Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Civic Centre, Doncaster Road, Selby, YO8 9FT

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: democraticservices@selby.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

17.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Mary McCartney.

 

18.

Disclosures of Interest

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.

 

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest.

 

19.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 256 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy Review Committee held on 18 October 2022.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2022.

 

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 October 2022.

 

20.

Chair's Address to the Policy Review Committee

Minutes:

There was no Chairs address.

 

The Chair indicated that he would be amending the order of business to allow agenda item number 7, the emerging North Yorkshire Council Climate Change Strategy to be considered first as agenda item number 5; the rest of the business would follow as set out in the agenda.

 

21.

Emerging North Yorkshire Council Climate Change Strategy

To receive a presentation on the emerging NYC Climate Change Strategy.

Minutes:

Members received a detailed presentation from the Climate Change Policy Officer from North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) on the work which was being carried out in conjunction with the seven district councils and the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to develop a Climate Change Strategy for the new unitary North Yorkshire Council.

 

The Committee heard that the LEP document, Routemap to Carbon Negative, which was the most recent and relevant document had been used as a guiding document for York and North Yorkshire, and it was hoped that the Routemap to Carbon Negative would be endorsed by the Executive Members of NYCC in January 2023, along with the draft Climate Change Strategy.

 

The aim was that the region of York and North Yorkshire would be carbon negative by 2040 by encouraging residents, businesses, and visitors to take climate responsible actions; this was felt to be an ambitious, but achievable ambition.

 

The Committee were shown data for greenhouse gas emissions for the North Yorkshire area, and it was explained that the government had recently started to include not only carbon dioxide as the key greenhouse gas but also nitrous oxide and methane, consequently the figures had changed quite considerably; this demonstrated that agriculture was the largest omitting sector followed by transport and domestic buildings.

 

The Officer stated that in July 2022 NYCC had declared a climate emergency, which was included in the NYCC Council Plan, and in the Plan for the new unitary Council, and highlighted some of the measures that had been put in place across the services provided by NYCC to reduce omissions.

 

The Members were appraised of the current activity taking place due to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in terms of the Climate Change Working Group and the different workstreams, with the aspiration of embedding climate change thinking into all proposals, decisions and policies. 

 

The Committee were informed that once the draft NYC Climate Change Strategy had been endorsed by the NYCC Executive, the next step would be for the draft to go out for public consultation, this would take place between January and March 2023. 

 

It was highlighted that consideration had to be given to three themes to support the region to be carbon negative, these were to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prepare for the climate changing; and support nature and the ecosystem to thrive.  The Members went on to hear a number of interventions being put in place by NYCC to mitigate greenhouse gases, to adapt to the changes in the climate, and to support nature; and how these would be delivered.      

 

Finally, the Committee noted that talks had taken place between officers from North Yorkshire County Council and the Selby Sustainability Partnership to ensure that any issues relevant to the Selby District were being taken into consideration.

 

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the emissions data provided, low carbon vehicles, the connection of solar farms to the National Grid, carbon capture by trees and tree planting, and the methane  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

Selby Sustainability Partnership & Our Zero Selby Project

To welcome Chris Hailey-Norris, Chief Officer of Selby District Association of Voluntary Service (AVS), to brief Members on the work being done to create a climate friendly future in the Selby area.

Minutes:

The Chief Officer of the Selby District Association of Voluntary Service (SDAVS) was welcomed to the meeting and gave a short briefing on the Selby Sustainability Partnership (SSP), and Our Zero Selby project (OZS).

 

It was explained that the SSP had been established in 2021 by the SDAVS to champion and develop a shared understanding of sustainable priorities for the district, share project updates; and foster collaboration and look for opportunities for joint delivery.

 

The Committee heard that the SDAVS worked in partnership with a number of local groups to include amongst others, Selby District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Groundwork, Yorkshire Energy Doctor, Monk Fryston and Hillam Sustainability Project and Tadcaster and Rural C.I.C.

 

Members noted that the SDAVS ran a number of initiatives to include the Selby Community Fridge which had been successful in terms of overcoming the stigma of food poverty and reducing food waste by redistributing waste, perishable food donated by supermarkets and members of the public, to local residents who faced challenges in financial and food insecurity.

 

In addition, the SDAVS also provided education in the form of the Yorkshire Energy Doctor.  Members were informed that 37 Energy Ambassador training courses had been delivered to over 400 advice workers, who then cascaded the information learned through the training to residents on how to reduce energy consumption and energy bills and engender a positive view on the difference individual people could make.

 

In response to a question from the Chairman, it was explained that Our Zero Selby (OZS) was launched in 2021 as part of a national pilot to support residents to take action on climate change and to inspire the transition to a zero-carbon economy.  Members noted that a 6 month period of consultation with over 300 residents had taken place, followed by a three day decision making event, from where an action plan of 25 different projects had been developed that could achieve measurable carbon reductions.

 

In response to a query regarding the geographical area covered by the SSP, it was confirmed that historically the SDAVS was based within the Selby area, however as the new Council emerged a more flexible approach would be taken to ensure that the skills and knowledge gained by the SDAVS would be cascaded across the County, if and when needed.  The Officer explained that during the Covid pandemic three community support organisations based in Selby, Sherburn in Elmet and Tadcaster had worked together as partners to provide aid and advice, and this continued to happen.  It was noted that members of the three organisations continued to meet periodically to share learned information for each of their respective areas.

 

Finally, the Committee heard that the SDAVS provided monthly drop in sessions where residents could talk to a number of specialist advisors to gain support and advice in a range of areas to include financial concerns, energy bills and health.  It was noted that in 2021 the SDAVS had dealt with 12,000 enquiries, the figure to date for 2022 was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Routemap to Carbon Negative

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.

 

Minutes:

Members had requested that an officer from the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) attend the meeting to provide a briefing on the Routemap to Carbon Negative, due to unforeseen circumstances at the last moment, the officer was unable to attend the meeting; therefore, the item was abandoned.

 

Members requested that the officer be invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee in January 2023.

 

RESOLVED:

To ask the Democratic Services Officer to invite the Officer from the Y&NY LEP to the Policy Review meeting due to take place on the 10 January 2023.

24.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 320 KB

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the 2022-23 work programme as presented in the agenda.

 

Members were reminded that the next date in the Committee Calendar for Policy Review Committee was Tuesday 10 January 2023, and there was also one further date on 14 March 2023 which was being held provisionally; it was

confirmed that the Chair had agreed that the March date should be removed from the calendar as the date was so close to Vesting Day. 

 

RESOLVED:

Members noted the Policy Review Committee Work Programme 2022-23.