Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any

disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they

might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have

not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

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 they may

have in respect of business on the agenda.

None were declared.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meetings held on 8 March 2022 and 12 April 2022.

The Chair requested that the approval of the minutes of 08 March 2022 be held over until the next meeting of the committee.

The Assistant Director, Policy and Strategy, clarified the information from the Climate Change Strategy and Update report given at the 12 April 2022 minutes. She confirmed, that in accordance with the constitution, the Executive were invited to approve the Climate Change Strategy and to decide whether to recommend to Full Council the adoption of the said strategy.

Resolved:

     i.        That the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 08 March 2022 be held over to the next meeting.

    ii.        That the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 12 April 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

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management of public participation at our meetings. The

deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Monday 18

July 2022.

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meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been five registration to speak at

the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

June Tranmer stated that she was stepping down as Chair of One Planet York and needed a replacement.  She suggested that during York Environment Week, members of Indie York, who had pledged to at least one of the 10 One Planet Principles, could have a sticker on their door to demonstrate their support.

Debby Cobbett raised concerns regarding the lack of progress which had been made since 2010 and noted that the questionnaires regarding ‘Our Big Conservation’ were not distributed at libraries, and therefore accessed, effectively.  She also questioned the use of the future tense in strategy documents, highlighting that areas of concern were already present.

Flick Williams, spoke on Item 6 and noted that many disabled people were reliant on their own private transport. This meant that road user charges, such as low emission zones, impacted most on disabled people who were also often economically poor.  She referred to the removal of blue badge parking from the York Central project and stated that this would impact on disabled people wishing to make train journeys.

Christopher Copland, the local Labour Party Environment Co-ordinator, questioned the range of participants of the Climate Commission.  He suggested that the voices of residents, commuters, tenants, young people and people with disabilities should have representation.

Peter York raised concerns regarding the process of the ‘One Big Conversation’ survey and questioned the lack of action plans within strategies. 

This report updates the committee on emissions of York’s  commercial and industrial sectors and what support can be provided to these sectors to reduce emissions.

Members considered the Business Support report from the council’s Head of Carbon Reduction.  He highlighted the current support available to businesses to achieve York’s climate change ambition of becoming a net zero carbon city by 2030.  This included one to one advice from the Economic Growth team, the development of a checklist for business sustainability, a York Sustainability Clinic through the Environment Sustainability Academy at the University of York and a weekly news letter

Erin Wheeler, Circular Economy Officer (CEO) for York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYLEP) explained how they engaged businesses in sustainable and circular economies.  YNYLEP had produced six guides, each focused on one benefit, such as waste reduction.  These could be used to track progress and then updated accordingly. The advanced level included a full carbon footprint analysis.  Guides were free to download and were fully accessible.

In response to questions from Members, they noted that consumer and retail businesses were most likely to adopt the strategy due to the customer relationship benefits.  Small businesses were incentivised to adopt the strategies once potential savings were recognised.

[18:12 – 18:14 Cllr Baker left the meeting.]

Discussion took place on business to business collaboration opportunities, it was highlighted that Circular Towns had been piloted by YNYLEP.  It was agreed to circulate a link to the Circular Towns Guide and Blog to Members after the meeting.  The Freight Forum and the Low Carbon Emissions Logistics pilot were highlighted as support for businesses to reduce carbon emissions.  It was also agreed that BioYorkshire, a company that uses bio waste to create new products, should be invited a future meeting. 

In response to the Chair, who urged for more direct action on retrofitting York’s historic buildings, officers confirmed the potential for collective purchasing but noted the limited powers to force businesses to retrofit.  The Circular Economy Officer for YNYLEP explained that retrofitting was part of the route maps to become carbon negative.  The Assistant Director, Policy and Strategy, noted that combined authority investment in carbon reduction was included in the negotiations for the Devolution deal.

Resolved:

                             i.                That the report be noted.

                            ii.                That a link to the Circular Towns Guide and blog be circulated to Members

                          iii.                That BioYorkshire be invited to a future committee meeting

Reason:              To keep the committee informed of the support in place for businesses.                  

The Committee to meet the new Chair of the York Climate Commission and to discuss the work of the commission and the Councils collaborative work with the commission.

The Head of Carbon Reduction introduced a report on the York Climate Commission.  He reported that the Commission is independent of CYC (City of York Council) and explained there was no secretariat or resource to support the Commission. The contact email, was managed by the council.

The York Climate Commission Chair, Matthias Ruth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of York, addressed the Committee.  He noted that the recent heatwave demonstrated the urgency for action.  He explained that the Commission decision making was nimble, fast moving and it empowered others to take action.  The Commission is designed to be the single point of contact, or hub, on Climate.

During discussion, Members asked for the list of potential members of the York Climate Commission who had been approached.  They asked for the possibility of the inclusion of trade union representation, possibly for the vacant position for Nestlé. It was confirmed that this would take place.

There was also a request made for a mechanism to hear from resident and youth groups.  The Chair of the Commission explained that representatives were heard on specific items and he again highlighted the Environmental Sustainability Academy as a mechanism for the youth voice.  A larger membership of the Commission would result in an increase of information being shared and would leave the Commission’s ability to respond or take action compromised.  Officers confirmed that recommendations for the implementation of the Climate Change strategy would come to the next committee meeting and would pick this up.

In response to questions, the Chair of the Commission noted a number of the Commission’s successes, including encouraging the expansion of the EV (Electric Vehicle) fleet and the installation of solar panels on the Minister.

Resolved:

             i.                That the report be noted.

            ii.                To consider membership of the York Climate Commission to include trade union representation.

Reason:     To update the Committee on the York Climate Commission as an independent organisation promoting leadership in the city on climate change.

[18:58 Cllr Baker left the meeting]

This report provides an update on Model Shift in Transport and seeks the Committee to consider how York can promote and encourage Model Shift.

The Director of Environment, Transport and Planning introduced the Modal Shift report.  He highlighted that people were multi modal and that modal shift concerned the choices they made.  He also noted that in a heritage city, some transport options were not always available and difficult choices occasionally had to be made. 

The Interim Head of Active and Sustainable Transport discussed the report and drew attention to a number of points including traffic reduction in the city centre, factors influencing choice and behaviour, the timing and type of message so as not to alienate groups, investment in EV (Electric Vehicle) charging and HyperHubs, the capital projects that aimed to integrate modal shift and the Tier mobility trial.

During the discussion, Zebra funding was highlighted as a significant achievement in the move towards sustainable transport within the city.  Members were reminded that the review of the Local Transport Plan (LTP) was ongoing. The York First, Park and Ride figures at paragraph 12 of the report were highlighted as an indicator of a possible modal shift due to EV’s.  Officers were also looking at ways of showcasing the investments made to achieve modal shift.  The Chair noted the target to reduce carbon emissions by 71% in the next 8 years and he questioned the role of the LTP in achieving the target.

Officers clarified the following:

·        The Head of Carbon Reduction would share the information with the committee regarding the expected reduction in carbon emissions due to the HyperHubs.

·        The Climate Change strategy was concerned with fewer fossil fuelled journeys, there was a hierarchy to the transport options.

·        The Economic, Climate and Health and Well-being strategies had been aligned to ensure decisions made on Climate Change benefitted all strategies.

·        The EV strategy included a third HyperHub for the city centre this was currently in the planning stage. Journeys within the city would need to become increasingly multi modal. 

·        Officers recommended a regular feedback loop to review and measure progress made against the Local Transport Plan.

·        Methods to affect behaviour change and force modal shift should be considered.

[19:32 to 19:34 Cllr Perrett left the meeting.]

Resolved: 

             i.                That the report be noted.

            ii.                That information on carbon emissions due to the HyperHubs be shared with the committee.

Reason:     To inform the committee of the considerations to achieve a modal shift in transport.

To consider the Draft Work Plan for 2022-23.

Discussion on the Work Plan took place and consideration was given to adding a presentation from BioYorkshire on the re-use of agricultural waste and possible training opportunities.  The opportunity to visit a retrofitted building would be welcomed by Members.

Resolved:

                             i.        That a presentation from BioYorkshire be added to the work plan for December.

Reason:

To keep the plan updated for 2022/23.