Welcome to the 8 Questions, where we ask senior figures in the sector the questions every business leader and ambitious professional wants answered. In this edition, Paul Binks Highways Asset Manager at Lancashire County Council is asked what is essential to delivering climate action strategies, what skills are needed for projects to succeed and much more.
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To deliver climate change strategies there needs to be commitment from the top and understanding through all levels that not only do we have a responsibility to act but we also have opportunities to act in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. Highways and Transportation is one of the major contributing factors to climate change. There needs to be an acknowledgement that we are responsible and that we are in position to have a major impact to bring about the necessary change through changing our actions.
I think the main challenge was to get buy in at all levels to allow people to realise themselves that they had a responsibility and an opportunity to make a real positive impact. The journey to achieve this started quite a few years ago with working directly with people and building relationships and understanding. Normalising climate change actions and people realising themselves, through this engagement, that developing and delivering the actions are part of the day job. Most people take pride in what they do if they buy into the process and contribute ideas to the delivery of the actions and then can see a finished product. This can be achieved by engaging with people at all levels. As well in developing the strategy I think it was important that it was facilitated by a neutral facilitator; this meant all contributors were equal partners and felt part of the process rather than feeling ' being done to'.
From the start the project had a clearly defined scope and before we started developing the actions, we made sure we spoke directly to each contributor to make sure they were bought into the process and scope but also were allowed to shape it. From very early on of setting up a strategy and actions it was clear that no one service had over all control over the delivery of the actions. In order to manage the delivery of the strategy it was important to identify senior people from each discipline to take control of managing the actions within their service and they then had the responsibility to report performance directly to the Board managing the performance. Also, the project fitted in within already well-established governance structure and became part of the overall management of the highways and transportation objectives.
An integral part of the outcome from the strategy was a road map with very clear actions in the short term and more indicative actions for future years. This acknowledged that there will be developments in the industry in future years that we don't yet know about and would have to consider as and when they come on stream; this then allows us to ensure the strategy remains relevant and is considering the most Up to date developments. The strategy document can be refreshed at regular intervals and progress is reported upon. We have incorporated the strategy within the broader transport and highways asset management plan that already is well embedded and highly regarded and accepted politically. This is refreshed annually with more substantial refreshes every 5 years and looks forwards for at least 15 years. By incorporating the decarbonisation strategy into this process, it ensures decarbonisation remains alive and on the agenda.
In developing the strategy people skills to get participants on board and buy in is absolutely key; this requires patience, time and commitment and the ability to listen and take on board concerns raised. The ability to embrace technology and develop solutions on sound evidence base is also key and it's been a real advantage that we have a dedicated specialist materials engineer that is really enthusiastic about developing new ideas and engaging within the organisation, with supplier and with other local authority contacts. And finally, food project management and performance management skills to support developing the strategy, delivering it and reviewing delivery on going to ensure we can respond to possibly 'slips and trips along the way but also build on successes.
Lancashire County Council is a political organisation. Having commitment for the Portfolio holders responsibly for climate and environment and for highways and transportation has been key. This gives clear direction to set the vision, the objectives and the commitment we needed for the involvement from other service areas to pull the strategy together. It then came down to the people skills and the commitment of those leading the project followed by a tight time frame for delivery. From instigating the project to getting formal sign off was around 6 months; this tight time frame and the commitment of all involved really helped to sustain the idea that developing the strategy was 'task and finish' and kept the momentum going.
Ultimately the success is measured by the delivery of the strategy and the political sign off, with wining the CIHT Ringway Climate Change Award as affirmation of peer approval. The ongoing monitoring of the projects and keeping everything on track also shows the success of the commitment individuals have shown. For the current carriageway capital programme we have achieved a 15% carbon reduction saving and thew work we have done looking at future opportunities show that we can in future years work towards at least a 50% saving on current baseline. There is a drive and commitment as well to engage with suppliers and contractors to start to realise this.
There needs to be an acknowledgement that we are responsible for climate change and that we are in position to have a major impact to bring about the necessary change through changing our actions, in our personal lives but perhaps as leaders within highways and transportation we can lead on changes that will have far longer and more substantial positive impacts on the decarbonisation agenda. As the climate change agenda develops, I think we as leaders have to accept that decarbonisation options may be more expensive at present but don't have to be in the long term as we demand more from the supply chain and it becomes the norm. We need to get over the difficult hump and make these practices the norm. There is role for us as well to engage with leaders in or organisations to help them to realise what can be done in this area so together, we can write a new narrative.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the CIHT or its members. Neither the CIHT nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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