Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change introduced the report stating that the decarbonisation of council buildings and properties was a key part of the Council’s commitment to reach Net Zero by 2030. There are ambitions to go further but will depend on future funding opportunities.

The Assistant Director for Estates and Decarbonisation gave an overview of the report stating that the decarbonisation journey from 2018 led to applications for grant funding which had pushed programme forward. The project was building business cases for additional borrowing to keep the programme going in context of financial constraints.

In response to questions from the Committee, it was reported that the retrofit programme could save money as schools benefit from cheaper utility bills and avoid provider costs.  Officers also confirmed that they could calculate both financial and carbon savings.

A Committee Member asked if the programme could be halted if it is found to be unsuccessful and if the schools will be required to fund running costs of the new retrofit systems are found to be more expensive.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Council would use the latest technology and would adapt as technology changes. It was noted that so far, the retrofit programme had been working well, but this would be continually reviewed. Officers confirmed that the schools were responsible for their own utility bills and any savings would go to the school.  It was noted that Council had funded the installation costs.

Councillor David Longstaff reported he was on the Finance Committee in the Foulds School and understood there was provision in the contract to cover any additional costs for utilities.

Officers noted that early calculations show savings in schools. Technology such as air source heat pumps were keeping costs down and more data would be available in winter 2024/25. Officers confirmed that schools would be revisited to do insulation where possible to keep costs down further.

A Committee Member queried the scale of the project to retrofit all council buildings by 2030, with the reported delay in early phases.  It was questioned how many buildings would need to be completed per annum to reach the 2030 goal. Officers confirmed that delays had been caused by UK Power Networks capacity to cope with additional demand. There was a Net Zero team to support the catchment area and respond quickly which should lead to fewer delays going forward. The project was completing higher emission buildings first such as schools. It was noted that the Council needed to spend £10m per year to reach 2030 deadline. There were 90 assets in the Managed Estate, but not all need same amount of work.

In response to questions from the Committee about the involvement of local organisations and the private sector, officers confirmed that there was a re- procurement process taking place which would allow greater involvement of public sector partners.  There had been interest from the RAF Museum and Barnet College to have access to the contract. It was not open to private sector partners at this stage.

A Committee Member asked if the Council had undertaken any comparisons with other boroughs with progress on retrofitting and decarbonisation. Officers confirmed that this information could be obtained from Retrofit for London and shared with the Committee. Action: Assistant Director, Estates and Decarbonisation

In response to a question about the temperature of the buildings during the summer and impact of use of air conditioning, officers confirmed that they would monitor the impact in the caretaker’s home as an example. Retrofitting should balance the heat and cold in the buildings, but the impact will be monitored.

Councillor Emma Whysall moved a recommendation that was duly seconded for the Cabinet Member to explore ways of leveraging private sector investment in this programme, to provide actions taken to date, what else can be done to enable the private sector in Barnet to also benefit from accessing technology. This was unanimously agreed. Action: Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.     Note the progress with the Towards Net Zero (TNZ) Programme of works, and the ongoing determination to continue programmes of work over the next two years, within a defined budget to be agreed by Cabinet by March 2024.

2.     Request that the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change explore ways of leveraging private sector investment in this programme, to provide actions taken to date, what else can be done to enable the private sector in Barnet to also benefit from accessing technology and provide feedback to the Committee.