Attendees
| Emily Reed | Devon Climate Emergency |
| Doug Eltham | Devon County Council |
| John Amosford | Public Health Devon |
| Alice Gent | Exeter City Council |
| Clare Jones | Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust |
| Collette Germon | Devon Partnership NHS Trust |
| William Elliott | Teignbridge District Council |
| Jason Ball | Mid Devon District Council |
| David Rose | South West Water |
| Jen Manning | Dartmoor National Park Authority |
| Jacqui Warren | Torbay Council |
1. Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Minutes of the September meeting agreed to be an accurate record.
Actions carried over:
- Decision Wheels: Look for alternative solutions for decision wheels licensing. (Catherine)
- Local Plan Support: Contact Active Devon for support in integrating active travel into the local plan and regeneration projects. (Catherine)
2. Project Progress Report
The progress reported appended to these minutes was considered.
Emily drew attention to the projects that are being funded with the initial £16m through the Devon and Torbay devolution deal. The Green Impact Fund for businesses was closed early due to demand, and evaluations will occur in the next few weeks.
3. Energy Supply and Cross Cutting Themes Progress Update
- Energy Plan Procurement: Doug discussed the procurement with the Southwest Net Zero Hub and other regions to complete stages one to three of the local area energy planning methodology. This will result in a model of the current energy system in Devon and enhanced recommendations for stakeholder engagement and governance.
- Renewable Energy and Storage Deployment: Emily questioned whether the action to identify opportunities for renewable energy and storage deployment on land owned or managed by partners should be marked as green instead of amber. David noted that South West Water should be added to the list of partners that have completed this activity. Doug and others decided to leave it as amber until more partners complete their reviews.
- Heat Networks: There was a discussion about appraising the potential for low carbon heat networks in new developments. Doug mentioned a heat network proposed for Exeter and various schemes being planned in Plymouth. The group decided to keep this action marked as amber.
- Demand Flexibility Services: Emily suggested marking the action to test approaches to making the energy system smarter and more flexible as green, noting that demand flexibility services are now available as tariffs. The group agreed to leave it as amber and review this again in six months.
ACTION: All to send updates on activity to Emily.
4. Summary of the October Tactical Group Workshop
Emily summarised the outcomes of the workshop and opportunities for the Group to collaborate:
- Retrofit Strategy Workshops: Emily mentioned that Energy Saving Devon is planning retrofit strategy workshops planned for the spring with the Carbon Trust through Innovate UK funding. The group can feed into these workshops.
- Web Forms for Updates: Emily has an action to look into using web forms to help collate updates on the carbon plan actions.
- Shared Planning Resource: There was a conversation about embedding sustainable travel in planning. An interesting idea was proposed to have a shared planning resource, possibly a flexible county planning officer with a specialism in sustainability. This proposal will be taken to the Planning Officers Group for further discussion.
- Shared Charging Networks: The group discussed shared electric vehicle charging networks, with some members already taking forward these conversations. There was a suggestion to share vehicle trackers to understand vehicle movements, which could be shared around the partnership.
- Twice-Yearly In-Person Meetings: There was a suggestion to have twice-yearly in-person meetings, which was supported.
5. Proposal for Prioritisation Workshops
- Purpose of Workshops: Emily explained that the purpose of the workshops is to refresh the vision and role of the partnership looking to 2030, focusing on how to work better together and enhance progress. The goal is to agree on focus areas for action and prioritise them.
- Framing as an Emergency Plan: John suggested framing the workshops as an emergency plan rather than a visioning exercise, emphasising the urgency and need for immediate action. All agreed that the workshops should be action-oriented and reflect the sense of urgency.
- Task and Finish Groups: Will and John discussed the idea of forming task and finish groups to focus on specific projects and priorities, ensuring that the partnership’s efforts are aligned and effective.
- Feedback to Carbon Trust: Doug mentioned that the feedback to the Carbon Trust should clarify that the vision in the Devon carbon plan is already adopted, and the focus should be on refreshing the actions for the next five years, not revisiting goals for 2030 or 2050, which are already adopted by the local authorities.
- Examples of Effective Partnerships: Emily asked if anyone is aware of examples of partnerships that are doing things well, as it would be helpful to know these examples in advance of the workshop.
Appendix 1 – Project Progress Report
Period: October to November 2024
Partnership Update
General Communications
Follower numbers grew for the newsletter, Instagram and Linked in during October, but at a lower rate than September. Facebook and YouTube saw no growth and X saw a decline in follower numbers. This reflects the reduced capacity of the team following the resignation of the Climate Emergency Support Officer. Recruitment is underway for a new Climate Emergency Support Officer. The newsletter had a unique open rate of 48% in October, which is slightly above average in comparison to sector benchmarks.
Partners’ Notable Activity
Activity is recorded centrally on the Taking Action pages of the Devon Climate Emergency website.
- North Devon Council progresses its fleet transition to greener vehicles with two transit vans in its Park Team going electric. It has also been testing an electric HGV lorry.
- Devon County Council are funding a 10-week training course for Devon employees to become sustainability leaders with Train4Tomorrow.
- The Environment Agency and Network Rail are undertaking significant work to protect the main rail line between Exeter and Dawlish, replacing the banks to protect against coastal erosion.
- Plymouth City Council launches trial of pavement channels for electricity cables and increase in on-street and car park chargers for residents without off street parking.
Oversight of the Devon Carbon Plan
The Progress Reports detailing known activity against each action are on the website. A summary of the number of actions categorised by each RAG status is provided below, split by theme.
Note that each theme of the carbon plan is reviewed every 6 months, which means the RAG status will not change significantly within the monthly periods of this progress report.
Blue = Completed
Green = Generally progressing well
Amber = Progressing but geography or scope is limited
Red = Not started or activity significantly limited
Grey = Not yet assessed
Built Environment
Common Issues
- Finance required to expand geography
- Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning
- Uncertainty regarding the implications of a written ministerial statement on Local Plans.
Economy and Resources
Common Issues
- Clearer guidance from government on aspects of waste management needed
- Finance required for more people resource
Energy Supply
Common Issues
- Availability of capital finance
Food, Land and Sea
Common Issues
- Complexity of agendas, e.g. Land Use Framework and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
- Finance required to expand geography and scope
Transport
Common Issues
- Public concern about EVs and reallocating highway space for sustainable modes
- Grid capacity
- Availability of capital finance
Cross-Cutting Themes
Common Issues
- Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning
- Finance required to expand geography
The first phase of monitoring indicators are online. The University of Exeter is helping to expand the indicator set, which will be added to the web page incrementally.
In July, the University delivered their report to the secretariat proposing indicators to monitor progress towards the 60 milestones in the Devon Carbon Plan. Work is commencing with the Tactical Group’s and Climate Task Force’s involvement to update the monitoring indicators to reflect their proposals.
Oversight of the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation Strategy
The Climate Impacts Group is continuing its programme to review all the risks and near-term actions each year. No change to the RAG ratings this month.
Feedback from the Climate Task Force
The Devon Climate Task Force held its latest quarterly meeting in September. The meeting discussed the importance of the Partnership focussing its efforts onto issues that are underperforming and over which local actors have influence. Ian Hutchcroft and Ashish Ghadiali volunteered to represent the Task Force’s views at the Response Group meeting scheduled for November 7th.
Devolution Update
As part of Devon County Council and Torbay Council’s devolution deal, £16 million pounds of capital funding has been agreed by Government. The cash injection will provide more green jobs, as well as affordable homes, sheltered accommodation and business growth in Devon and Torbay.
The devolution deal funding for Devon and Torbay includes support for significant sustainability initiatives around green jobs and skills, energy efficiency and renewable energy and sustainable business and innovation. You can read about the specific initiatives being funded here: Devolution deal capital funding supports affordable homes, green jobs and economic growth – Devon and Torbay Devolution Deal .
