Agenda and draft minutes

Members were welcomed to the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 26 July 2024, were approved as an accurate record.

Arising from the minutes, Cllr Temperton confirmed that she had been encouraging headteachers to increase recycling efforts and reduce food waste within schools. Although schools were often tied to long-term contracts with waste disposal companies, they would be able to negotiate improved terms for recycling and food waste management when these contracts came up for renewal.

James Blake, Co-Founder of XSILIO, joined the meeting to discuss the XSILIO platform and its potential role in supporting the implementation of a circular economy.

The Board received a presentation on the XSILIO platform, highlighting its features and functionality.

The Board was informed that XSILIO had three main functions:

·       The Marketplace – A centralised hub where organisations can list assets no longer needed by specific teams, allowing these assets to be reused within the organisation.

·       Motivation– The platform encourages behaviour change by displaying user progress, boosting motivation, and reducing "green fatigue."

·       Measurement – Progress is measured in kilograms of CO?e, with equivalent scores provided to enhance user understanding.

Initially, XSILIO had been available only to private businesses, but within the past year, its services had expanded to include local and central government, with four active local government users.

Arising from questions and comments, the following points were raised:

·       A lending feature for the marketplace was under consideration in response to high demand.

·       The carbon value of each item listed on the marketplace was calculated using various analytics, with accuracy expected to improve as more users joined the service.

·       Unlike an ESG platform, XSILIO focused specifically on reuse and fostering a circular economy.

·       A common challenge for similar platforms has been low engagement within organisations, an issue XSILIO aimed to address actively.

·       Licensing for the platform would involve a single, unlimited-use licence per organisation.

·       The platform could link affiliated organisations, allowing the flow of unwanted items between partner entities.

·       Departments could create wish lists for items needed.

·       Communication features were included, enabling users to ask questions about products listed on the marketplace.

·       To promote cultural change, the platform accommodated listing small items, such as staplers.

·       An optional public-facing element allowed for public returns of items useful to organisations.

·       XSILIO could adjust the Bayesian model for individual clients upon request.

·       The cost of an unlimited-use licence was set at £15,000.

·       During the initial three months of joining, XSILIO requested bi-weekly meetings to facilitate a smooth transition to using the platform.

The JCAB planned to review XSILIO at a future meeting to determine whether and how to implement the platform.

Councillors Haffegee and Temperton provided an update on the JCAB Support Group, which continued to meet every two weeks. The support group was seeking new members, and anyone interested in joining was encouraged to step forward.

The support group’s current ongoing work included:

·       Developing the vision statement and themes.

·       Ensuring that a support group member attended as many working group meetings as possible.

·       Organising volunteers who had signed up to assist at the summit, placing them in the appropriate working groups.

·       Establishing a net-zero hub in the library or community centre, intended as a central source of information on climate change efforts within the borough.

·       Beginning the planning process for the next summit. As with the first climate summit, there would be both a daytime and evening session, potentially held at two different locations. It was hoped that the new climate strategy would be launched at this event.

·       Hosting a Go Green event, which covered various aspects of climate change and encouraged individuals to join the JCAB.

·       Identifying a gap in inclusivity and equality awareness within the JCAB, which led to plans for a meeting with the council’s diversity officers to support improvement in this area.

Gareth Jones provided an update on the Bracknell Forest Climate Change Strategy 2025-2030, currently in development. The strategy’s production had progressed through five phases: initiation, research, engagement, development, and writing. It was now moving through the Council’s decision-making process prior to formal adoption.

The strategy acknowledged that the Council's influence varied across different areas, necessitating different actions based on its level of control. For instance, while the Council could directly impact its own emissions, it held significant influence in areas like planning regulations, regeneration, and economic development. However, there were also areas beyond the Council’s direct control, requiring lobbying, informing, and engaging with stakeholders.

Three key aims had been identified for the strategy:

·       Reduce and support reductions in net emissions to achieve zero as close to 2030 as possible.

·       Prepare for the anticipated impacts of climate change.

·       Support the expansion of the green economy.

The proposed delivery model for the strategy would consist of three phases. First, a transition phase to enable planning, research, exploratory work, and relationship-building. The second phase, acceleration, would focus on expanding capacity, developing skills, and building business cases. This would lead to the third phase, delivering large-scale climate action to achieve borough-wide change.

Between December and January, a consultation period would be held to refine the strategy and the accompanying action plan. In early spring next year, the strategy would be submitted to the Council for approval.

More information on how to provide feedback on the strategy was expected to be released around December.

Arising from comments and questions, the following point was noted:

·       During the consultation period, events would be held to encourage feedback, with plans for these to be finalised closer to the time.

Representatives from each working group provided updates:

Housing Working Group (unable to attend, update sent):

• We now have three housing associations on the group - Abri, Vivid and Anchor
• Consultation has taken place on the new strategy. I have taken the working group through it and fed back to Samantha
• We will support where we can the Council on the climate change National Lottery bid
• We had a successful heat pump event in Bracknell town centre and are looking to repeat it in the spring in Sandhurst
• We are looking to have a bigger role in next year’s Climate Summit
• Abri is working on a EV charging strategy in partnership with the Council.

Parish and Town Council Working Group

·       Terms of Reference for the working group had been agreed.

·       Crowthorne Parish Council was set to host a Green Week from 7th to 15th June 2025, intended as a model for other parish councils to implement. The Green Week steering group had met to plan events aimed at encouraging citizens to play an active role in combating climate change.

Biodiversity Working Group

·       Membership had increased to three members.

·       The Crown Estate had initiated several pond-related projects.

·       Water quality surveillance work was underway, with 12 volunteers involved.

·       Bracknell Forest Natural History Society had been planting trees across the borough to aid carbon mitigation.

·       Warfield Environment Group had expanded its three verges.

·       A Biodiversity Survey Sub-group had been established to recommend best practices for biodiversity data recording.

Transport Working Group

·       The latest meeting took place at Times Square to review the JCAB strategy.

·       Subgroups were actively discussing projects such as reducing the need to travel, enhancing engagement with the business community, collaborating with the Bracknell Forest Cycling Group, increasing bus use and availability, and addressing inequalities in EV charger distribution.

·       The Bracknell Forest Cycling Event would now be held annually.

Council Sector Working Group

·       Three housing associations responded to queries about retrofitting.

·       The group received a presentation on the Council Climate Strategy.

·       Discussions were ongoing about recycling difficult-to-recycle items, with Rymans offering to recycle stationery and Terracycle identified as a potential recycling partner.

·       Efforts were being made to improve website guidance on heat pumps.

·       Additional efforts were underway to raise awareness about the eco awards scheme in schools.

Officers Working Group

·       Significant work was being dedicated to developing the Council Climate Strategy.

·       Will Barnes led the project on the National Lottery funding bid.

·       A business change programme was in progress to raise council-wide knowledge of net zero goals.

·       Another business change programme was being developed around decarbonisation of council assets.

·       The Solar Together Scheme was progressing, with 125 offers accepted to join.

·       Parks and Countryside were exploring funding opportunities from the Nature, Towns, and Cities fund.

Health Working Group

·       Meetings had been rescheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

·       A Bracknell Forest Joint Climate meeting was scheduled for 14 November, involving various individuals working in health and biodiversity.

·       Frimley Sustainability Day was scheduled for 19 November 2024.

Will Barnes provided an update on the bid for lottery funding, which aimed to support projects identified by the JCAB as necessary for the community. The bid focused on a key objective: to engage, educate, and empower Bracknell Forest residents to take climate action in their everyday lives.

The bid outlined a four-year project running from September 2025 to September 2029, with funding sought in excess of £1 million to support the JCAB’s goals. This funding would cover activities for the JCAB and its working groups, with Bracknell Forest Council as the lead organisation alongside a range of formal partners. The bid was scheduled for submission by the end of 2024, overseen by the support group.

Action: Working groups were asked to complete the Climate Action Form Survey by 22 November.

During discussion on the bid, the following points were raised:

·       It was essential to identify partners to demonstrate that this was a community-driven project.

·       Involving as much expertise as possible would be crucial for project success.

·       Training for JCAB members on inclusivity could be valuable for increasing community involvement.

·       Any organisation with a bank account could participate in the project; however, concerns might be raised for large-scale bids from organisations with limited financial experience or relevant expertise.

It was agreed that "Bracknell Forest Community Climate Action" would be adopted as the name of the borough-wide climate strategy.

Councillor Haffegee provided an update on the rollout of Slack across the JCAB to improve communication between working groups. So far, it had been introduced to the Support Group, who found it a useful platform for storing information and coordinating communications on their work. The plan was to next extend Slack access to the Transport Working Group, followed by a broader rollout across the JCAB.

Each working group would have its own designated area on Slack, monitored by the group lead to ensure it was used in line with established guidelines.

The next meeting of the JCAB will be held at 9.30am on Friday

The next meeting would be held on Friday 17 January 2024.