Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 9^th July 2025

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 9^th July 2025 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Briefing Note of the Director of Regeneration and Economy

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note and presentation that provided an update on the production of the Coventry Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy that had recently been endorsed by the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change under delegations agreed at Council on 6th December 2022 (their minute 83/22 referred) as part of the Coventry Transport Strategy. The Briefing Note detailed the Policies within the Strategy and the Appendices provided:  the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy; presentation slides; and the Equalities Impact Assessment.

UK Government mandated that all Local Highway Authorities should create an Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy. The Coventry Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) Strategy was developed to set out the anticipated take-up of electric vehicles and the associated number of electric vehicles chargepoints that would be needed. The Strategy formalised the Council’s plan for future chargepoint installations, including pilot schemes for gully channel charging and residential charging hubs. The EVCI Strategy, that would sit underneath the Coventry Transport Strategy approved and adopted at the meeting of Council on 6^th December 2022 (Council minute 83/22 referred), had recently been endorsed by the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change under delegations agreed at the Council meeting.

In the 10-year lifetime of the Strategy, the number of hybrid and electric vehicles in Coventry was projected to increase from 4.42% to 49%. The projection was based on data including the likelihood to buy an Electric Vehicle, the anticipated uptake of electric vehicles, and government legislation on sales of petrol and diesel vehicles. This increase would require 1,686 chargepoints by 2035. The Local Authority already had 2,000+ chargepoints, but the Strategy identified expansion into other areas to serve different needs including pilot schemes of new technologies.

In considering the briefing note and the presentation by officers, the Board  discussed issues, asked questions and received responses on matters including:

·  Coventry’s early provision of infrastructure in readiness for the transition

·  The criteria requirements and costs relating to the installation of all  charger options.

·  The difference in charging rates for rapid charging which provided a full vehicle charge in an hour, and overnight charging that took longer to provide a full charge but was a less costly option. The City’s own charge points were a cheaper option than those located at petrol stations/garage forecourts.

·  Following Coventry’s initial installation of chargepoints, further funding was made available to the Authority to enable them to proceed with further installations, with some funding provided through the air quality grant.

·  Charging hubs, to be located mainly in car parks, were now the focus for current funding, along with rapid charging, triple charging and e-bike charging. Sites for the hubs were currently being identified.

·  Companies had indicated their interest in charging proposals on petrol station style charging areas

·  The use of roadside charging point parking bays was currently not restricted for use by vehicles wishing to use chargers only, however following the continuing increase in take-up of electric vehicles, this would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Briefing Note of the Director of Regeneration and Economy

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note of the Director of Regeneration and Economy that provided an update on progress of the Council’s domestic retrofit programmes since the last domestic retrofit update to the Board in April 2024 (minute 25/23 referred). 

Coventry’s Climate Change Strategy (2024-2030) approved by Council last year (their minute 64/23 referred), set out an ambitious vision for how the city intended to ‘tackle the causes and consequences of climate change’, which was a key priority of the One Coventry Plan. The strategy set a goal to reduce carbon emissions across the city to support the Authority’s transition to net zero, whilst benefiting local people and businesses through creating warmer homes, cheaper bills, cleaner air, new jobs and skills.

The strategy identified that 30% of the city’s carbon emissions came from the 143,000 homes across Coventry. Of these homes, it was estimated that over 100,000 homes had an energy performance certificate (EPC) of D or below, therefore a significant proportion of residents were living in less energy efficient housing and likely to be facing higher bills as a result to keep their homes warm. Improving the energy efficiency of homes through retrofit measures ranging from insulation, double glazing to heat pumps and solar panels could considerably reduce carbon emissions but also create real benefits for residents too in terms of bills, health and comfort.

Latest government data (based on 2023 sources) also suggests 18.9% households in Coventry were living in fuel poverty. Whilst a 3.3% reduction from the year 2022, this was still one of the largest rates of fuel poverty of all local authorities in the country, and figures rose to over 40% of households in some the city’s most deprived areas.

Domestic retrofit could also make a huge difference by improving the quality of resident’s lives and their health, through creating warmer more efficient homes and helping to lower bills. Well-insulated properties also kept homes cooler in the summer, which helped to make homes more resilient to increasing temperatures and increased likelihoods of extreme heat. It was essential to take a proactive approach to retrofit, delivering retrofit at scale whilst also considering new technology and innovation that could accelerate ambitions. The Council had been working with partners to achieve this, delivering retrofit at scale as highlighted with the work with Citizen, whilst also trialling innovative solutions and pilots with the Council’s Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP). For example, the SEP has worked with a startup (Kestrix) to use drones to capture thermal imaging of thousands of houses in Hillfields and using artificial intelligence to generate energy efficiency plans. This would allow the Authority to prioritise interventions and maximise impacts for residents from the available funding.

The briefing note set out details of the progress made over the past 18 months; Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2; Home Upgrade Grant 2; Energy Company Obligation (ECO) 4 & Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS); Community Engagement; Equitable Delivery of Programmes; Future Schemes: WMCA Retrofit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Business, Economy, and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator that provided a schedule of items for meetings of the Board for the Municipal Year. The Work Programme for 2025/26 was attached as an Appendix to the report.

Further to minute 10/25 above headed ‘Domestic Retrofit – September 2025 Update’, Members requested that a further update be submitted to a future meeting of the Board and that this be added to the Work Programme.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy, and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3):

1)  Notes the schedule of items for meetings of the Board for the Municipal Year 2025/26.

2)  Agrees that an item headed ‘Retrofit Update’ be added to the Work Programme for a future meeting.

There were no other items of public business.