Build A Team

A wide range of council activities need to address adaptation and mitigation. Therefore a climate change action plan is only likely to be successful if it is developed by a cross-departmental team. Although your local authority may already have an inter-departmental working group on climate change, energy or sustainable development, this is a good time to:

• Agree a project leader and co-ordinator

• Establish a team - review the membership of an existing team or create a new team

Agree a project leader and co-ordinator

One or two people should act as a focal point with overall responsibility for co-ordinating the development of the Action Plan. Their role is likely to include: overall co-ordination and communication; liaison with elected members and senior management; stakeholder engagement; collating information and data; and drafting documents.

The task may be divided so that there is an overall project leader who is fairly senior supported by an officer who manages day to day co-ordination.

Typically, the following individuals have assumed the role of project leaders and / or co-ordinators:

• Environment managers, Energy managers, Property and Facilities Managers

• Sustainable Development Officers, Climate Change and Local Agenda 21 Coordinators

Establish a team

1. Identify any existing cross-departmental structures that could support the development of an action plan, for example existing cross-cutting officer groups on climate change, energy, sustainable development or resource management

2. Identify the key council activities that need to be involved in developing the action plan. This will depend on whether you are planning initially to: (i) address both adaptation or mitigation or just one of these; (ii) address all 3 council roles or just one or two. [View a list of key council activities for adaptation and mitigation for each type of council.]

3. Decide whether to build on an existing team or to establish a new team and recruit members. It may help to ask the corporate management team to nominate representatives.

4. Appoint a chair. It is likely to help decision-making if the chair is a senior manager in the council, an Elected Member who leads on climate change, or an LSP Board member who champions climate change.

5. If you are developing a joint adaptation and mitigation action Plan, decide if one team can manage both aspects or whether to establish two separate teams. If you do establish two teams it is worth ensuring that the lead officer/focal point sits on both to ensure that progress is co-ordinated.

Uttlesford District Council has a cross-departmental sustainable energy group which works on sustainable energy both within the council and the wider constituency.

The Nottinghamshire corporate working group on energy has a core membership of eight relatively senior officers from a range of departments representing key service areas.

The Shropshire Climate Change Strategy was prepared by council officers in partnership with Marches Energy Agency and working closely with the county council's Sustainable Policy Commission, which is made up of locally elected members.