Policy paper

Carbon reduction plan

Updated 2 January 2024

1. Executive Summary

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions at the latest by 2050. 

Reducing our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions brings significant benefits for us, our customers, suppliers and the wider community.

This Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) will cover CCS’s baseline year information (2023), setting clear targets for reducing GHG emissions over key timeframes and planned actions to achieve Carbon Net Zero by 2050 at the latest. These will align with our obligations under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC). Our aim is to ensure the highest levels of engagement with this Carbon Reduction Plan across CCS.

Some of these targets will be achieved through behavioural change, others will require funding in some cases, such as building and office improvements; this might be from other governmental bodies like the Government Property Agency (GPA).

As a largely administration-based business, with no permanent vehicle fleet, and shared office space,  CCS already has a relatively small carbon footprint. These planned actions will reduce our levels of carbon production to Net Zero by 2050 at the latest, but an earlier date of Net Zero by 2040 is achievable as a stretch target. 

2. Meeting the reporting requirements

This Carbon Reduction Plan complies with PPN 06/21 as published by the Cabinet Office in June 2021. This document will be reviewed and updated annually in line with the CCS Annual Report and Accounts. 

3. Commitment to achieving Net Zero

CCS is committed to achieving Net Zero GHG emissions by 2050. We recognise the urgent need to rapidly decarbonise the UK public sector, along with the whole of UK industry and global emissions.

4. Carbon footprint methodology

The CCS carbon footprint methodology is based on the assumptions of our operational model being largely administration-based and that our premises are controlled by a third party, the GPA. 

For the first time, in the 2022/23 CRP, Crown Commercial Service is reporting their share of carbon emissions associated with their part-occupancy of several government offices managed through the GPA. The offices are in Newport*, Liverpool, Birmingham, Norwich and London.

CCS is primarily an administrative entity, assisting with procurement across different government bodies, and as such we do not own a fleet of vehicles, nor do we have much land to use or develop on. As such, as will be seen, we have a small overall carbon footprint, but one nonetheless that we will be able to reduce through action.

• To avoid double counting, any data relating to our office at Concept House in Newport has been excluded as it will be reported by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). 

5. Baseline Carbon Emissions - April ‘22 - March ‘23

5.1 Baseline year: FY  1st April 2022 - 31st March 2023

CCS has 5 offices, but we only report on 4 (London, Liverpool, Norwich and Birmingham. To avoid double counting, any data relating to our office at Concept House in Newport has been excluded as it will be reported by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). 

5.2 Scope 1

The CCS Scope 1 data consists of proportionate gas usage across the London, Liverpool and Norwich offices. 

Office location	Tonnes CO2e	Occupancy
London	0.5t	127 people
Liverpool	4.3t	455 people
Norwich	28t	170 people
Birmingham	0t*	48 people
Total	32.8t

*There is no gas used in the Birmingham office.

For clarity, we do not own or operate a Fleet so there is no data to report in Scope 1.

5.3 Scope 2

The CCS Scope 2 data consists of electricity purchased across four offices: London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Norwich. Three (London, Birmingham and Norwich) of the four offices, are on a green tariff. Liverpool is run by a landlord with multiple tenants so a change to tariff would need to come from them. We do not report electricity usage from the Newport office.

Office location	Tonnes of CO2e	Occupancy
London	20.3t	127 people
Birmingham	3.1t	48 people
Liverpool	122t	455 people
Norwich	39t	170 people
Total	184.4t

5.4 Scope 3

Our Scope 3 footprint is dominated by emissions resulting from business travel and hotel stays. There are a number of roles and functions requiring travel in CCS where the majority of these emissions come from. We will interrogate our data from travel to better understand if and where carbon reductions can be made.

Category	Tonnes CO2e
Upstream transport	1.3t
Business travel	76.9t
Hotel Stay	19.4t
Waste disposal	0.9t
Water Use	0.6t
Downstream Transport	0t
Total	99.1t

5.5 Current reporting year: FY 1st April 2022 - 31st March 2023

Due to changes from the Office of Government Property (OGP), this year we changed the way we are reporting our emissions and have calculated a new baseline, against which future progress will be measured. 

For the current reporting year (FY 2022/23), Scopes 1, 2 and 3 will be the same as the baseline year reporting.

The Scope 1,2,3 data from this Carbon Reduction Plan has been submitted as part of the Crown Commercial Service Annual Report. Additionally, the same information has been submitted as part of the Greening Government Commitment data. This ensures that we have ‘one version of the truth’ and that all different parties involved in tackling emissions reductions, all have the same numbers and are working from the same starting point.

6. Emission Reduction Targets 

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets.

Next 5 years to 2028: Target of 50% Carbon reduction to 158t

Period to 2035: Target of 78% Carbon reduction to 69.5t

Period to 2040: Target of 100% Carbon reduction to Net Zero

These are ambitious targets, with a steep initial reduction, but this ambition is deliberate as we recognise the urgency associated with the need to reduce carbon outputs. A lot of the proposed measures in the Projects & Initiatives section can be introduced or invested in by the first milestone of 2028.

7. Carbon Reduction Projects 

The carbon reduction opportunities in this section, once fully implemented, will reduce CCS GHG emissions each year in line with achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. 

The projects listed below relate to the following graph which charts CCS’s carbon reduction projects at three key milestone dates, 2028 (5 years ahead), 2035 (12 years ahead) and 2040 (our stretch target Net Zero date, 17 years ahead).

In order to achieve Net Zero, CCS will be required to reduce across its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. 

8. Scope 1 (Gas) Actions

• normalise Usage: bring Norwich gas usage down to London and Birmingham levels of approx. 6.7kg CO2e per individual. The high usage at Norwich is due to an old inefficient boiler which is being replaced in 2023/24
• over a longer timescale, there may be the potential to change the boilers in all CCS offices from natural gas to an alternative lower carbon fuel type such as Biomass. This is realistically planned for 13 years in the future
• offset any residual CO2 emissions through the purchase of equivalent carbon emissions credits from an International Carbon Reduction & Offset Alliance (ICROA) provider

9. Scope 2 (Electricity) Actions

• implement all available technical solutions, including hardware and software building and energy management systems
• ensure we have power management policies in place for hardware such as laptops / PC / printers etc 
• encourage behavioural change through publishing internally a dashboard of carbon output/energy consumption by office location
• maximise purchase of renewable-backed energy tariffs as per latest guidance 
• offset any residual CO2 emissions through the purchase of equivalent carbon emissions credits from an International Carbon Reduction & Offset Alliance (ICROA) provider

10. Scope 3 Actions

10.1 Business travel

• continue to support and encourage hybrid working, in the context of continuing development of the Smarter Working policy. Encourage the continued use of virtual meeting platforms.
• continue to encourage the use of public transport, in particular trains.
• investigate the feasibility of providing individuals with the concept of having their own ‘Carbon Pot’ or ‘Carbon Budget’ and then if that is exhausted they cannot travel any more. 
• provide a travel dashboard giving regular information on travel purpose and expenditure across the organisation. Encourage transport sharing and aim to mandate EVs for car hire when supplier capacity permits.

10.2 Employee commuting 

Data on Employee Commuting are not collected so cannot be directly measured, however implied effects could be included within Scope 3. CCS could encourage more people to Cycle to Work using schemes and information

• travel may also be reduced if people could use any Government office to work from rather than the selected CCS offices.
• investigate the feasibility of offering staff who cover high mileage on CCS business or make long commutes an Eco-Driving course to ensure that they are driving efficiently
• investigate with Treasury any opportunity to offer a salary sacrifice, or discounted schemes offering employees access to sustainable travel options like e-bikes rather than using a car
• offer additional discounting for travel such as a bus pass scheme with local travel

10.3 Hotel Stays

• preference to be given to accommodation with the highest Green rating, using data from Click Travel.
• environmental criteria to be prioritised in booking accommodation or suppliers for corporate events. Education and information should be provided to staff to understand how to reduce the impact of a hotel stay
• continued encouragement towards Hybrid / Remote meetings.

10.4 Employee learning and behaviour change 

Every role in CCS has an impact on our carbon emissions, and informed and motivated employees are key to making reductions. Every worker can reduce their energy footprint simply by switching off equipment at night, separating and sorting waste and travelling as sustainably as possible.

Actions taken to reduce the impact of employee behaviours and actions will have impact primarily on Scope 2 Electricity and some parts of Scope 3 Travel:

• regular information on reducing environmental impacts, carbon reduction and pertinent recent environmental events could be shared with CCS employees in various means such as a Blog, Newsletter, Webinar, Lunch-and-Learn sessions
• role by role analysis could be undertaken and then each person given a number of actions and areas which they should ensure they act on. This could also be an essential part of the Annual Review process
• the successfully introduced Greenie Network should extend its scope and activity
• an overall performance dashboard for CCS carbon reduction should be regularly updated and displayed prominently on internal channels (eg intranet, digital signage)
• regional Leadership groups for each office could have a budget to introduce measures and actions to reduce impact, or positively contribute to the environment through schemes such as tree-planting, bee hives or other Biodiversity Net-Gain actions
• regularly review and update working arrangements in line with best practice and latest technology developments

11. Leadership

The Executive Board of CCS has given, and will continue to give, its full support to this Carbon Reduction programme and the team required to achieve CCS Net Zero ambitions. The Executive Board will lead by example, by including regular updates from the Carbon Net Zero team in quarterly meetings and other Exec-level meetings. The Net Zero team will continue to have Exec-level support, helping to push for and then implementing changes, along with arranging for specific sub-project funding if and when needed.

12. Declaration and sign off  

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standards for Carbon Reduction Plans. 

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate government emission conversion factors for GHG company reporting.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the Executive Board.

Signed on behalf of Crown Commercial Service: Simon Tse (Chief Executive) 22 December 2023