Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Richardson.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy Review Committee held on 6 December 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2022.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 6 December 2022.

There was no Chairs address.

To receive a presentation on the Y&NY LEP’s Routemap to Carbon Negative, which sets out the region's ambitious plans to be net zero carbon by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040.

Members received a detailed presentation on York and North Yorkshire’s Routemap to Carbon Negative document from the Local Authorities Climate Action Coordinator from the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The Committee were informed that the Routemap was a clear and co-owned plan with the aim to accelerate the transformation to a carbon negative York and North Yorkshire, and although other authorities in the region had produced their own decarbonisation documentation, the Routemap was specific to the York and North Yorkshire area.

Members heard that the Routemap had specific objectives to provide, amongst others, strategic direction and a coordinated approach, to harness the economic opportunities presented, to catalyse collaborative action at pace and scale; and to build confidence that it was feasible to reach net zero and beyond to carbon negative in York and North Yorkshire.

The Committee were taken through a timeline for the Routemap which had started in 2020 with key experts and stakeholder engagement to look at the modelling and assumptions, followed by stakeholder consultations and workshops on the initial carbon abatement pathways (CAP) study findings; with the final CAP study being finalised and published onto the LEP website in 2021. This work had then been followed by the co-development of sector priorities and sector action plans and aligning with other organisations strategies to avoid duplication and also to highlight any omissions which may have been made.

The Officer explained the three key pillars behind the strategic framework that the Routemap had been based upon, along with the five business sectors which the Routemap focused on in terms of greenhouse gas emissions: namely power, heat and buildings, transport, business and industry and land use. 

The Officer highlighted some of the actions currently being undertaken within the five business sectors, along with examples of other actions needed to be driven forward, and how they would be delivered, to decarbonise these business sectors.

Finally, the Committee noted that the York and North Yorkshire Routemap to Carbon Negative had been adopted by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and endorsed by the North York Moors National Park Authority, with plans in place for local authorities in the region to adopt or endorse the Routemap.

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the view of the LEP in terms of solar farms within the North Yorkshire area, tree planting data for the region, actions in terms of bus routes and encouraging people to walk and cycle, infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles, and the use of water as a source of power generator.

The Committee raised concerns regarding the timescales to achieve carbon neutrality and carbon negativity and asked what actions had actually been started and completed to date.  It was confirmed that the Routemap detailed which actions were happening currently, which had been completed, and that all the actions had deadlines to be adhered to.  It was further confirmed that all the actions within the Routemap were expected to have been started by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To review and approve the Policy Review Committee Annual Report for 2022-23;  in addition the Committee are asked to delegate authority to the Democratic Services Officer in consultation with the Chair, to update the appendix prior to publication to reflect the work undertaken at the final meeting of the municipal year.

The Committee received the report from the Democratic Services Officer, which asked Members to approve the annual report for 2022-23; and to delegate authority to the Democratic Services Officer, in consultation with the Chair, to update the final version of the annual report 2022-23 following the inclusion of details from the current meeting.

Members noted that the Annual report provided an update on the topics considered and the subsequent findings of the Policy Review Committee over the last municipal year.

RESOLVED:

i.                 To approve the Annual Report of the Policy Review Committee for 2022-23, submitted by the Chair of the Committee.

ii.               To delegate authority to the Democratic Services Officer, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to update the final version of the Annual Report 2022-23, following the inclusion of details from the meeting on 10 January 2023.

To note the Policy Review Work Programme 2022-23

The Committee considered the work programme for 2022-23.

RESOLVED:

                    To note the work programme.