Introduction
Oldham Council is in the process of implementing an Environmental Management System to improve its environmental performance.

Objectives and target audience
The objective is to manage and improve the environmental performance along with the sustainability of Oldham Council on a continuous basis. All Council operations will be assessed to discover possible areas for improvement. These include ensuring compliance with environmental legislation, reducing our carbon emissions and reducing the volume of waste generated. The system will also provide cost savings, by increasing energy efficiency and reducing business travel. The project will help in the establishment of baselines, monitoring and improvement for the National Indicators regarding CO2 and Air Quality. The project is aimed at Council employees, but our long-term aspirations are to help mentor our partner organisations improve their environmental operations. We will also be communicating our successes with local people.

Financial Resources and Partners involved
The project costs £35,000 per year for staffing, and a one time fee of approximately £10,000 for certification. The whole process is funded by Oldham Council under its Invest to Save Program. The Council received consultancy support from The Carbon Trust, Global To Local, Groundwork Blackburn and High Peak Borough Council. We also received support from a Defra funded EMS Regional Development Group.

Process
A formal Environmental Policy was drawn up, which was signed by the leaders of the Council. This document outlined the aims for the organisation. All Council offices are in the process of being audited to discover their environmental performance. Practical and economically viable measures will be put into place to improve environmental performance. A group of staff act as volunteer environmental officers (Eco-Champions), who assist with the communication of environmental policies and schemes. The offices will be reviewed on a regular basis after accreditation, to ensure continuous improvements.

Results

Site audits have revealed areas where improvements can be made to help protect the environment. The EMS has improved the organisation’s waste management policies: in a 9 month period, over 75 tons of paper and card was recycled. As part of the EMS, a Corporate Risk Register was produced, indicating risks such as Climate Change and legal compliance. This register can be used throughout the Council. The process has also helped improve intra-departmental communication on energy and transport issues. The Environmental Policy and Eco Champions network has helped stimulate staff to contribute to saving energy. The EMS has helped establish Oldham Council as a leader on combating Climate Change, and has helped us drive the environmental agenda at the local level.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges
Success is dependent on several factors. Firstly, there must be commitment from senior management, and a sufficient budget allocated to complete the project. Staff with clearly defined roles need to be in place. Communication is crucial to the process, as all staff need to be informed of changes to environmental operations. Staff also need a means of communicating with Environmental Policy staff, to ensure any problems are properly reported. There also needs to be a culture change in the organisation, with individuals taking responsibility to reduce their own environmental impacts.

Any organisation can implement an Environmental Management System, but the lessons learned by Oldham could be transferred to other authorities in the form of case studies. Once certification has been achieved, we could also provide consultancy support or advice to our partner organisations or to other local authorities.