculture and forestry, but also threats from more variable and extreme weather to the spread of pests and diseases. • The occurrence of pests and disease • The quality of our soils: We rely on soils to sustain biodiversity, support agriculture and forestry, regulate the water cycle and store carbon. Soils and vegetation may be altered by changes to rainfall and increased temperatures - as well as the way we use the land. • The health of our natural environment: Climate change may affect the delicate balance of Scotland’s ecosystems and transform Scotland’s habitats and biodiversity, adding to existing pressures. Some distinctive Scottish species may struggle and could be lost, invasive non-native species may thrive, while a degraded environment may not be able to sustain productive land or water supply. • The security of our food supply: Although Scotland may be able to grow more food, this will not offset the impact global disruption has on us. The effects of increased volatility in the global commodity market due to exposure to extreme climatic events has an impact on supply and cost of food. • The availability and quality of water: Summer droughts may become more frequent and more severe causing problems for water quality and supply. • The increased risk of flooding 22 https://adaptationscotland.org.uk/climatereadyplaces/impacts/ Page 76
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Page 26 of 39 • The change at our coast: More coastal flooding, erosion and coastline retreat. • The health of our marine environment: The changes will present both threats and opportunities to our commercial fisheries and aquaculture. • The resilience of our businesses: Climate change and associated extreme weather may disrupt transport, energy and communication networks in Scotland and around the world. This could impact on markets, affect supply chains and raise insurance costs. • The health and wellbeing of our people: A warming climate may provide more opportunity to be outdoors and enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle, while reducing mortality in winter. However, it could affect patterns of disease and other health issues. Climate change and associated extreme weather may disrupt the lives of individuals and communities, limiting access to vital services and impacting on people’s physical and mental health. • Our cultural heritage and identity: The changing climate is already altering our unique Scottish landscape and threatening our historic environment through coastal erosion, flooding and wetter, warmer conditions. • The security and efficiency of our energy supply: IN addition to local generation and transmission, impacts on global energy markets may also affect energy supplies in Scotland and consequently our overall energy security. • The performance of our buildings • Infrastructure – network connectivity and interdependencies: Our infrastructure is closely inter-linked and failure in any area can lead to wider disruption across these networks. In line with the methodology developed by Climate Ready Clyde and subsequently adopted in modified form by subsequent regional climate initiatives, these and the set of 61 risks identified in the UC Climate Change Committee’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (Summary for Scotland) were put through a screening and scoping exercise by the project manager and peer groups to identify a set of key risk areas, and also presented to the CPP Full Partnership for corroboration with their own experience. Page 77
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Page 27 of 39 Engagement: Climate Just We are using “climate just” as shorthand for Just Transition. The Scottish Government defined just transition as “A just transition is both the outcome – a fairer, greener future for all – and the process that must be undertaken in partnership with those impacted by the transition to net zero. Just transition is how we get to a net zero and climate resilient economy, in a way that delivers fairness and tackles inequality and injustice.” 23 In the context of developing a climate change strategy for Argyll and Bute, engagement spans: • Core Community Planning Partnership partners • Wider CPP partners • CPP technical partners • National technical partners and networks • Wider Argyll & Bute institutions and networks • Communities across Argyll and Bute, including • Administrative areas • Individual locations and settlements The three guiding principles underlying the ABCA business case are fundamental to the engagement approach: • Argyll and Bute communities, places and landscapes are being affected by climate change in different ways. There are likely to be common challenges across the region but there will also be significant variation within and between communities, places and landscapes. • The proposed climate risk and opportunity assessment and follow on mitigation, adaptation planning and implementation must identify region-wide climate risks and opportunities for action and take account of local variations and capacity to adapt. • All aspects of the initiative including governance and leadership arrangements, identifying climate risks and opportunities and developing mitigation, adaptation and engagement strategies and actions will be carried out in an inclusive and accessible way and reflect on just transition. Priority will be given to ensuring that communities, physical or virtual, are engaged in these processes and that local knowledge and experience is valued and used to guide the development of the initiative. 23 https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy- plan/2021/09/transition-fairer-greener-scotland/documents/transition-fairer-greener-scotland/transition- fairer-greener-scotland/govscot%3Adocument/transition-fairer-greener-scotland.pdf Page 78
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Page 28 of 39 Engagement to date with other organisations operating in the climate change field including Scottish Government and their advisory bodies has made it apparent that there is a growing expectation that mitigation and potentially to a greater extent adaptation will require communities not only to become resilient but also to develop ever greater agency in providing resilience. It will be vital in the engagement programme to ensure that consideration is given not only to themes such as “inform” and “educate” that have characterised much of climate communications but that involvement, capacity building, learning from communities and co design will be of increasing importance. There is also a major climate justice consideration inherent: communities that are already vulnerable are most likely to be vulnerable to climate impacts, and there may also be an expectation that they will be the ones to provide local action by way of solution. Parallel to ABCA strategy development is the A&B Climate Action Hub project with Scottish Government funding in support of outcomes including • Widen participation by engaging new communities and strengthening existing activity. • Increase in community led climate change mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity projects, driven by communities themselves, contributing to a fair and just transition to net zero. • Increasing community resilience and knowledge of how to respond to climate change; • Strengthened and increased collaboration and knowledge sharing across and between community groups, public, private and 3rd sector partners leading to an acceleration in community action • Minority and disadvantaged communities are visible, confident and active within the network, taking part and leading climate action activities. • Increase in community climate literacy, which directly leads to a 5 - 15% reduction in participant’s carbon footprints. • Increase in involvement in policy setting, decision making and local place planning with climate lens by communities. This parallel initiative greatly enhances the reach of the overall ACT/CPP climate effort. Although separately funded and staffed, the two projects are working in close collaboration and a basis for distinction is that ABCAN Hub has more of a grassroots and community focus whereas ABCA Strategy is slightly more oriented towards institutions, but can also ensure that the grassroots activity and aspirations from the Hub have a strategic voice. Scoping Risk The approach taken here is based upon methodology devised by Climate Ready Clyde and adopted by subsequent regional climate programmes, adapted in liaison with Sniffer/Adaptation Scotland. This is a six step process comprising: • Step 1: Screen the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (UKCCRA) Summary for Scotland – filter the UKCCRA Summary to identify a core set of risks and opportunities. • Step 2: Desk-based evidence review • Step 3: Develop thematic risk and opportunity registers – The various risks and opportunities were reassembled into bespoke groups of risks and opportunities, grouped by themes. • Step 4: Validate with stakeholders and develop impact chains. Page 79
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Page 29 of 39 • Step 5: Initial consultation – thematic chapters updated to include identified adaptation actions in place or planned. Share draft chapters amongst relevant stakeholders for review. • Step 6: Assign urgency scores to risks and opportunities – allocate provisional categories to each risk, followed by a final workshop to validate scoring. The processes of developing risk assessments in support of adaptation plans taken by Climate Ready Clyde and other regional plans have started with screening the UK Climate Change Committee’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (UKCCRA) to identify a core set of risks and opportunities. For Argyll and Bute Climate Action this process started with peer group review of initial scoping by the project manager of the set of 61 strategic risks identified by UKCCRA and grouped into 5 categories: Natural Environment and Assets; Infrastructure; Health, Communities and Built Environment; Business and Industry; and International Dimensions. These 5 categories were then aligned with the CPP outcomes of Transport, Housing and Community Wellbeing. This has necessarily been an arbitrary exercise as many of the risks are crosscutting. “Community” was interpreted to include non human communities in order to fit nature and biodiversity within the set of three outcomes. An initial scoping In/Out was suggested, with a short rationale for scoping each risk In/Out included. Peer group members were then asked to indicate if they agreed that particular risks should be scoped in or out, based on the CPP’s remit and ability to take action or have influence in relation to the respective risks. The full spreadsheet is provided with the appendix with the image below providing a snapshot for illustration. The result is a set of 7 proposed risk groups, cross checked with lived experience drawn from stakeholder meetings and feedback from the ABCAN Climate Action Network. Page 80
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Page 30 of 39 • Flooding (water courses and surface water) • Heavy rainfall, storms and landslides • Temperature change, heatwaves and drought • Sea level rise & coastal impacts • Wildfires • Multi-hazards affecting people, species, habitats • Anything else? Possible other unknowns Following the initial scoping and peer scoping, the findings were presented to September meeting of the CPP Full Partnership. The participants were asked to indicate their perception of these risks based on their own experience either personally or upon their organisations or areas of work, and the exercise is to be repeated with the Climate Change Working Group This set of actions corresponds to step 1 and some of step 4 of the 6 step risk assessment process developed by Climate Ready Clyde and adopted by subsequent regional programme. Page 81
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Page 31 of 39 It is noted that several CPP members have risk assessments planned for this year or the immediate future. Several regional adaptation initiatives have commissioned consultant support in developing risk assessments and Risk/Economic Assessment is proposed as one of the set of ten measures in the Gaps and Opportunities section. In support of this, key findings from Highland Adapts’ recently published risk and opportunity and economic assessments24 relating to a set of key sectors comparable to Argyll and Bute are included in the appendix in the expectation that these can be replaced with Argyll-specific assessments over the action plan development phase. This scoping is emphatically not about what risks are the most important, but about what are within the CPP’s scope and ability to take action. 24 Economic Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Highlands (highlandadapts.scot) Risk and Opportunity Assessments by key Sectors from Highland Adapts In September 2024 Highland Adapts released their economic analysis of three key sectors which form part of their wider ongoing Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment. The analysis includes circular economy considerations which resonate strongly with stakeholder comments and Argyll and Bute’s proposed approach to Community Wealth Building. This includes risks to salmon production currently at £0.5 - £5m per year currently; £5 - £25m per year to 2050s to 2080s whisky production £5 - £25m per year currently; greater than £25m per year 2050s to 2080s impact on forestry from wildfires currently £5-25m per year Page 82
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Page 32 of 39 Bringing it Together: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities As noted in the preceding section, we started with a need to find out what is already happening and where there are gaps or opportunities and greatest risks. This cuts across mitigation, adaptation and engagement. This has been informed through • Review of CPP partners’ Climate Change Duty reports • Review of partners’ climate change plans where published • Review of other regional climate plans • Liaison with Sniffer/Adaptation Scotland • Review of other plans and strategies relevant to Argyll and Bute • Meetings with stakeholders including CPP representatives • Feedback from the wider community mainly via the A&B Climate Action Network Hubs In Argyll and Bute, the most comprehensive and consistent information relating to the overall picture of current climate action comes from the Climate Duty reports provided by the public bodies operating in the area. This provides a strong although not perfect match with the main bodies in the CPP and consequently this can provide an illustration of both activity within the CPP and potential gaps where the CPP may have agency or capacity to take action, either collectively or by constituent bodies. These are complemented by published climate strategies but not all organisations have these and some treat items such as risk assessments as confidential internal documents. Meetings with stakeholders have included suggestions relating to other organisations, and these are currently excluded from the analysis as “informal”. Likewise, meetings with stakeholders outside the public sector have revealed a wide range of action but less regarding reporting requirements relating to these. Future work including business grants and agricultural/land management payments will include elements of carbon and other environmental reporting but these are currently work in progress to be captured within the Action Plan as this is developed over 2025. A collaboration with Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface is under development to undertake a comprehensive audit of the sector across Argyll and Bute including elements on climate readiness which can further inform the development of the Action Plan in support of this strategy over 2025. Developing the Action Plan also needs to be informed by local knowledge from partners and the wider community, requiring ongoing engagement to complement the literature review and meetings held to date. Building upon the literature review and engagement, the project manager proposed a set of opportunity areas for action aligned against key findings from the partners’ published Public Body Climate Duty reports • Infrastructure • Policy Influence • Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration • Risk/Economic Assessment • Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training Page 83
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Page 33 of 39 • Skills Development • Other These categories of measures were reviewed by peers via a spreadsheet with three columns of drop down boxes in order to prioritise measures associated with the Climate Duty reports to establish a group of thematic measures appropriate to the CPP’s remit and scope of control and influence in order to inform ongoing development of the Action Plan. These actions correspond with steps 2-4 of the 6 step risk assessment process used by Climate Ready Clyde and subsequent regional adaptation programmes (summarised at the end of this document). Opportunity Areas for Action Infrastructure Infrastructure is a primary concern in Argyll and Bute, with the length and vulnerability of the transport network to flooding, landslides and coastal impacts attracting comment from nearly all stakeholder and community meetings. The region’s geography also means that marine and air transport links are major considerations in addition to road and rail. Page 84
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Page 34 of 39 There is less consensus among stakeholder on the extent to which this is a concern for the Community Planning Partnership as distinct to the specific groups within the CPP with expertise and responsibility for transport infrastructure and links with flood resilience planning. There is more consensus among stakeholders on the CPP’s role in addressing demand and impacts upon transport infrastructure including propensity to travel and potential to influence travel choices to reduce reliance on private cars, noting that 30% of households in Argyll and Bute do not have a car. Communications and grid infrastructure are also major concerns: enhancing grid capacity is a key elements of decarbonising both transport and housing as well as enabling further renewable energy developments in the region which is seen as a key economic and climate opportunity. Addressing digital exclusion is a priority for Argyll and Bute and the resilience of telecommunications links in the face of climate change was a repeated theme in stakeholder meetings, including some concerns over the switchover from physical copper-based landlines to internet-based services. Policy Influence “Policy influence” covers areas that are not within the CPP’s ability to control but where the collective voice of the CPP may seek to inform or influence policy. This is seen as an important role for the CPP by many, with a common perception that many climate-related policies are more suited to densely populated and predominantly urban areas rather than to Argyll and Bute’s distinctive geography and population. Procurement and Supply Chain Collaboration Community wealth building is seen as a major climate change opportunity including in terms of Multiple stakeholders commented on the potential for the CPP’s combined procurement activity to support community wealth building in addition to potentially reducing duplication and transport impacts. Procurement is a tightly regulated area and all CPP budgets are under pressure, so there is a need to balance climate change considerations alongside affordability, availability value for money, fitness for purpose and other best value considerations. This is an area that falls within Scope 3 emissions, and as such likely to be subject to increasing reporting requirements. Several CPP partners have provided instances where local providers have been able to deliver in preference to large providers from outside the region, enabling money to stay within the region and supporting local employment and skills at the same time as delivering best value. Supplier engagement programmes have been seen as a valuable tool and an area where there are further opportunities for reducing economic leakage and shortening elements of some supply chains. Risk/Economic Assessment Several CPP partners are at similar stages of starting climate adaptation and associated risk assessment processes. Stakeholders have indicated the potential value in working together on this as well as sharing existing information, and several have also emphasised the importance of factoring economic assessments. Examples of risk and economic assessments and methodologies from Highland Adapts and Climate Ready South East Scotland are included in the appendices. Page 85
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Page 35 of 39 Resilience/Carbon Literacy Training The new Scottish National Adaptation Plan emphasises the need to support people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts and building resilient, healthy, and equitable places, including rural, island and coastal communities. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction25 defines resilience as “The ability of a system and its component parts to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner, including through ensuring the preservation, restoration, or improvement of its essential basic structures and functions.” As the group of organisations and community representatives working together to achieve improvements across Argyll and Bute in ways which promote prevention, reduce inequalities and build community capacity, the CPP is strongly placed to work in multiple ways to develop overall resilience in the community in addition to measures more specific to climate change. There are also opportunities to integrate this with place planning in addition to developing and delivering resilience training at multiple levels across the region, such as the online climate resilience training currently being piloted by the Argyll & Bute Community Action Network. Carbon Literacy training is more well established and recognised and this in addition to enhancing individuals’ empowerment and agency with regard to climate change can also support employability. Skills Development Skills development and education is seen as one of the most important areas to address the trend to a declining and ageing population in Argyll and Bute as well as to strengthening the economy and community wellbeing. In the context of climate change, this is further important through the role of skills development in supporting a just transition to a lower carbon and more resilient economy. Skills development, including education, is presented separately to resilience and carbon literacy training on the basis that resilience and carbon literacy training are specific and well defined exercises as distinct to the much broader range of activity around skills development and education across Argyll and Bute. Other When presenting the set of proposed areas of action to the CPP Full Partnership for attendees to indicate their priorities, some respondents indicated “other”: subsequent discussion with these respondents indicated that this was from desired actions that cut across multiples of these areas of activity rather than fitting into any one category. 25 UNDRR - Homepage | UNDRR Page 86
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Page 36 of 39 Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation Existing Public Body Climate Duty reporting requirements are grouped by: • Profile • Governance • Emissions & Projects • Adaptation • Procurement • Validation • Wider Influence Feedback from meetings with partners to date has been supportive of an approach based as much as possible around these requirements, such that existing activity can be captured and new projects brought within the same framework wherever possible. This has the potential to offer a basic level of monitoring not only of the activity of public sector partners but also through the “Wider Influence” section where they in turn can have wider influence through partnership or client working. This would still require a change in the ways in which bodies approach Public Body Duty reporting as historically organisations across Scotland have provided reports with high levels of detail on areas such as emissions but less on wider influence, so even though this indicative approach seeks to reduce extra reporting as much as possible there would still be resource implications associated. The Scottish Government provided an update on Local Authority Climate Change Plans on 10 September 2024, setting out the expected content of Local Authority (LA) Climate Change Plans (CCPs). A summary of this is overleaf. The guidance is in draft form at present and it is not yet known to what extent the same requirements will subsequently apply to other bodies with Climate Change Public Body Duty reporting duties. Because the Argyll & Bute Climate Change Strategy is not a statutory requirement, it cannot place reporting or other duties upon the CPP partners and the Climate Change Public Body Duty reporting requirements provide a means by which the partners’ climate activity can be monitored and reported. Funding for Argyll & Bute Climate Action runs until October 2025 meaning that there is no dedicated resource for monitoring and reporting of the strategy as a whole after October 2025. The Sustainable Scotland Network does a national level assessment of the Public Body Duty reports, typically made available in May-June after individual bodies’ reports are submitted at the end of the calendar year. At present there is no provision for regional-level assessment by SSN or another external body although this is a recognised issue. There may be some potential for Sniffer/Adaptation Scotland to provide some assistance with evaluation of the adaptation components of ACPA beyond the funded period but this would not replace the need for ongoing monitoring and reporting. The Climate Change Working Group is being asked to consider whether volunteers from some of the partners’ bodies would assist with a review of the spreadsheet used for the gap analysis as a potential basic reporting template to inform overall progress beyond the funded period in the Page 87
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Page 37 of 39 expectation that national guidance comparable to the detail of the forthcoming SCIS guidance to local authorities on area-wide emissions will be forthcoming in future. This would entail a resource requirement to identify an individual and make time available to review the partners’ published reports and SSN national assessment, and present this to the Climate Change Working Group autumn meeting. Two days is suggested but the volunteer request above would be asked to consider this time expectation as part of their review. Page 88
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Page 38 of 39 Further Information/Contact For further information, contact Andy Macpherson Climate Change Project Officer Argyll Countryside Trust (for Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership) andy@act-now.org.uk https://www.act-now.org.uk/cpp 07398668987 Page 89
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1 Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter from the Argyll & Bute Climate Action Network (ABCAN). The following information is a brief look at the wide variety of work undertaken since April 2024. The aim of the ABCAN Hub is to support every Argyll and Bute resident and community facing the challenge of climate change. ABCAN is here to identify, facilitate, and give a voice to localised community led climate action, to raise awareness of our carbon impact, and address key climate themes to work towards a Net Zero, climate resilient Argyll & Bute. With Scottish Government funding and overseen by a collaboration between the Argyll & the Isles Coast & Countryside Trust (ACT), Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface and Time for Change Argyll & Bute, the ABCAN Hub is establishing resources to coordinate and build on current climate activities. We deliver climate change education, facilitate climate conversations, provide seed funding for climate mitigation, engage with hard-to-reach groups and identify opportunities for partnership working across the region to ensure that Argyll & Bute has a cohesive approach to tackling climate change in our communities. Introducing the ABCAN Team Our team is committed to fulfilling the objectives of the Climate Action Network in Argyll & Bute. We support each locality with expertise that extends across the region focusing on the themes of energy, food, and housing – read on for more details! Lindsey Young, Helensburgh & Lomond lindsey@act-now.org.uk Kate Shaw, Oban, Lorn, and the Isles Kate@act-now.org.uk Rowan Aitchison, Mid Argyll, Kintyre & Islay Rowan@act-now.org.uk Mark, Nicola, & Marylou, Rural Bute & Cowal ABCANButeandCowal@act-now.org.uk Dunoon Community Development Trust ann@dunooncdt.org Page 91
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2 Seed Funding The next round of the ABCAN Climate Action is live! Follow the QR code to be directed to the TSI funding platform. ABCAN can assist you in identifying potential funding sources and provide seed funding to kickstart your projects in Argyll & Bute. We’re open to applications from community councils, trusts, organisations and groups, as well as charities and Community Interest Companies in the Argyll and Bute area. Closing Date: 18 Aug 2024 Climate change education and engagement in Helensburgh and Lomond A significant achievement for a Scottish School: embedding the climate emergency in education. The full staff Teaching Team at Cardross Primary School were awarded their Carbon Literacy Project Certificates at the school end of term assembly, making them the first teaching cohort in Scotland (possibly the UK) to achieve this standard collectively. Climate change education and engagement is at the heart of the Argyll & Bute Climate Action Network, and we are delighted to have worked with Cardross Primary School over several months to see this opportunity realised. Huge thanks to Headteacher, Ms Kelly Girling, and the teaching staff who committed to this training to fully embed climate literacy in the whole school. ABCAN Officer Lindsey Young has been the driving force behind the training, coordinating the process to meet the Carbon Literacy standard. ABCAN offer this free Carbon Literacy Training (online or face to face) to all residents in Argyll and Bute to support understanding and the co-benefits of action on climate change. Please get in touch if you would like to join the Cardross teachers and the many others in Argyll & Bute who are working to address the climate emergency. Cardross Primary Teaching Team Headteacher Kelly Girling, ABCAN Officer Lindsey Young, and P7 Teacher Nick Henry. Page 92
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3 Lindsey has also assisted the Living Well community with their event at the Helensburgh leisure centre. attending the Cove & Kilcreggan Peninsulas 'Our Community' Development Trusts open day, and participated in two Community Council meetings, and one Area Community Planning Meeting, highlighting the support available from ABCAN to communities across the region. Collaborating with Cove Park to bring Invasive species information into the public domain, Lindsey attended a week of daily webinars on British invasive species during Invasive Species Week (20-26 May 2024). ABCAN has an online network which has channels dedicated to climate themes specifically for Argyll and Bute Communities. If you want to connect on matters of invasive species, or any other area of climate interest, check out our ways to connect section on page 8. MAKI and Energy Argyll Renewable Energy Shared Ownership Rowan has been focusing on how the ABCAN hub can support communities to benefit from the Argyll renewable energy transition. This includes increasing community ownership of renewable generators and finding ways to reduce the cost of electricity for those local to renewable energy generators. We held our first shared ownership meeting with key organisations to begin mapping the opportunity of community shared ownership in Argyll. Islay Rowan also attended the Islay High School COP, discussing the opportunities and impacts of climate change on our lives in Argyll and Bute. Some of the first shared ownership meeting attendees. Left to right- Gordon Gilfillan, Community Energy Scotland. Mike Geraghty observer on behalf of Dunoon Community Development Trust. Ailsa Raeburn, Community Land Scotland. Isla McCulloch, Co-operatives UK. Morven Lyon, Development Trust Association Scotland. Rowan Aitchison, ABCAN. Mark Brennan, Local Energy Scotland. Lynda Mitchell, ALIenergy. Lorne MacLeod. Page 93
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4 Energy Local Training In July we hosted Energy Local, delivering Energy Local Club Advisor training. These clubs set up a pathway for electricity to be sold locally below the market price. We hope to see the first Energy Local Club set up in Argyll & Bute following this training, which could serve as a case study for other communities interested in the model. To find out more about this contact rowan@act-now.org.uk Oban, Lorn, and the Isles and Sustainable Food Partnerships Engagement, support, and local food We have continued to support the development of The Rockfield Centre Garden project, bringing a previously productive area of land in the centre of Oban back into community use for food growing. Kate has been collaborating with the Rockfield Trust (TRC) and Adventure Oban to promote the formation of a group of interested people. We conducted a community consultation, created a display board about the project, and posted an online survey to gauge community interest Having received positive feedback and interest, we planned a volunteer action evening on 4th June to start clearing the space. The event was well attended, and regular action days are now held on Tuesday evenings with an enthusiastic group working towards making the land productive again. Some Energy Local Training attendees. Darragh Keenaghan, Community Energy Scotland. Rowan & Jamie, ABCAN. Beth Holloway, Energy Local Trainer. Looking from the potential community garden space towards the Rockfield Centre ABCAN Officer Kate Shaw on site Page 94
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5 Visit to Luing and learning from local communities. ABCAN exists to facilitate networking and support the excellent work of communities throughout Argyll and Bute. Kate visited the Isle of Luing to find out about their ongoing efforts and to discuss how ABCAN could support them through seed funding or training. The Isle of Luing Community Trust recently completed an excellent local place plan and are taking forward several projects to address climate change impacts and deliver benefits for the island community. Sustainable Food Partnership A series of meetings hosted by Third Sector Interface (TSI), ABCAN and the Argyll and Bute Council Food Policy and Delivery Officer, have explored food systems in Argyll and Bute, including the potential for a Sustainable Food Partnership (SFP). Sustainable food is affordable food that is produced, processed, traded, and disposed of in ways that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable: ways that meet our current needs without compromising the needs of future generations. Following these meetings, a survey was conducted to gauge community support for developing a sustainable food partnership. The positive responses suggests preference to the formation of a steering group to take this initiative forward. Bute & Cowal: place and wellbeing Lochgoil Community Visit ABCAN’s Bute and Cowal team visited Lochgoil, a proactive community taking positive actions for their future. The rural Bute & Cowal Team had a walk around with Community Councillor Brown and saw the devastation caused by a recent flood and the restoration work including extensive repair work to a main thoroughfare bridge (see photo of Newly repaired bridge damaged my floods) and volunteers planting up young trees to protect the riverbanks where a path had been washed away. The team met with residents, members of the Community Council and Development Trust to hear their views on climate mitigation and Resilience. Supporting Community Councils and Trusts in Argyll and Bute to ensure that climate change is central in their planning and development is a key objective for ABCAN. We will use ‘The Place Standard with a Climate Lens’ toolkit to help communities design their future place with climate in mind. ABCAN Officer Mark Bamford in Lochgoil Colin Buchanan, Chair of Isle of Luing Community Trust Page 95
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6 Kyles Coastal Community Event The Kyles Coastal Community is a group of local people working to improve the Marine and Coastal environment in the Kyles of Bute. We were pleased to be invited to the Kyles Coastal Community Launch Event in Kames Village Hall, where we introduced the Cowal and Bute ABCAN. We engaged with the attendees about our roles of working with local communities to be climate adaptive and resilient and gathered thoughtful contributions for our ‘rays of sunshine’ map of gratitude. Dunoon Community Development Trust Dunoon Community Development Trust has been working across three main project areas to broker conversations and share information about climate change and climate resilience on a local level to support the ABCAN network. Food and growing DCDT has developed a new shared food growing site at Struan Lodge, led by Grow Food Grow Dunoon volunteers engaging over 15 people in training and practical action on organic food production and sustainable growing techniques. Additionally, we hosted our first Dunoon & Cowal food growing and garden group meeting in June, resulting in a shared approach to organic compost purchase. Active Travel Through the Dunoon Bothy project, delivered in partnership with Cycling UK, weekly walks and led bike rides have been facilitated and four bike repair and maintenance classes have been delivered, involving over 40 people. DCDT also conducted community engagement activities in Dunoon for an Active Travel Behaviour Change Plan, leading to a list of priority projects, and the delivery of Doctor Bike sessions in four local primary schools reaching more than 60 families. Climate resilience and biodiversity As part of the development of a Local Place Plan for Dunoon, a site-specific exhibition called West Bay Wonder has been installed sharing information about issues such as beach biodiversity, cultural heritage, flood risk and water quality. Community members were involved in producing installations from sustainably sourced timber, and learning activities around the exhibition included: The Science of a Shingle Beach; Sea Bird and Mammal spotting; and climate and biodiversity workshops. Page 96
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7 Coming up in September - DCDT will lead a project to improve community knowledge of reuse and the circular economy, with Oxfam, TSI and other local charities we will be facilitating workshops and talks on the theme of Second-Hand September, culminating in a Fashion Show. Community Climate Action Hubs at the national level ABCAN are part of a wider network of Scottish Hubs operating in almost every Local Authority. To provide a strategic regional approach to climate change action; the Scottish Government are supporting these regional community climate action hubs with up to £5.5 million in 2024-2025. The hubs work to: • build awareness of the climate emergency and actions local groups can take • support groups to develop climate action projects embed climate solutions into local plans • help groups take up funding opportunities • facilitate networking • ensure a joined-up approach to tackling climate change at a regional level The first two hubs launched in September 2021, and the network has now expanded to consist of 20 hubs. A new ABCAN Steering group is being established and we would be delighted to hear from you if you wish to contribute to this Climate Action Hub. For more details, please contact abcan@act-now.org.uk Becoming Climate Resilient- free online workshop The ABCAN Officer team completed ‘Becoming Climate Resilient’ training with Sniffer in June. This training equips ABCAN to provide comprehensive support for Argyll and Bute communities. Climate resilience refers to the ability of a system, in this case an Argyll and Bute community, and its component parts to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner, including through ensuring the preservation, restoration, or improvement of its essential basic structures and functions. Our first online climate resilience workshop will take place during climate week in September, covering key components to support Argyll and Bute residents in becoming climate resilient. Climate Resilience for Argyll & Bute 25th September 2024, 1100 - 1230. Online. To reserve a space, follow the QR code or contact abcan@act-now.org.uk We bumped into Joan Lawrie, Highlands & Islands Climate Hub Manager at the Royal Highland Show. A great event to highlight the Climate Hubs and reach a wider audience. Page 97
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8 ‘Relevant climate change learning for everyone’. ABCAN continues to offer free ‘Carbon Literacy for Argyll & Bute’ training, suitable for all residents. This training covers the following topics with a specific focus on the needs of Argyll and Bute- • The science behind climate change. • Social equity & climate change. • What you can do to act on climate change. • Strategies and skills for communicating action on climate change. Successful completion of the training, followed by a short assessment, awards a Carbon Literacy Certificate This training can take place online, or face to face, and will take around 7 hours to complete, with an additional hour for assessment. Contact abcan@act-now.org.uk or scan the QR code. Engage with ABCAN! You can email any of the staff team or reach out at abcan@act-now.org.uk Alternatively, you can call Jamie on 07943 020 241 Join the free ABCAN online network by clicking here. Formal membership is free to individuals and organisations (some of those listed below). The benefits of membership are available by clicking here. Page 98