Environment and Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee

Chair's welcome 

Durham County Council and partners have identified the following three priorities: delivering a clean, attractive and sustainable environment; maximise the value and benefits of Durham's natural environment and reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.

These priorities have resulted in the work of DCC and partners focusing on ensuring: that open space and neighbourhoods are of good quality, well maintained and clean; we conserve our natural resources through effective energy efficiency measures and sustainable waste management; we build resilience to extreme weather events and continue to reduce our carbon emissions.

The priority areas identified above and the areas of focus for DCC and partners have been used to inform the committee's work programme.  This has resulted in the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee currently having a key role in monitoring actions identified to reduce the use of Single Use Plastics  in the county and in reducing carbon emissions following the authority declaring a climate change emergency in February 2019. 

In addition, the committee is the designated Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Committee and has established formalised arrangements for engaging with the Flood Risk Management Authorities for County Durham.

Find more information on the committee, meetings and agendas on our Environment and Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee page.

Recent projects and reviews

Contact us for a copy of the work programme, or reports on our reviews.

Management of the woodland estate review - June 2015

The aim of the review of woodlands is to investigate how DCC strategically manages the woodland estate for which it is responsible and identify any future improvements.

Flooding review - November 2014

This review was carried out as flooding is a topical issue, and councillors felt there was a need to examine whether our policies and plans in place were 'fit for purpose'.

Reducing the council's carbon emissions scrutiny review - January 2013

Lowering carbon emissions to reduce the impact of global warming is one of our key objectives. The committee carried out a review to assess whether or not we were on course to meet the targets and objectives of our Carbon Management Plan.