SSN Reporting Action Group share key discussion points
The Reporting Action Group, comprising participants from across the membership, met three times between January and June 2019. The key purpose was to facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge exchange amongst members involved in Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Reporting to help drive improvements in reporting standards and practice. Running almost parallel to this was the Scottish Government’s Reporting Reform Working Group looking at how reporting might be structurally revised longer-term. Discussions and recommendations by the latter informed options presented in the Scottish Government’s consultation on The role of Public Sector Bodies in tackling climate change. This somewhat superseded aspects of the SSN Group’s work, however three key recommendations remain relevant and can be viewed, alongside group literature, on the dedicated knowledge hub site. In addition, these recommendations helped inform the SSN Steering Group’s response to the consultation.
Much of the Group’s discussions centred on the challenges of adopting standardised approaches to target-setting and monitoring across and within the different sectors to enable better analyses of performance and trends year on year. However, Scottish Government policy proposals on achieving net zero, announced by the Cabinet Secretary 14 May 2019, raised the bar! To stimulate discussions, the group heard about a study by Natural Resources Wales on options for introducing public sector reporting to help inform Welsh policy implementation, including approaches to off-setting to achieve a net zero public sector. The SSN event 1 October 2019, ‘Net Zero Ready: Scotland ups the pace’ focused on practices and needs for enabling Scotland’s public sector to deliver net zero targets. A further SSN event on emissions off-setting is planned for 23 January 2020.
The Group also held discussions and activities on other topics, including:
- the use of SCATTER – designed for local authorities to measure greenhouse gas emissions and build carbon reduction plans.
- minor modifications to the wording of the reporting template and guidance, and
- development of a draft case study template for reporting on project processes, challenges, outcomes/impacts
With thanks to all group participants:
Claudia Cowie (Group Chair) (Aberdeenshire Council), Jill Burnett (EAUC - Scotland), Naomi Clarke (Dundee City Council), Kate Dapre (NHS), Fiona Fletcher (Scottish Enterprise), Gillian Gibson (National Galleries), Angela Heaney (Stirling Council), Alison Hunter (Skills Development Scotland), Lorna Jarvie (South Ayrshire Council), Stewart Miller (Glasgow University), Sonia Milne (Glasgow City Council), Paul Murphy (Inverclyde Council), Ben Murray (Scottish Water), Hugh Muschamp (Fife Council), Rebecca Petford, (EAUC - Scotland), Julie Richmond (South Lanarkshire Council), Annika Schwochow (Skills Development Scotland), Charlotte Wallace, (Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park), Kelly Wiltshire (NESTRANS), John Wincott, (Fife College)