This report sets out the Council’s ambitious plan to lead the local response to the Climate & Ecological Emergency including the development of a new Herefordshire Climate & Nature Partnership and to allocate the use of the Council’s dedicated climate reserve in order to accelerate the delivery of our net zero carbon and nature rich commitments.

a)    The council establishes a new countywide partnership, the Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership (as per the Terms of Reference in Appendix 2);

b)    The Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership is included on the council partnerships register as a significant partnership;

c)    That the new Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership develops and leads the delivery of an ambitious new Herefordshire Climate and Nature Strategy for Herefordshire to become net zero carbon and nature rich by 2030;

d)    A new dedicated Delivery Director is recruited to accelerate the delivery of the Council’s climate and nature projects;

e)    £50,000 be allocated and drawn down from the climate reserve to procure external communications resource to support the active promotion and engagement of the Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership;

f)      £40,000 be allocated and drawn down from the climate reserve to procure specialist consultancy support to develop a new Herefordshire Council Nature Strategy;

g)    £50,000 be allocated and drawn down from the climate reserve to procure specialist consultancy support to develop a new Building Retrofit Strategy and to undertake an options appraisal for accelerating building retrofit across the county;

h)    £220,000 be allocated from the climate reserve to establish a new Climate and Nature grant scheme to empower local community groups, organisations and parish councils to apply for funding, which the council will consider and award, to deliver carbon reduction and ecological enhancement projects across the county (as set out in Appendix 1);

i)      That delegated authority is given to Interim Director for Economy & Place in conjunction with Cabinet Member Economy and Environment and Section 151 Officer to draw down the full value of the climate reserve in year and to take all operational decision to deliver the above recommendations; and

j)      That Cabinet receives an annual report and project plan as part of a decision to draw down the following year’s climate reserve.

1.         Not to establish a countywide partnership (rejected).

I.          This is not recommended as the Council is only one part and is strongly committed to leading the required local response to the Climate & Ecological emergency which is a key objective in the County Plan and the executive response to the Climate & Ecological Emergency.

II.         Partnership working will be essential to delivering countywide carbon neutrality as the Council's own carbon footprint represents less than 1% of Herefordshire's total carbon emissions.

2.         Not to draw down and utilise the dedicated Climate Reserve in order to accelerate the delivery, engagement and communication of the Council's climate and ecology commitments (rejected).

I.          This is not recommended as this dedicated reserve has been established to support the ongoing delivery of Council's declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency and to deliver the climate and nature commitments within the County Plan.

3.         Not to draw down the dedicated climate reserve to support countywide carbon activity (rejected).

I.          This is not recommended as significant investment will be required over the next decade as the County works to achieve net zero carbon. The allocation of £220,000 from the dedicated climate reserve will ensure there is sufficient resource available to develop and facilitate new carbon reduction and biodiversity projects across the county via the climate grant scheme. This allocation includes up to £20,000 to resource the administration of this grant scheme which will be undertaken by the council's Delegated Grants team.

4.         To directly allocate resources to the Climate and Nature Partnership (rejected).

I.          This is not possible as the proposed partnership will not be a legal entity and the Council need to ensure that all activity is procured under the council's contract and financial procedure rules.

5.         Not to draw down the dedicated climate reserve to procure the nature strategy (rejected).

I.          This is not recommended as this is a key strategic objective to achieve the Council's Climate & Ecological Emergency ambitions. This seeks to develop a new holistic approach, working collaboratively with the Local Nature Partnership to address all aspects of its operations and estates.

6.         Not to draw down the dedicated climate reserve to procure the specialist technical advice to develop a building retrofit strategy and to develop an options appraisal (rejected).

I.          This is not recommended as this is a key strategic objective to achieve the Council's Climate & Ecological Emergency ambitions as over one-third of Herefordshire's carbon emissions are estimated to be from heating homes and other buildings.