That the Torbay Council Climate Change Action Plan 2024-2026 as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report be approved.

To meet the Community and Corporate Plan’s continued commitment to tackle the Climate Emergency a new Torbay Council Climate Change Action Plan had been produced to replace the out-of-date Carbon Neutral Council Action Plan 2022- 2024.

To not adopt the Torbay Council Climate Change Action Plan, this option was discounted as without an adopted plan, the Council would risk taking an unstructured and disjointed approach to tackling carbon emissions and reaching the 2030 net zero target.  As a Council it also would not meet the objectives as set out in the Council’s Community and Corporate Plan to ensure the effective use of Council resources and improving upon the Council’s value for money. This was highlighted in the potential financial savings which would be missed from not taking a proactive approach to the Council’s energy consumption in its buildings and streetlighting and the fuel used by Council and SWISCo fleets.

This decision will come into force and may be implemented on 3 March 2025 unless the call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in the Standing Orders in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).

The Torbay Council Climate Change Action Plan outlined actions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions across Torbay Council’s operations and services.  The action plan had been co-developed, set realistic and fundable actions that could deliver significant carbon and energy savings across the Council’s estate, fleet and streetlighting.  The action plan also provided the framework for enabling actions that would deliver feasible solutions to create a pipeline of investable projects that could be delivered post 2026 and up to 2030.

The Overview and Scrutiny Board considered the Torbay Council Climate Change Action Plan on 12 February 2025 and supported the proposals and recommendation to Cabinet.  Furthermore, the Overview and Scrutiny Board recommended the Cabinet to request SWISCo to raise awareness of recycling in public bins, to reduce the risk of contamination of the recycled waste and enable it to be processed effectively, a separate report would be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet on this issue.

At the Cabinet meeting, Councillor Chris Lewis proposed and Councillor Billings seconded a motion that was agreed unanimously, as set out above.

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