Download lancashire county council environmental management strategy

Appendix 'A'
Lancashire County Council Environmental Management Strategy
Progress Update – April 2009
Objective
Progress
Lead
Climate Change
Agreed indicators for this theme are


Carbon dioxide emissions from local authority operations
Staff business mileage
The targets will be set as part of the carbon management plan
Reduce
greenhouse
gas emissions,
notably carbon
dioxide and
methane.
The County Council has been working with the Carbon Trust on their carbon management programme
since May 2008. A detailed baseline of emissions in 2007/8 has been completed, and a comprehensive
action plan will be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and Environment in April
2009.
Under the performance indicator NI185, the County Council will be required to report on carbon
emissions from local authority operations on an annual basis, in July each year.
Initial development of a Local Climate Impacts Profile was completed in 2008 to help us understand how
Ensure
council services are affected by extreme weather events. The information compiled as part of this
buildings and
research will support services in undertaking ongoing risk assessments that will enable them to learn
services are
from past experience and allow them to adapt to a different climate in the future. This initial piece of
able to adapt to
work has proved very successful in raising awareness of the impacts of the weather on our services and
climate change. the wider community. Ongoing work has focussed on supporting district councils and other partners to
develop a community wide Local Climate Impacts Profile for the whole of Lancashire.
1
Environment
Directorate
Property
Group
Environment
Directorate
Objective
Monitor,
manage and
minimise the
County
Council’s use
of energy.
Minimise the
environmental
impact of
travelling
between home
and the
workplace and
on County
Council
business.
Progress
The Property Group Energy team has established a table showing each property's energy consumption
and emissions of CO2/m2
Lead
Property
Group
This ensures that poorly performing properties are identified for further investigation. Consultants are
currently surveying approximately 50 premises to generate a list of schemes in priority order for funding
as part of climate change initiatives.
The ‘Go Travel Shop’ intranet site contains information on car sharing, bicycle loans, cycling and walking
groups and links to the Active Points Challenge and Walking Health Initiative
Discounted tickets are currently available with Preston Stagecoach on production of County Council
identification. Interest free loans of up to £1,500, are available from the County Council's Payroll Team
for the purchase of travel season tickets.
Environment
Directorate
Transport
Policy
The County Council's Corporate Human Resources web pages contain a wealth of information on flexible
working schemes. New additions include ‘annualised’ and ‘compressed’ hours.
Human
Resources
LCES are implementing many activities identified in the Green Fleet Review report. These include:
 Purchasing a fuel management system that will allow detailed monitoring and management of fuel
supplies at depots.
 A 3 year detailed vehicle replacement programme has been established and is in use. This is a
rolling programme and will progressively reduce the fleet's emissions. all new vehicles will comply
with either Euro 4 or Euro 5 stringent emissions standards.
Lancashire
County
Engineering
Services
Continue to assess buildings for the potential (resource and planning) for the installation of shower and
changing facilities for those walking and cycling to work.
Property
Group
Continue to review essential car use to reflect job requirements as and when posts become vacant.
Human
Resources
2
Objective
Progress
Lead
Natural Resources and Waste
Agreed indicators and targets for this theme

Number of buildings with recycling facilities in place – target for all Preston buildings over 1000m 2 by April 2009

Sustainable procurement – level 2 of national Flexible Framework by July 2009.
Monitor, manage
and minimise
the County
Council’s use of
water and
energy.
Water consumption is recorded in metered buildings.
Property Group
The ongoing work to develop new secondary schools as part of the Building Schools for the Future
programme continues to incorporate rainwater recovery systems.
Property Group
Use the least
environmentally
damaging goods
and services.
The Environment Procurement Policy has been revised into a Sustainable Procurement Policy &
Strategy for the County Council. The County Council’s performance against the Flexible Framework
has been assessed and the Procurement Sub-Group (PSG) has drafted milestones for monitoring
achievement against the Framework’s recommendations.
Corporate
Procurement
The Energy Team provides a comprehensive cost-effective service covering all aspects of energy
related matters, including water use, to all County Council establishments.
All key procurement staff have received training. Strategic procurement areas have been targeted
(Energy/Carbon Management etc.)
A training schedule has been developed and released for the whole of 2009, incorporating
sustainable procurement training for those contracting on behalf of the authority and those at
requisitioner level.
3
Environment
Policy
Objective
Minimise the
amount of waste
produced by the
County Council
and encourage
greater reuse,
recycling and
composting.
Progress
The County Council's Property Group has been tasked with rolling out recycling collections to
County Buildings in Preston. By the end of March 2009, schemes will be in operation at Winckley
House and Guild House at Cross Street, 55 Guildhall Street and The Hub for paper, card, glass,
cans and plastics recycling. In addition there are also 2 pilot schemes for new waste streams, the
first at Winckley House for handtowels and the second at The Hub for data protected waste paper.
All bin sites have been identified and costed for County Hall and a capital funding bid has been
submitted to Property Capital Fund. East Cliff presents a major challenge as Preston City Council's
collection vehicle is too heavy for the bridge. Negotiations to discuss alternative means of collection
are on going between the County Council and Preston City Council.
The recent office relocations have led to substantial volumes of redundant furniture – the used
furniture store allows this to be reused in other sections and between May-Nov 2008 this is
estimated to have saved at least £35,000 in new furniture costs. In addition a scrap metal skip (for
eg old filing cabinets) generates a nominal payment.
4
Lead
Environment
Policy
Waste
Management
Property Group
Landscape, Wildlife and Heritage
There are currently no agreed targets or indicators for this theme.
Manage buildings
under County
Council control to
conserve,
enhance and
restore local
heritage.
Assessment of the impacts of proposed County Council changes/developments on the historic
environment, accounting for a full range of designations and the wider landscape setting of historic
sites is undertaken through the development control process. Buildings are managed in
accordance with grading structures.
Conserve, restore
and re-establish
habitats and
wildlife on land
managed by the
County Council.
As part of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, public authorities now have a Development
Duty to have regard to the conservation of biodiversity in exercising their functions
Control
The performance indicator NI197 Improved local biodiversity is in the local area agreement.
Performance is measured on the management of the biological heritage sites in the County.
Resources have been requested from the Lancashire Partnership to assist with the delivery of this.
Natural &
Historic
Environment
Services
Natural &
Historic
Environment
Services
Education, Implementation and Monitoring
Agreed indicators and targets for this theme
 75% of respondents to the staff survey are in agreement with the statement “I understand how I can contribute to tackling climate
change through my actions at work” by the time of the next staff survey.
Additional target proposed for 2009/10
 50 internal "champions" signed up by end August 2009
Consider
environmental
factors in
County Council
decisions and
activities.
The Corporate Impact Assessment Policy and Procedures (CIAPP) Toolkit is now well incorporated
into standard procedures when developing new County Council policies and plans. This has been
developed to be used by all policy and strategy makers to consider how the County Council's policies
and strategies contribute to the core purpose and corporate objectives, and to remove or minimise
any negative impact. This includes objectives on the environment and climate change.
5
Corporate
Policy Unit
Continually
develop
environmental
objectives and
targets and
introduce best
practices to
reduce
environmental
impacts.
The Officer Group has identified a number of headline indicators and, where possible, has proposed
improvement targets and actions needed to achieve those targets. In other cases a course of action
is proposed to ensure appropriate targets are established.
Climate
Change &
Environment
Officer Group
Educate and
train employees
and members to
conduct their
activities in an
environmentally
responsible
manner.
Instead of a separate ‘environment’ newsletter, articles on environment have been regularly
incorporated into corporate publications (Fast Forward and Vision), as well as regular updates in
Team Talk, this has ensured a wider coverage.
Environment
Policy
Information is regularly updated on the intranet and internet. A new climate change section of the
website has been developed.
All key procurement staff have received training
Training schedule developed and released for the whole of 2009 incorporating sustainable
procurement training for those contracting on behalf of the authority and those at requisitioner level.
6
Procurement