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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Corporate Services, Climate Change and Scrutiny Management Committee |
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Date |
14 April 2025 |
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Present |
Councillors Fenton (Chair), Merrett (Vice-Chair), Ayre (until 7.16 pm), B Burton, Healey, Melly, D Myers, Rowley (until 6.30 pm), K Taylor, Waller, Widdowson, Baxter (until 7.16 pm) and Nelson |
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In Attendance
Officers Present
External Attendees |
Cllr J Kent, Executive Member for the Environment and Climate Emergency
Shaun Gibbons, Head of Carbon Reduction Claire Foale, Chief Strategy Officer
Katie Thomas, Senior Strategy Manager, Low Carbon and Environment, YNYCA Lucy Allis, Local Authorities Climate Action Co-ordinator |
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60. Apologies for Absence (5.30 pm)
Apologies were received from Cllrs Coles and Rose; they were substituted by Cllrs Baxter and Nelson respectively.
61. Declarations of Interest (5.31 pm)
Members were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.
None were declared.
62. Minutes (5.31 pm)
The Chair sought clarification on the resolution for the Review of the Scrutiny Function, in relation to the consideration of the number of proposed new scrutiny committees.
Resolved: That the Democracy Officer would check the record, and the minutes would be brought back to the following meeting for approval.
Reason: To ensure that the minutes were an accurate record of the meeting.
63. Public Participation (5.33 pm)
It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Cllr Vassie spoke to all items on the agenda and raised his concerns regarding the target setting and measuring targets, questioning the source and validity of the targets. He urged innovative solutions to reduce car journeys and improve transport systems and suggested a scheme of borrowing and investment to support this.
64. Net Zero Fund: Project Update (5.37 pm)
The Chief Strategy Officer, together with the Head of Carbon Reduction provided a project update on the Net Zero Fund, noting that the previous update had been in December 2023.
Members asked a range of questions covering the Harewood Whin Feasibility Study, James St, Honeysuckle House and CYC lighting.
In response to Member’s questions, Officers, who were joined by the Executive Member for the Environment and Climate Emergency, reported the following:
· The cost of the feasibility study for Harewood Whin was in line with the size and value of the overall project. Planning permission had been granted. An outline survey had been undertaken and the second stage was a more detailed physical site assessment. Following this, a report would go to Executive in September.
· Offtaking involved an end user taking the energy generated prior to going through the National Grid (NG); connecting to the NG was complex and costly.
· Should funding be secured, there would be a phased approach to the project, working with partners to ensure a greater level of offtaking.
· The relocation of the depot at James Street had been identified as a separate project, project initiating documentation was being prepared.
· Future projects had insufficient energy demand to take advantage of offtaking and behind meter solutions. A survey had been taken of potential offtakers although this had proved insufficiently dynamic, work was ongoing on this.
· 27 flats in Honeysuckle House were due to receive air source heat pumps and a range of other improvements.
· Officers agreed to come back to Members with a written response to a question around PV and battery storage in garages. They also agreed to review the lighting management system at West Offices.
Resolved: That the report and feedback from Members be noted.
Reason: To inform the development and delivery of Carbon Negative Challenge Fund projects.
65. Routemap to Carbon Negative Refresh (6.12 pm)
Members considered the Routemap to Carbon Negative Refresh which was presented by the Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Carbon Reduction and Katie Thomas, Senior strategy Manager, Low Carbon and Environment at York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA). Officers noted that the paper presented was an early draft proposal.
Members questioned the officers and the Executive Member on their plans for future public consultation and commented on the presentation and accessibility of the draft Routemap. Members emphasised the importance of the Routemap being credible, accessible and deliverable. There was some debate, but no consensus, around York’s net zero carbon target of 2030, noting North Yorkshire’s target was 2034. The Executive Member acknowledged a performance gap, and stated that any new date, should there be one, needed to be data informed and realistic.
[Cllr Baxter left the meeting between 7.03 and 7.06 pm]
Resolved:
That the report and feedback from Members be noted.
Reason: To ensure that Members were aware of and could contribute to the Routemap refresh.
[7.16 to 7.24 pm the meeting adjourned. 7.25 pm, Cllr Widdowson rejoined the meeting.]
66. York and North Yorkshire Retrofit Strategy Development Update (7.24 pm)
The Head of Carbon Reduction was joined by Katie Thomas, Senior Strategy Manager – Low Carbon & Environment, YNYCA and Lucy Allis, Local Authorities Climate Action Co-ordinator, YNYCA. They presented the draft York and North Yorkshire Retrofit Strategy, noting that it did not replace the existing CYC strategy.
Members asked a range of questions covering retrofitting council stock, EV charging, barriers to implementation, skills mapping and data availability.
It was reported that:
· The EV charging strategy would be considered as part of the review.
· The strategy would pull together the good work currently taking place and provide an opportunity to work with central government. A one stop shop approach aimed to develop local champions and consumer confidence.
· A smart meter was an enabler rather than a retrofit measure.
· The Combined Authority had devolved funding for skills, working with partners would identify the types of courses needed to improve or provide the skills available.
· There was no viable replacement for EPC data available.
Resolved: That the report and feedback from Members be noted.
Reason: To inform the development and delivery of the retrofit strategy.
67. Work Plan (8.00 pm)
Members considered the Committee’s work plan and the scrutiny work plan for the four scrutiny committees.
Resolved: That the work plan be noted.
Reason: To ensure an overview of the scrutiny work programme.
Cllr S Fenton, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.30 pm and finished at 8.03 pm].