April news from the Climate Change Local Area Support Programme

Local Improvement Advisers

Yours to make use of...

Did you know you can apply for FREE support from a Local Improvement Adviser (LIA) through the North West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NWIEP)?

What is a LIA?
LIAs are experienced field experts who have been recruited to provide specialist, focussed support for you, your team and your partnership. They are funded centrally so they're FREE to you and there is a panel of about a dozen across the country who specialise in Sustainability and Climate Change.  Some are based in the North West and will be familiar faces to many of you.

What can they do for us?
LIAs can provide advice, coaching, training and mentoring to support you, your staff and colleagues in local partnerships and agencies to improve delivery through the new performance frameworks LAA/MAAs and CAA. They provide support through direct, on-site and face-to-face advice, their primary role being to help with improvement and efficiency activities.

How do we claim LIA support?
All you need to do is contact NWIEP and agree a short assignment brief. This brief is then circulated to all the LIAs who specialise in the area you are requesting support in. Interested LIAs will then forward their profiles and after reviewing these (and perhaps having a brief chat over the phone) you select the LIA you would like to work with. Assignments are typically between 5-15 days in duration.

To find out more and view a flyer about the scheme visit the CLASP news article. 

CAA Inspector Guidance

The Audit Commission has just published the CAA guidance for inspectorate staff.  This covers the 10 Assessment Themes including - How environmentally sustainable is the area? 

The document is available on the CLASP website and the section on the environment theme is on pages 149 - 151.  Reading the guidance should give you an indication of the key issues and evidence that inspectors will be assessing.

  Key questions include:

• Does the area know its environmental footprint and what is it doing to minimise that footprint?

• Is an area making its transport system more sustainable?

• Is the area is joining up its activities, and is ensuring that the way it addresses economic and social issues does not have a negative impact on environmental concerns?

• How well is the local area is protecting local natural resources and ensuring the quality of air, water and soil assets?

• Has the area has anticipated how climate changes will affect it and what it has done to adapt?

NI 188 Event & Final Guidance Issued

Guidance on Data Submission.

As you may be aware the data for National Indicator 188 (NI188) Planning to Adapt to Climate Change is provided through self assessment by the local authority and local strategic partnership. 

The guidance document setting out the process for submitting this data has now been finalised and is available to download here. It contains information about completing the matrix and using the data hub.

CLASP Support Event

Defra and UKCIP ran an oversubscribed CLASP event on 24th March here in the North West.  Officers from 29 North West  Authorities were able to attend however if you missed it you can catch up with all the presentations via this link.
 

NI 186 - Tracking Actions on Carbon Emissions  

CLASP members are being offered an early opportunity to influence the development of the Energy Saving Trust's new NI186 tool, to help local authorities and their partners collate evidence on actions that save carbon.  

The tool is currently available as a draft spreadsheet, but could eventually be web-based.  Discussions are on-going with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and with the Audit Commission about if or how this might link into the CAA reporting process. 

The draft spreadsheet, including a user guide, is available to view here.

GONW has been invited to a demonstration of the tool on 28th April and, after further revision and testing, detailed stakeholder workshops are planned for May or June.  GONW would welcome any initial thoughts about the structure or content.  Is this something, in principle, that people would find useful?   Or are you suffering "tool-fatigue"?

Anyone with comments should please email Paul Stowers at GONW (paul.stowers@gonw.gsi.gov.uk) by Friday 24th April, before the national meeting on 28th.

NI 185 -  Grey Fleet Community Launched

'Grey' fleet mileage or mileage covered in employee own vehicles whilst carrying out public sector work related duties accounts for over half the road transport Carbon dioxide emissions public sector organisations produce a year and is an area of both concern and opportunity.  
 

Tackling grey fleet can: decrease CO2 emissions, improve health & safety for staff and deliver financial benefits

In recognition of this the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) working with NHS PASA and the public sector grey fleet forum has launched the "Managing grey fleet in the public sector" online community.
 

The Community is aimed at facilitating the sharing of 'grey fleet' best practice as well as equipping organisations with the tools and templates necessary to start a 'grey fleet' project.  

To join the online community click here you will need to register to gain access.

Events in the North West & Beyond

CLASP Sponsored Places Available At Beacon Events

 
23rd April                    Carbon Reduction Commitment       Manchester
DECC and the Environment Agency will be in the NW delivering a workshop on the Carbon Reduction Commitment. This event is now fully booked however discussions are ongoing about additional NW events.

5th & 6th May                Positive Future 2009                        Liverpool

IDeA's Positive Future 2009 conference will cover: Collaborative working on climate change and sustainability,  Climate change in the recession - opportunities and challenges from the new performance framework to low carbon economies, Knowledge market place and  latest developments on the policy radar.  Find out more here (ticket cost now greatly reduced). 

12th May                       Greening the Supply Chain              London

Greening The Supply Chain: Sustainability versus Value for Money has free places available for the public sector.  The event will cover: Greener and shorter supply chains; Innovative ways to achieve this; Working with academics, suppliers and markets to achieve the shared goal.  Find out more here.

2nd & 3rd June             Climate Conference 2009                  Kirklees

2 days of keynote speakers, seminars, site visits, and an interactive exhibition which will give you the opportunity to speak to the people involved in delivering some award-winning sustainability projects run in Kirklees - a Beacon Council for Climate Change.  Find out more on their website.

CLASP sponsored places available.

10th June                      Climate Change and the Arts             Eastleigh

Eastleigh's final beacon event, Climate Change & the Arts, explores the use of film, music and animation to communicate inspire and inform people about the issues around climate change.  Find out more on their website.

CLASP sponsored places available.
 

Advance Notice              UKCIP Climate Projections              North West t.b.c.

To help you understand how to use the new forthcoming UK Climate Projections, Defra and UKCIP are developing a series of training and workshop events along with a suite of online learning packages. CLASP will be hosting a North West event in late 2009.  To register your interest in attending please go to UKCIP's event site. 

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*Sponsored Places*

CLASP has a limited number of sponsored places available for North West officers, members and LSP members to attend Climate Change Beacon Council events in June (Kirklees & Eastleigh).   Sponsorship includes attendance fees, travel and accommodation costs (where necessary). 

The deal...   Simple. We'd like you to chat to you afterwards and also ask you to write us a few paragraphs and take some photos - so we can share the highlights of what you saw, heard and learnt with other CLASP members.

Interested?   Contact ailsa.gibson@4nw.org.uk to find out more.

Current Consultations

Northwest Consultation

The Regional Strategy for the Northwest provides a unique opportunity to bring together its spatial, economic, social and environmental strategies and build a new long term vision for the region.  Visit the RS2010 website to find out why the Regional Strategy is being developed, learn how the Strategy is being put together and discover how you can get involved.

Stakeholders are also invited to share views during a 12 week public consultation on the Principles and Issues Paper.  Consultation closes on 30th April.  Find out more here.

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National Consultations

Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HES), setting out the Government's longer-term ambitions for how we use energy in our homes and businesses, and how we generate our heating. The consultation closes on 8 May.

Design of the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), which aims to deliver significant packages of energy efficiency measures to households in low-income communities. The consultation closes on 8 May.

Carbon Neutral. Consultation on the term 'carbon neutral': its definition and recommendations for good practice.  The consultation closes on 21st May.

20% increase to the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) on major energy suppliers, driving significant investment in GB household energy and carbon saving by March 2011. This consultation has now closed but details are still on the site.

Further details on these consultations can be found on the DECC consultation site.