Decision details

Councillor Alan Quinn, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, presented the report regarding the Council’s participation in the Greater Manchester Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding bid. The report explained the importance of the scheme in the context of the ambition for Bury to be carbon neutral by 2038, which was a key commitment as part of the Let’s Do It! Strategy, and the need for the Council to lead by example.

Councillor Quinn detailed very restrictive timescales for delivery, and thanked officers for their continued work in pushing this forward. In response to a Member’s question regarding schools, it was noted that this scheme necessitated ownership of buildings but that similar schemes in the future were expected and could be open to schools.

Decision:

1.   Cabinet notes that:

·         The Council has received notification from Salix that the grant application has been approved and that £8.5m is to be awarded to Bury Council subject to formal sign-off of the grant conditions;

·         The formal approval and sign-off process for the grant was delegated by Cabinet in February to the Executive Director of Operations and the Council’s S151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Growth;

·         The scheme will be added to the Capital 2021/22 Capital Programme;

·         In order to meet the challenging timescales for delivery, that some works have commenced at risk, however the full cost will be met from the grant once the formal approvals have been received and accepted;

·         Approval to award the required contracts to deliver the project were delegated by Cabinet in February to the Executive Director of Operations in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change and the Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR.

2.   Cabinet approves the Council’s participation in the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme (as set out in Appendix 1), following the confirmation received on 26 February 2021 that the Greater Manchester bid had been successful.

Reasons for the decision:

The Let’s Do It! Strategy approved by Cabinet on 23 February 2021 included a commitment for the whole borough to be carbon neutral by 2038, which responds to the Council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019. This carbon neutral target aligns with the Greater Manchester target included in the 5 Year Environment Plan for Greater Manchester.

Other options considered and rejected:

The option described above in relation to the Greater Manchester Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides 100% funding for new heating systems and low carbon measures. No other funding opportunities were identified.