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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Climate Change Policy and Scrutiny Committee |
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Date |
8 March 2022 |
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Present |
Councillors Vassie (Chair), Baker (Vice-Chair), Fisher, Wann and Melly |
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Apologies |
Councillors Perrett |
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33. Declarations of Interest
Members were asked to declare, at this point in the meeting,
any personal interests, not included on the Register of Interests,
or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests that they
might have had in respect of business on the agenda.
Cllr Baker stated a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 Climate Change Strategy as a member of the Real Junk Food Project which was included as a case study for the Climate Change Strategy.
34. Minutes
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2022 be approved and signed by the Chair as an accurate record.
35. Public Participation
It was reported that there were two registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Debby Cobbert spoke about the importance of creating climate jobs and the need for closer collaborative working with partners. She highlighted the Council’s Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD) score and felt that the Council needed to do more on mitigation. She also asked that the Council be bolder in reducing emissions and share ideas with local community groups.
Geoff Beacon felt that the Council needed to clarify to York residents the actions required to tackle climate change. He asked that the Council explore and publish carbon footprints in different Council wards noting that some wards collectively had larger carbon usage than others.
36. Economic Strategy
The committee received a presentation on the Council’s developing Economic Strategy. Members were informed about the work undertaken with partners in the development of the Economic Strategy for the city. It was noted that the council had soft power to encourage and promote the strategy. The need for the Council to link its Climate Change Strategy and ambitions to the Economic Strategy was also acknowledged.
Members underlined the importance of tackling inequality as well as climate change. It was noted that most part time roles in the city were in lower paid sectors. Members enquired about how the Council could encourage higher paid part time opportunities with its Economic Strategy. Officers commented that there was a need for the Council to promote the benefit of flexible employment, as current recruitment challenges allowed for greater opportunities to fight for better pay and flexible employment.
Engagement with business in the city was discussed. It was noted that responses included within the report were not wholly representative of businesses in York due to the number of participants. Officers stated that during the pandemic the Council had built closer communication ties to businesses in the city. For example, a bulletin for small businesses had been produced by the Council and communication had been established with York Business Improvement Federation of Small Businesses, and the Chamber of Commerce. Discussion took place about how the strategy could work to encourage partnership with businesses, to promote greener practices and to assist with actions such as retrofitting.
A discussion took place on the strategies focus on inclusive and sustainable growth. Members asked that a focus on sustainability be added to economic growth so that the city could be environmentally sustainable. They confirmed that by linking the strategies the aim of the Economic Strategy would be beneficial to the Council’s Climate Strategy.
Resolved:
i. That the update on the emerging York Economic Strategy and provided comments on the proposed strategy be noted.
Reason: To ensure the Climate Change Policy and Scrutiny Committee have the opportunity to feed into the York Economic Strategy.
37. Climate Change Strategy
The Committee received a presentation on the York Climate Change Strategy. Officers outlined data that had been collated and used in the development of the strategy to its current stage. Each sector’s required emission reductions were outlined. Members were informed that it was required for the York to reach a reduction of 54% of emissions in 2019 by 2030. The Core Principles for the strategy were outlined as well as stakeholder perspectives and a sample of case studies.
Members noted the importance of case studies highlighting that they provided clear examples of opportunities and possibilities for the city. The Committee also noted that they would encourage people to suggest new case studies and requested that a wider range of studies be available online. In discussion about the stakeholders involved in the Strategy, Members enquired as to whether the Citizens Panel were part of the City Partners group. It was confirmed that there was no current representation from the Citizens Panel on the group. Officers stated that representation from the Citizens Panel would be investigated further.
Discussion took place on the importance of reducing energy usage in new and existing buildings within the city. It was confirmed that work was currently being undertaken on Local Energy Plans which could compliment the Climate Change Strategy. The tackling of fuel poverty was raised as a key objective within the Climate Change Strategy. Members noted the impact of having the choice and access to low carbon appliances, as well as the importance of promoting cultural shifts to reduce the base use of carbon.
The Committee discussed the CDP report card for the Council. It was noted that the Council had received a B grade overall and this had been broken down to an A for adaptation and a C for mitigation. Officers confirmed that the Council performed better than other local authorises in the region for adaption and was on par for mitigation. It was confirmed that the Climate Change Strategy was not complete and agreed that this had impacted the Council’s grade. When the Climate Change Strategy was complete it was felt that the Council would receive an A grade on the new CDP report card. Members noted that the CDP report card would provide further data for the Council to compare progress against other Local Authorities. Further discussion took place in which the challenges of identifying and tackling Scope 3 emissions. Members agreed that it was important for the city to seek to tackle scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Officers confirmed that work was currently underway to link work on the Climate Change Strategy to the Economic Strategy and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. It was confirmed that this should not delay the completion of the Climate Change Strategy and it was expected the three strategies would be considered by Full Council in July 2022.
Resolved:
i. To request that officers consider adding a member of the Citizens Panel to the City Partners stakeholder group;
ii. Noted the core principles of the Climate Change Strategy and agreed to further consider the strategy at the 12 April 2022 meeting of the Committee.
Reason: To ensure the Committee has the opportunity to feed into the Climate Change Strategy.
38. Work Plan 2021/22
The Committee discussed the meeting on 12 April 2022. They agreed that they would add the Climate Change Strategy to the work plan and would delegate this to the Chair and Vice Chair to ensure that they had sufficient time to consider the Climate Change Strategy.
Resolved:
i. To delegate to the Chair and Vice Chair to ensure the sufficient time to consider the Climate Change Strategy.
Reason: To ensure the Committee has a work plan of items for 2021/22.
Cllr Vassie, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.33 pm and finished at 7.35 pm].