Introduction and progress report headlines
This report sets out the latest progress against delivery of Manchester City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) 2020-25. All activity described in this report relates to the period in which the report is issued, in this instance January to March 2022. Emissions data relates to the previous quarter due to the delay in billing and data monitoring, i.e. October to December 2021.
Key Achievements
- Analysis by Climate Emergency UK compared climate action plans from 409 UK local authorities. Manchester City Council was placed 1st amongst single tier authorities and 3rd overall and our CCAP 2020-25 was rated one of the strongest in the country.
- Work started on site at the Silk Street (Newton Heath) low carbon housing development in early January. The development is for 69 new Council properties with solar PV, EV charging, ground source and air source heating, plus green roofs and walls on the apartments.
- The Council’s own housing development company known as “This City” was launched in February. The focus is to deliver high-quality, low-carbon, affordable homes in Manchester.
- Up to 50 homes in the city will benefit from funding from Greater Manchester Warm Homes Fund (GMWHF) being delivered by AgilityEco. This will provide first time central heating systems into fuel poor homes.
- The eCargo bikes project, funded by the Energy Savings Trust was launched on the 17 January, with 26 eCargo bikes and 6 eCargo trailers available for use by a number of Council teams, city partners and a public hire scheme.
- Work began in January on a range of walking and cycling improvement across the Northern Quarter (sites include Ducie Street, Thomas Street, Dale Street and Edge Street) as part of the Mayor's Challenge Fund.
- A Zero Carbon Culture guide was launched at the end of January to support Manchester’s culture sector to become zero carbon. The online guide was produced by the Council in collaboration with sustainability specialists, Julie’s Bicycle. It sets out measures that arts and culture organisations can take to reduce their carbon footprint.
- In collaboration with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the Council has been successful in securing £5.9m investment, £4.9m from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Phase 3 and £1m Council contribution.
- £800k revenue investment has been agreed as part of the 2022-23 budget setting for the Council, which will provide additional capacity to support delivery of the CCAP.
New Risks and Issues
- Some elements of the PSDS Phase 1 funded works will run beyond the deadline of March 2022, a formal extension request to June 2022, has been made to Salix, the fund administrator via the GMCA. Awaiting formal confirmation of an extension.
- Further funding for the next phase of “In Our Nature” is dependent on the outcome of an internal review process undertaken by the National Lottery Fund, due in March/April.