Annual update 2023

Overview

The Council has achieved its first interim target of a 25% emissions reduction by March 2023. To date there has been a reduction of 5,710 tonnes against the baseline which equates to a 30% emissions reduction overall.

Financial year	Total tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions	Reduction since 2018	Reduction since previous year
2018 - 2019	17,140	N/A	N/A
2019 - 2020	16,392	4%	4%
2020 - 2021	14,322	16%	13%
2021 - 2022	14,324	16%	0%
2022 - 2023	11,970	30%	16%

The Sustainable South Tyneside strategy provides a coordinated approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation requirements, supporting reductions in carbon emissions against 11 key themes.

Theme 1 - Reducing emissions in Council buildings

Viking Energy Network Jarrow (VENJ)

VENJ is a £11.8 million renewable energy scheme which is the first of its kind in the UK. Due to the cutting-edge nature of the scheme, the Council have been successful in securing £3.5 million in ERDF funding.

Water source heat pumps will extract water from the River Tyne, which will then be compressed to increase the temperature, converting this into useful heat energy in the form of hot water, distributing this through a network of insulated pipes to nine public sector buildings across Jarrow.

A 1-megawatt solar farm (solar panels) will generate most of the electricity to power the heat pump with a combined heat and power (CHP) back-up system in place when the solar panels do not generate enough electricity. The system will use heat that is created during the electricity generation process, which would otherwise be wasted. Battery storage will be in place to capture any excess electricity from the solar farm, which will then be distributed via a private electrical network to Council buildings. The scheme will run close to carbon neutral for most of the summer.

VENJ will save over 1,035 tonnes of carbon emissions resulting in a 6% reduction against the Councils baseline position.

Overall VENJ has the potential to save over 1,085 tonnes of carbon emissions, however, this reduction includes the proposed connection to NHS buildings. For Council Buildings, the anticipated carbon savings is 726 tonnes per year, resulting in a 4% reduction against the baseline position.

The project is expected to be completed in Autumn 2023.

A feasibility study is being prepared for phase 2 of the VENJ project, which would see the heat network expanded.

Hebburn Energy Scheme

Hebburn Energy Scheme is a multi-million-pound energy scheme, which secured £3.85 million ERDF funding, designed to be one of the first of its kind in the UK. This unique scheme was designed to provide a sustainable heat source by drawing geothermal energy from abandoned flooded coal mines in the former Hebburn Colliery.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen borehole difficulties the project had to be adapted to utilise air source heat pumps as an alternative source of energy.

The energy will be distributed across three public sector buildings in Hebburn, including a Hebburn Central, Durham Court, with a connection provided for a future Children's Home.

This project is expected to save 510 tonnes of carbon per year, which is an emission saving of 20,500 tonnes over its expected lifetime.

A feasibility study is being prepared for phase 2 of the Hebburn project, which would see the heat network expanded.

Holborn Energy Scheme

Holborn is another exciting and innovative project currently in development. The proposal will see the establishment of an energy centre that will generate heat and electricity across the Borough's largest town, South Shields. The scheme, innovative by design, will use elements of both the Hebburn and Viking Energy schemes, extracting heat from mines and the River Tyne.

£4.5 million has been secured from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for the drilling of boreholes and is working with the Heat Delivery Network Unit (HNDU) to secure additional funding sources.

It is estimated that phase 1 of this scheme will result in a carbon saving of 2,400 tonnes per annum, with potential expansion opportunities seeing this increase further. Once complete, this will see large-scale sustainable energy networks across all three towns within South Tyneside.

Not only will this cut our annual carbon emissions by thousands of tonnes, but it will also help in our pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030, while improving the energy efficiency of buildings and helping to tackle fuel poverty across the Borough.

Public-Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

£8 million has been successfully secured under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to fund 27 decarbonisation projects across the Borough.

The scheme has installed energy efficient ground and air source heat pumps, replacing:

gas fired boilers
LED lighting upgrades across 9 Council sites
roof mounted solar PV installations
battery storage
solar thermal installations
building fabric improvements

It is anticipated that over 420 tonnes of carbon will be saved each year due to the implementation of low carbon energy solutions.

The schemes were successfully delivered by the Asset Construction team aided by the Energy Conservation and Strategy Officers, in conjunction with specialist contractors, external designers and project managers.

Fully Renewable Electricity Contract

On 1 April 2021, the Council moved its electricity supply contract to a fully Clean and Renewable Energy supply, further demonstrating a commitment towards climate change.

While the purchase of renewable electricity allows the reporting of zero carbon emissions for electricity use through the utilisation of the Renewable Energy Guarantees Certification of Origin (REGO), the decision has been made to continue to focus on implementing actions and investing in the improvement of buildings and operations to support the delivery of carbon emission reductions.

However, street lighting is one area in which the REGO certification will be utilised. While it is acknowledged that significant capital investment has, and continues to take place supporting significant emission reductions, there will be an on-going challenge in relation to how we address the residual streetlighting emissions once these works have been completed.

From 2021 / 22 street lighting emissions have been offset using the REGO certification.

Monkton Stadium Refurbishment

Monkton Stadium has recently had a £700,000 refurbishment, which includes new exercise machines that capture the energy generated from users' workouts. This clean source of energy is converted into electricity which will help power devices connected to the local grid and will reduce carbon emissions.

The gym has now reopened for public use.

Theme 2 - Streetlighting

Operating streetlights across South Tyneside accounts for a significant proportion of the Council's electricity. Streetlighting was responsible for 27% of overall electricity consumption between April 2022 and March 2023, equivalent to 1066 tonnes.

Streetlighting is a key priority, with significant improvements already taking place through the replacement of existing sodium streetlights to light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

The LED upgrades have seen significant reductions to streetlighting electricity consumption, with a reduction equivalent to 564 tonnes between the baseline year in 2018 / 19 and 2022 / 23.

Phase 4 of the streetlighting upgrades is now complete, with Phase 5 to be completed in July 2023.

Phase 6 is currently being drafted into the PFI agreement, with a further 3107 replacement streetlights being upgraded to LEDs from July 2023.

These streetlighting upgrades will further reduce electricity consumption by an amount equivalent to 334 tonnes per year. This will reduce electricity costs, but given the use of the REGO certificate these works will not have any impact on reported emissions.

Theme 3 - Transportation and travel

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming an increasingly prominent fixture across transport systems. There are currently 59 operational charging units in the Borough (46 public, 13 workplace).

A new operational model for our EV charging point network is being explored and is intended to be operational by the summer of 2023. If successful, this would improve the reliability of the charging network. This work will also consider expansion of the network to meet future demands.

The Council continues to expand its fleet of electric vehicles, with the total number standing at 20.

In order to gain a better understanding of the need and capability of some of our heavier fleet vehicles, an electric refuse collection vehicle was trialled earlier this year. Feedback demonstrated that whilst existing EV infrastructure will need to be upgraded to support effective charging the vehicle was capable of fulfilling completion of collections on a daily basis.

All new vehicles are fitted with trackers to monitor driver behaviour. This is monitored and flagged by a central system and enables fleet managers and/or supervisors to monitor driving behaviours in situations such as idling, harsh braking and over speeding. This can be used to promote more efficient fuel use.

Following the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, November 2021 (COP26), the UK Government has committed to phasing out the sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and that all new cars and vans will be fully zero emissions at the tailpipe from 2035.

Improvements have been made to make 'Healthier Smarter Metro Neighbourhoods', with £3 million of investment being made from Tyne Dock to Chichester station. The aims of the scheme are to create a safer, more secure environment for public transport users, to encourage people to walk or cycle to public transport links, and to encourage people out of their cars and on to public transport.

From an active travel perspective, a Local Cycle and Walking Infrastructure Plan has been produced, designed to provide a new approach to cycling and walking improvements. Its aim is to identify strategic and local improvements which can then be actioned and rolled out as part of a long-term approach from 2021 to 2036. This will form a fundamental part of the government's strategy to increase the number of trips by cycling and walking.

In terms of road safety education training, the Council continues to operate the Bikeability Training within all our schools, with up to 5,000 children trained per year. Further to this, colleagues in Road Safety have undertaken audits within each school to define 'safe routes to school', with implementation plans to be drafted and implemented, subject to the appropriate consultation and funding.

Theme 4 - Environment and biodiversity

In March 2023, an ecological emergency was declared, recognising the national and global evidence that there is a need to reverse the decline in biodiversity and nature.

The Council is supporting a partnership project to create additional mudflats and saltmarshes along the banks of the Tyne. The Tyne Estuary project involves placing natural wooden structures into the bed of the estuary edge. This will allow mudflats to develop, then saltmarsh plants to grow at Prince Consort Road and Hebburn riverside. Works are due to take place in Hebburn Riverside Park to improve biodiversity, with a focus on butterfly species and improving visitor infrastructure.

Mudflats and saltmarshes are rare habitats that were once commonplace on the Tyne. By revitalising and restoring them we will see the utilisation of nature-based solutions that will play a significant role in capturing and storing carbon emissions, while supporting increased biodiversity and population growth of key species making them more resilient to climate change.

Tree planting is an important part of the approach to sequestering and storing carbon emissions from the atmosphere using nature-based solutions.

Urban trees provide a diverse range of benefits to those that live and work in the Borough, providing a sense of place, moderating extremes of high temperatures, improving air quality, benefitting mental health and acting as a carbon sink.

A recent tree canopy assessment has been undertaken across South Tyneside, highlighting that the average canopy coverage across the Borough is 16%, already exceeding UK standards for Coastal Towns, which is 15%. However, while this figure includes a higher ratio of 'trees outside of woodland' canopy cover, it is still lower than our neighbouring authorities.

This recent assessment highlighted that 3016 tonnes of carbon is being sequestered on an annual basis, with South Tyneside's Urban Forest storing an estimated 75,747 tonnes of carbon. This sequestered carbon is not subtracted from the reported emissions at this time.

There has been a continued focus on tree planting, striving towards the planting of 3,000 trees per annum. In 2022 / 23, the Council planted 4201 trees on land owned or maintained by the Council. However, 270 of these trees were replacements, therefore a net total of 3931 trees were planted.

The North East Community Forest (NECF) continues to develop a framework for funded tree planting. The majority of trees planted last year were funded by the NECF. By working with neighbouring authorities, the Council continues to develop planting schemes, apply for government funding, create public planting events and engage national and regional stakeholders. This work will continue for the next 4 years.

The Ecology team undertake ecological assessments on relevant low carbon energy projects, such as the installation of solar panels on schools, in accordance with biodiversity and wildlife legislation.

Theme 5 - Schools

Schools are fundamental in the response to the threats facing our planet, as they provide a place of education and community engagement. Educating and empowering our children to take action now, and in the future will play a significant and fundamental role, helping to minimise the catastrophic effects of climate change.

As part of the Council's commitment towards carbon neutrality, a Climate Change Toolkit has been produced specifically for schools across South Tyneside. The toolkit provides schools with the necessary support and guidance to help identify, develop and deliver actions that bring about real change, supporting reductions in carbon emissions, while enhancing the school's natural environment.

Following the launch of the School Climate Change Toolkit in 2021, the Carbon Reduction and Sustainability team have continued to work with schools to raise awareness. In April 2023 the team visited three primary schools to give a presentation to the students about climate change, its effects and how they can help mitigate it, as well as promoting the uptake of Eco-Schools.

A questionnaire has been produced by the Carbon Reduction and Sustainability team to get a better understanding of school engagement requirements. This will allow support to be tailored to the schools' needs.

In line with the Sustainable Food Action Plan, a food waste reduction video was produced with a local primary school and shared across all schools. Schools were also offered free fruit trees to plant on their grounds in Winter 2022 / 23, following a successful similar scheme in 2021. 25 schools received one or more apple, pear or plum trees.

In July 2023, the Environmental Sustainability team will be hosting three students on work experience from different schools around the Borough. This engagement is important for helping young people in South Tyneside to gain experience and develop the skills needed to address the climate emergency.

Theme 6 - South Tyneside Council Housing Services operations

Current UK government legislation dictates that all social landlords must ensure that a significant amount of their residential properties are at least EPC band C by 2035 (2030 for those in fuel poverty).

South Tyneside Council Housing Services hosted a suite of Energy Roadshows in March 2023. Four roadshows took place to provide free, impartial energy advice from their asset management team as well as free benefit checks provided by our Welfare Support Team.

These roadshows were considered a huge success and more are planned for later in 2023.

They continue to upgrade homes and improve efficiency through planned works, with projects such as replacement boilers and replacement roofs.

The Viking Energy Heat Network (VENJ) is connected to the three South Tyneside Council Housing Services' maintained high rises in Jarrow, Ellen Court, Wilkinson Court, and Monastery Court will provide both with a source of low carbon heating.

Theme 7 - Procurement

The Council procures a significant amount of goods and services every year. It is therefore imperative that we utilise the procurement process effectively to help address the impacts of climate change.

Several improvement measures have been implemented, including a specific section within the procurement contracting template, focused specifically on sustainability and community benefit considerations.

The Procurement Strategy 2021 to 24 clearly aligns to the ambition of a carbon neutral future, promoting and delivering local sustainability, economic development and environmental objectives through the inclusion of social values.

Tenders maximise the use of social values, through the inclusion of community benefit clauses in contracts, which plays a significant role in promoting and delivering greater environmental sustainability and minimising waste and pollution.

From April 1 2021 to March 31 2023, the use of the Themes, Outcomes and Measures Social Values Framework (TOM's) has resulted in £88,460.97 of environmental value to the Borough. To make the process more robust and guarantee this value is realised, monitoring of the social values is required.

Theme 8 - Policy

It is essential that policies are clear and robust, focusing on reducing carbon emissions, while enhancing the natural environment, building climate resilience into systems and services.

The Council is developing and embedding good practice, undertaking initiatives that share learning, experience and skills to support the delivery of improvements.

A review of current Council policies and procedures are underway to help identify and establish ways to strengthen and support the reduction of emissions and improve sustainability.

Theme 9 - Adaptation

Effective measures such as the implementation of coastal improvement projects play a key role in adapting to a changing climate.

Stronger Shores is one of 25 new innovative new projects selected nationwide to trial a wide range of sustainable, innovative approaches to coastal and flood protection. The Stronger Shores project aims to improve understanding of the coastal and flood protection value of marine habitats and their wider role in adapting to climate change and biodiversity management.

Over the next 4 years the scheme will involve restoring sub-tidal habitats, such as kelp beds, oyster reefs and sea grass along the North East coastline. As lead authority, the Council is responsible for leading Stronger Shores and working in partnership with both regional and national delivery partners. The project is focusing on the coastline between Blyth in Northumberland down to Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, including South Tyneside.

Amendment of the Coast Road alignment at Marsden due to natural coastal erosion has enabled the lifespan and benefits of this important route to be extended by up to 50 years in this current location. The removal of the existing road has provided an opportunity to create an area of magnesian limestone grassland in keeping with the existing conservation designations and to maximise the biodiversity of the coastline.

An adaptative plan for redevelopment along the seafront at Sandhaven has been completed. This allows the risks of sea flooding and coastal change along this frontage to be considered and enables planning for the short and medium term in a sustainable manner at this location.

A property flood resilience scheme will be completed in the Stanhope Road area in the summer, protecting properties from the impacts of flooding by installing measures such as flood resistant doors and airbricks.

Funding from the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs has been secured to retrofit sustainable urban drainage at two primary schools in the Borough. This will allow some surface water from the school roofs to be diverted to rainwater planters and reduce surface water run-off into the urban area.

Theme 10 - Cultural change and awareness

Building a wider understanding of the impacts of climate change is widely seen as a critical foundation for change and one which we all must embrace.

A climate change e-learning module for staff was added to the staff training portal in September 2022 to ensure all staff have a firm understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by the climate emergency.

The Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy continues to be embedded into the induction process and maintains a climate change section on the Council webpage. In addition, in line with the United Nations COP27 (Conference of Parties), awareness-raising events for staff and the public were held.

£5,000 was received from Sustain's Food for the Planet grants which was used to provide low-carbon cooking training for school caterers in Autumn 2022 (resulting in their new menu receiving a Silver Pro-Veg Award). Alongside this, bespoke food-waste reduction mentoring was funded for our school and library and leisure centre caterers in Spring 2023. Following this, a 6-week food waste programme, EatSmart, will be ran in two primary schools in Autumn 2023. A resource from both sets of training is being produced in-house and made accessible to other Council caterers and food businesses in Summer 2023 as part of the Climate Change Business Toolkit.

Theme 11 - Championing a carbon neutral future

As a local leader, the Council has an important role to play when addressing the impacts of climate change. We must work across different sectors to facilitate and encourage co-ordinated action.

Therefore, opportunities will continue to be identified that will support wider community engagement, looking at ways to encourage and empower residents and businesses to participate and act in the fight against a changing climate.

In the summer of 2022, officers from a range of departments (including Public Health, Marketing, Environmental Sustainability and Development Services) took part in a funded training programme with UK100. The training was made specifically for Local Authorities and focused on Climate Change Public Engagement.

The South Tyneside Business Pledge has also been launched, which aims to encourage South Tyneside organisations to focus on local activities and practical steps that can help South Tyneside to thrive. Within the Pledge, there are specific commitments focussing on helping our natural environment.

Accompanying the South Tyneside Pledge, the Carbon Reduction and Sustainability team have developed a business toolkit to support local business in their decarbonisation and energy efficiency journey.

South Tyneside Council has joined the Net Zero North East England (NZNEE) Partnership which is a new collaboration between local government, business, education, the public sector and civil society to drive a comprehensive regional approach to tackling the climate emergency. The main objective is to promote collaboration and collective action to accelerate the decarbonisation of the region, contributing to national and global net zero targets, with the vision for a greener, cleaner, fairer region. Already this collaboration is helping to leverage joint funding opportunities for the benefit of the residents of South Tyneside.

£2.3 million in funding has been successfully spent upgrading 246 homes in Cleadon Park, an area with the highest fuel poverty levels in the Borough, to help cut carbon emissions from housing. The Green Homes Grant (GHG) funding was used to upgrade Council housing stock through a range of energy improvement and de-carbonisation measures.

It was intended for this project to upgrade all homes in this area but many were already at EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) level C and deadline was hit. Works included cavity wall and loft insulation and 76 solar panel array installations. All properties in Cleadon Park have also had double or triple glazing installed through planned maintenance programs.

Further programs have been developed by South Tyneside Council Housing Services to address the opportunity of cavity wall insulation in Council properties, with a 'worst first' approach.

The funding will also be used to gain a better understanding of the energy ratings of homes through assessments and the use of additional monitoring equipment to measure energy use.

The PAS2030 process (quality standard) was followed, requiring an EPC before and after the works. All properties were improved to level C EPC.

The improvement works will help residents with their fuel bills, while helping to reduce fuel poverty in the Borough.

There is also evidence that the upgrades have helped some residents to change their behaviours. Some residents who had solar installed gave feedback that they had adapted their routine to take advantage of the available solar power during the day.

Our carbon emissions

The interim target of a 25% emissions reduction by April 2023 has been met, with the overall emissions reducing by 4955 tonnes, from 17,140 tonnes to 11,970 tonnes. This reduction represents a 30% reduction against the overall baseline.

Delivery ambitions are clear with the development of large-scale strategic delivery projects that will support significant reductions in carbon emissions, working clearly towards the delivery of the 3 year and 5 year interim targets.

Reduction in carbon emissions from key delivery activities
Details of Carbon Emission Reduction Activities	Anticipated Carbon Emission Reductions (Tonnes CO2)
Viking Energy Network (VENJ)	726
Hebburn Minewater	510
Holborn Energy Scheme	2400
Overall Total	3636

The successful delivery of the above schemes will see a potential 50% reduction against the Council's baseline position.

To achieve the next interim target a further 3400 tonnes reduction will be required by 2025 to meet the 50% reduction target.

Delivering a sustainable future

The Council's ambitions are clear and focused with a diverse range of projects, including several large-scale innovative clean energy schemes, which will support future reductions in our carbon emission footprint.

Focused around our 11 key delivery themes our strategic plans, innovative projects along with our commitment and determination to bring about change, highlights a clear roadmap towards removing 17,140 tonnes of CO₂ from our operations and activities by 2030.

To meet climate challenges now and in the future, we must develop and implement new models of low carbon growth and climate resilience. Our sustainable ambitions must shape the strategic decisions being made, embedding a culture of climate first across all Council activities.

Financial implications

The commitment for the Council to be carbon neutral is challenging and will require a series of measures and interventions. To achieve a successful transition to a carbon neutral future by 2030 increased capital and revenue costs will likely be incurred over the current forecast in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). These changes will need to be considered within future budget setting and business planning processes when seeking to implement sustainable low carbon alternatives (e.g. fleet). Implemented measures may result in longer term revenue savings.

The Government has committed to significant investment to tackle climate change. The Council has been hugely successful in attracting significant external funding and it is important that we continue to explore all future opportunities in this regard.

Legal implications

The Climate Change Act 2008 has committed the United Kingdom to be carbon neutral by 2050. However, to date no specific Local Authority delivery targets have been set by Government.

There will need to be recognition of the climate impact throughout the Council's decision-making processes to ensure due regard is considered against the target to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Risk implications

The scientific evidence is overwhelming that if we do not act now then the impact of climate change on our planet may be irreversible. This will result in major implications for future generations within South Tyneside.

As alternative solutions and technological advancements progress across the climate change agenda, it is important that the Council is well positioned to support the implementation of actions that support on-going reductions in carbon emissions, while enhancing the natural environment and increasing biodiversity across the Borough.

Although the carbon neutrality target is focussed on its own operations, there is a significant opportunity for the Council to drive Borough-wide carbon emission reductions and behavioural change through its existing partnerships, influencing, and advocacy roles.

Equality, diversity, and community implications

An equality check has been carried out on the proposals set out in this report. No equality and diversity implications were identified.

Environmental and sustainability implications

The Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy 2020 to 2025 places focus on nature-based solutions and on-going enhancement of the natural environment, supporting healthy and diverse ecosystems.

The actions contained within the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy 2020 to 2025 focuses on minimising the impact Council operations have on our environment. It seeks to reduce our carbon emissions as far as possible and if necessary to consider offsetting any remaining emissions, so our actions have a carbon neutral impact on the environment.

Council ambitions, policies, strategies, and plans

A climate emergency was declared in 2019 and developed the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy 2020 to 2025.

The strategy is focussed around 11 key delivery themes to act as a roadmap to removing 17,140 tonnes from our operations and activities by 2030.

The Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy supports the Council's Stronger Communities ambition in relation to the priority to support green and sustainable choices and behaviours and connection to the natural environment and the associated actions.

Consultation and engagement

To assess the overall impact of activities undertaken, a robust governance structure is in place to help monitor the effectiveness of the actions identified and being delivered, to ensure they are being met effectively.

A Cross Party Members Working Group has been established and meets to receive regular and detailed updates on key themed areas within the strategy, along with significant project developments.

The Members Working Group plays a fundamental role, in relation to the climate change agenda, acting as champions, supporting and influencing behavioural change across the Borough.

Place Select Committee scrutinises progress against the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy 2020 to 2025, providing clear focus and challenge against set delivery objectives, providing advice and recommendations.

The third interim report was presented to Place Select Committee in December 2022.