Cabinet to consider emission reducing work on Council's Estate

Norfolk's Cabinet is set to make a decision on a significant factor in achieving goal of attaining net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

At the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 5 June, Cabinet Members will be presented with a proposal to decarbonise the Council's buildings such as libraries, fire stations, and Children's Homes. The works will focus on key service delivery sites, which alongside saving carbon and running costs, will improve the buildings for service users.

Cllr Jane James, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Innovation, said: "Since 2016/17 we've already reduced the council's emissions by half, but to reach our ambitious goal of net zero by 2030 we need to start a major retrofit of our estate, particularly our key service delivery points out there in our community.

"There's no denying that retrofitting all the buildings held by Norfolk County Council is a big job: we'll be looking at how we secure external funding to complete the work over the next seven years, but right now we're asking the Cabinet to approve an initial spend of £22.5m. This will allow our decarbonising programme to continue and make vital headway towards our net zero goal."

The proposed funding of £22.5 million, including £16.7m in new funding will be allocated to retrofitting projects across the Council's estate, with a focus on freehold buildings that are using fossil fuels for heating both spaces and water. 160 buildings across 100 sites of the council's estate have been surveyed and had retrofit improvement plan reports completed.

Cabinet is being asked to approve this first tranche of funding, to note the likely total cost of retrofitting the entire estate between 2023 and 2030, and to approve the continuation of work towards attaining the council's 2030 Net Zero Carbon target.

Cabinet will consider the report when it meets at 10am on Monday, 5 June 2023. Watch the meeting, live or afterwards and read the reports online.

Norfolk County Council and Net Zero:

Norfolk County Council has committed to achieve 'net zero' carbon emissions on its estates by 2030, but within its wider area, to work with partners towards 'carbon neutrality'. This also supports the government's ambition for a net zero country by 2050. We will achieve this by implementing carbon conscious ways of working across our buildings and supply chain; putting in place the right infrastructure across the county to support the move towards net-zero; and by working together with partners to lead and inspire our colleagues, citizens, communities and businesses to take action and play their part in protecting Norfolk for future generations.