Contact: Mike Bridgeman, ext 5832 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This is the annual report on sustainability. It sets out progress on the 2004/05 action plan and proposed action plan for 2005/06. Headline targets expired in 2003/04. A reduction of 2.5% in the key indicators is proposed for 2005/06. Success in reducing the County Council's use of Resources is a feature of Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) 2005.

1.2 The report also sets out how work needs to begin on extending the remit to meet the Aalborg commitments which covers sustainability dimensions wider than environment. Sustainability performance has already begun to be integrated into the corporate strategy and performance plan reporting framework. Cabinet's support for the approach is sought.

2. 2004/05 Sustainability Performance

Progress Against 2004/05 Action Plan

2.1 The Sustainable Development Steering Group (SDSG) oversees the work of three indicator groups - travel and transport; material resources; and carbon management and climate change. Cabinet agreed the 2004/05 action plan for each last September. This is detailed in Appendix 1, with an added column indicating what progress has been made.

2.2 Each indicator group has made some significant progress over the last 12 months. Where the 2004/05 targets proved unrealistic, these have been revised in the 2005/06 action plan.

2.3 In addition, the Corporate Biodiversity Action Plan was agreed by Cabinet in 2004/05. It will be launched in July 2005 and its implementation will be coordinated by a corporate biodiversity group working to the SDSG.

Headline Performance Data

2.4 A selection of environmental performance criteria has been recorded annually since 1999/00 in order for trends to be drawn. The figures for the last six years are detailed in Appendix 2.

2.5 Due to a variety of factors, it has not been possible to validate the 2004/05 figures with total confidence. Drawing meaningful conclusions from the annual data sets has therefore proved difficult. The County Council's approach to data collection and analysis needs to be refined over the coming year.

2.6 The energy figures present a good example. Whilst the gross energy use figures for 2004/05 illustrate an increase, when other factors are taken into account (such as changes in total floor area) the `corrected' figures would appear to show that energy consumption is moving in the right direction.

Embedding Sustainability

2.7 The 12 months to April 2005 saw several major achievements that have helped to build a stronger foundation for embedding corporate sustainability. Most significantly, the County Council signed up to the Aalborg Commitments in June 2004. This provides the framework to further embed sustainability throughout all departments. The Commitments are split via ten cross-cutting themes, and are to be implemented via a phased programme (see Appendix 5).

2.8 Further progress has been made in engaging senior managers in sustainability issues, and the SDSG is beginning to make progress in cross-cutting working, initially focussing on the environmental aspects of sustainability.

3. 2005/06 Action Plan

Indicator Groups

3.1 Revised cross-cutting action plans for each of the three indicator groups have been developed by the SDSG for 2005/06 (see Appendix 4 for summary versions).

Headline Performance Data and Interim Targets

3.2 Aalborg requires the County Council to set targets specific to the needs and characteristics of Hampshire by June 2006. These need to be developed via a participative process over the coming year. Reporting for 2006/07 onwards will need to have evolved to fully reflect those targets. However, 2005/06 will be an interim reporting period based partly on the revised action plan, and partly on the first phase of work (baseline review and develop targets) required by Aalborg.

3.3 A series of headline targets and actions have been set out in Appendix 3 to cover this interim period and to complement the work of the three indicator groups.

4. Future Sustainability Performance Reporting

4.1 As highlighted in last year's report, Hampshire County Council's approach to sustainability performance reporting will need to become more sophisticated. Incremental changes are needed from 2005/06 onwards to satisfy the requirements of the Aalborg Commitments, and to integrate with reporting against the Corporate Strategy and the new CPA framework.

4.2 Proposed modifications to CPA mean a more demanding test of local authority performance on sustainability than in previous years. The more rigorous methodology will strive to test what, in practice, local authorities are achieving. Achievement will be assessed according to five themes, the first of which is `sustainable communities and transport' and includes the County Council's own resource consumption. Appendix 6 provides some more detail on the increased significance of sustainability issues in the 2005 CPA framework.

4.3 In addition to responding to top-down guidance, such a reporting structure will also rely on bottom-up reporting from Departmental Service Plans. With much of the work needed to meet the Aalborg Commitments due at the Departmental and staff level, a key task for the SDSG this year is to work with departments to facilitate the necessary changes and ensure actions are reflected in service planning processes.

Recommendations

1. That the outcomes of activities in 2004/05 be noted, and that the action plan for 2005/06 be agreed.

2. That a target of 2.5% reduction in the key indicators be set for 2005/06.

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APPENDIX 1

Progress Against 2004/05 Action Plan

Travel and Transport

Material Resources

Carbon Management and Climate Change

APPENDIX 2

Key Environmental Performance Data 1999/00 to 2004/05

* Due to IT system changes, this is not a comparable figure with previous years.

APPENDIX 3

Key Environmental Performance Targets for 2005/06

2005/06 Action Plan APPENDIX 4

Travel and Transport

Material Resources

Carbon Management and Climate Change

A number of carbon management activities are taking place across departments but this indicator group is principally focussing on three main areas of interest in 2005/06:

1. Buildings with low environmental credentials - work with 13 secondary schools (initially trialled with three schools) with low environmental credentials and to develop improved plans to produce improved energy performance.

2. Street lighting - pilot study due to be complete by end May 2005. Subsequent changes in roadside bollard types will need to be approved by the Environment Department's Standards Committee.

3. Communications strategy - to raise awareness on carbon management and climate changes issues. Will need to complement the wider sustainability communications strategy being developed by the Sustainable Development Steering Group during 2005/06.

In addition, work to continue on purchasing targeted amounts of green electricity.

APPENDIX 5

Aalborg Commitments

The Themes

1. Governance

2. Local management towards sustainability

3. Natural common goods

4. Responsible consumption and lifestyle choices

5. Planning and design

6. Better mobility, less traffic

7. Local action for health

8. Vibrant and sustainable local economy

9. Social equity and justice

10. Local to global

The Timetable

1. June 2005 - produce Baseline Review to start target setting process

2. June 2006 - Hampshire specific targets set

3. regular (time not specified) monitoring review

4. 2010 - first pan-European assessment and every five years thereafter

APPENDIX 6

Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Sustainability

The draft guidance for the 2005 CPA framework has five main sections within the Corporate Assessment, the last of which is achievement. When considering the level of achievement in relation to these the Audit Commission explain they will assess 'Has the Council done all that might be reasonably expected of it given the context within which it operates and the length of time it will take to register improved outcomes?'.

The achievement section is sub-divided into five more sections, three of which are:

· Sustainable Communities and Transport

_ promoting a sustainable economy and labour market

o support high and stable levels of economic growth

o nurtured business growth, reduced skills gap and improved infrastructure (sustainably)

o HCC services business friendly, eg, regulatory, procurement and small businesses

o businesses helped to reduce environmental impact

o increase in employment rates of disadvantaged groups & less workless households

_ addressing the area's housing requirements

o increased supply in areas of high demand, including affordable housing for key workers

o ambitions and priorities articulated in supporting people and development strategies

o spatial strategies (economy, housing and transport) are integrated

_ maintaining quality of the environment

o influencing business waste management up the hierarchy - reduce, re-use, recycle etc

o sustainable design and construction of public buildings and spaces

o addressing significant global and local issues and actively communicating to community

o reduced own resource consumption significantly - can quantify cost and environmental impact

_ improving accessibility, road safety and congestion

o reducing need to travel

o increasing sustainable travel to key services, across user groups

o rural needs - but encouraging self help

o tackling congestion, pollution, accidents

o ambitious long term transport strategy

· Safer and Stronger Communities

· Healthier Communities

Other dimensions to the proposed 2005 CPA framework are:

· Sustainable Procurement

_ whole life costs

_ maximise wider social and environmental values

· Performance

_ national and local quality of life indicators

· Partnership Working