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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 |
22 April 2024 |
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Present |
Councillors Fenton (Chair), Merrett (Vice-Chair), Ayre, Baxter, J Burton, Healey (from 5:34pm), Steels-Walshaw, K Taylor, Waller, Widdowson and Steward (Substitute for Cllr Rowley) |
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Apologies |
Councillors Rowley, Kelly and D Myers |
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44. Declarations of Interest (5:33pm)
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.
Cllr Merrett noted, in relation to Item 5, Changes in Procurement Legislation, that he was a Management Committee Member of the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation.
45. Minutes (5:34pm)
Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting held on 18 March 2024 were approved as a correct record.
46. Public Participation (5:35pm)
It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Geoff Beacon, a resident, acknowledged the fleet of electric buses but questioned if becoming carbon neutral by 2030 was an achievable aim for York or York Council. He raised concerns regarding large consumer areas, which he considered to be big polluters.
47. Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Scope 3 Emissions (5:39pm)
The Assistant Director for Policy and Strategy, together with the Head of Carbon Reduction, introduced the report and outlined the council’s approach to Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Scope 3 Emissions.
Following the presentation, Members asked questions which covered the capital cost of implementing the Heat Decarbonisation Plans (HDPs), how the council’s housing stock was being handled in relation to heating and net zero, the workload of the carbon reduction team, influencing resident’s behaviour, working with other organisations to effect change, accounting for building materials, the quality of the information provided, meeting the council’s carbon neutral target and funding opportunities.
During the discussion, officers reported that:
· A written response would be provided to the committee to confirm the current level of funding available for the cost of implementing the HDPs.
· It was not possible to access energy consumption figures for the council’s housing stock.
· The carbon reduction team’s main focus was on supporting other council teams towards council targets rather than compiling data.
· Motivators to change people’s behaviour, such as financial incentives, had been proven to work better than the provision of information.
The Joint Executive Member, Environment and Climate Emergency, responded to the discussion points that emerged during the meeting and confirmed the council’s commitment to the carbon reduction plans and the aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Resolved:
i. Officers to investigate a communications plan to highlight good practice and encourage behaviour change.
ii. The Offsetting and Insetting strategy be brought to the Committee at a later date.
Reason: To continue to monitor progress towards the Council ambition of net zero carbon by 2030.
48. Changes in Procurement Legislation (6:42pm)
The Head of Procurement, alongside the Chief Finance Officer, presented a report on the changes in procurement legislation and how these would impact on procurement procedures across the council. It was noted that the ‘go live’ date for the legislation had been put back to 28 October 2024.
Officers responded to a number of questions from Members covering the impact of the new legislation on sustainability, the use of the YO postcode when monitoring spending, the capacity of the procurement team, in-house training, Contract Procedure Rules (CPR), the procurement process rules, procedures and monitoring, IT management/monitoring systems, social value policy and credit values.
It was reported that:
· An upskill in the market was required to meet sustainability requirements.
· Two procurement managers were being recruited, which would result in a net gain of one FTE, this would be reviewed once the new regulations were in place.
· The parameters used to collate data on council spend could be further refined.
· There were currently no proposed changes to the council’s policy regarding the waiving of CPR, this would be reviewed post the new regulations.
· Officers would check the total of social value credits accrued last financial year and report back to the Committee.
· There was no live exercise to find a contract management system.
· A social value policy was not yet in place within Procurement.
· The Procurement team’s compliance officer monitored contracts valued at less than £5k.
Resolved:
i. That the report be noted
ii. The social value policy would be brought back to the committee once drafted
iii. The value of the social credits from the last financial year be circulated to the Committee.
Reason: To keep the Committee updated on procurement activity
49. Work Plan (7:16pm)
Members considered 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 5.32 pm and finished at 7.19 pm].