Energy efficiency podcast transcript

What’s this report about?

This report looks at how councils, the NHS and central government bodies in Scotland are improving energy efficiency in relation to buildings and transport use. 
What have you found?

We’ve found that energy consumption has fallen by around 5%, resulting in a reduction in public sector emissions. However, spending on energy has increased by nearly 505 in the three years up to the end of March 2007 due to rising energy prices.

The Scottish Government and public bodies have made money available to help improve performance in this area. However, we have found that there needs to be stronger leadership in this area, from both the Scottish Government and within public bodies themselves, to ensure the sector makes the necessary changes to use energy more efficiently. 

What is the impact/importance on the public?

Climate change is a serious threat, and evidence suggests that CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to climate change. Improving energy efficiency can be an easy and cost-effective way for the public sector to reduce its carbon emissions and other greenhouse gas emissions.
By showing leadership in improving energy efficiency, the public sector can help to raise the profile of this issue and help motivate others to improve energy efficiency and contribute to reducing Scotland’s emissions. 
There are also major financial impacts involved. The public sector in Scotland spends more than £224 million a year on energy, and fuel prices have risen sharply in recent years. By using energy efficiently, public bodies can reduce the impact of increasing energy costs on the public services provided. 
You mentioned there the rise in fuel prices. What has been the impact of that on the public sector?

We’ve started to see recent examples of this. For instance, the Scottish Ambulance Service has overspent on its fuel budget by £400,000, and that’s eight per cent of its total fuel budget. We’ve also seen examples of potential increased energy costs when energy contracts are being renewed.
Because of these issues, public bodies are now placing greater focus on improving their energy efficiency, and this has helped to support a reduction in energy consumption which may not have otherwise been achieved. 
However, we have found that the public sector places less emphasis on the environmental impact of energy consumption and the Scottish Government does not monitor the public sector’s performance against national targets to reduce emissions. 
Stronger leadership is required to provide a clear message that improved energy efficiency is necessary to reduce the public sector’s contribution to climate change.  

What would you like to see happen now?
We have made a number of recommendations to improve performance in this area, and there are six things that I would like to highlight.
The Scottish Government should show leadership in this area by providing public bodies with clear guidance on what actions they need to take to improve their energy efficiency and cut CO2 emissions.
They also need to set up robust monitoring systems so they can accurately assess the public sector’s performance and report that information publicly.
During this work we found good examples of good practice within the public sector to improve energy efficiency and the Scottish Government should work with the public sector to share this information and establish benchmarks.
However, it’s not just the Scottish Government that needs to improve in this area. The report highlights a number of recommendations for public bodies themselves. This includes putting in place effective strategies and actions plans to coordinate activities to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Senior staff need to play a key role in implementing strategies to demonstrate the importance of this issue.
To support this, the public sector needs to collect accurate and consistent data on their energy consumption to ensure progress can be monitored.
Public bodies also need to support staff to understand the benefits of energy efficiency; running regular events and seminars can encourage the necessary changes in organisational culture and behaviour to improve energy efficiency.