Agenda and minutes

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals against the inspection of documents.

1)  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2)  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3)  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-

The agenda contained no exempt information.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

No late items of business were added to the agenda.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

No declarations of interest were made.

To receive any apologies for absence from the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor O Newton.

To receive and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th March 2024.

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the meeting, held on the 18^th of March 2024, be approved as a true and correct record.

The following matters arising were raised:

Minute 58 – Directors Update of Children and Families

The last three bullet points on page 8 on the Agenda referenced information regarding, social worker electric vehicle trials, school and other relevant sites climate adaptability plans, teacher workshops and best practise discussions, that was to be provided back to Members by the Directorate. Details on these matters had not yet been provided and were to be followed up.

Committee Membership

It was clarified that Councillor A Rontree had been appointed to replace Councillor J Bowden via a delegated decision notice. This had occurred after the Agenda had been distributed as Councillor J Bowden was referenced as a Member on the front sheet of the pack.

At the discretion of the Chair, a period of up to 15 minutes may be allocated at each ordinary meeting for members of the public to make representations or to ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the Committee. No member of the public shall speak for more than five minutes in the Open Forum, except by permission of the Chair.

Please note: Members of the public are asked to submit a video of their question or statement to climate.emergency@leeds.gov.uk  by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 12^th June 2024.

The Chair explained the procedure and requested Member’s suggestions for groups of individuals who may provide future submissions to the Open Forum.

The following submission was raised under the Open Forum item.

Leeds Children’s Mayor

A presentation was provided by the Leeds Children’s Mayor, from Ireland Wood Primary School, which detailed his work on addressing the climate emergency. He had been involved in various initiatives at 27 events, projects and talks since his election which helped raise awareness to climate change. Incredible Edible workshops had been run from Ireland Wood Primary School to develop and encourage sustainable practises, with a focus on food production and composting. An apple tree had been planted at the school which was sentimental and a lasting gift as he was leaving for high school next year. Tree planting had been secured through a project with the Woodland Trust, community litter picks had been conducted and were proposed to take place twice a year and in May 2024 a walk to school week had received positive engagement and results with improvements to air quality. The small collective actions contributed to the wider picture and helped inspire others to initiate activity and do their bit, and also for people of all ages to be mindful of their environmental impact. As part of his manifesto, he had helped promote the Leeds By Example Toolkit, providing information of combatting climate change with actionable steps. Nowell Mount Community Centre had run a Support Winter Coat Campaign which the Leeds Children’s Mayor had engaged with and met with hardworking volunteers; he had also represented CHORAL (Child Health Outcomes Research at Leeds) to provide better futures for young people. To spread awareness and research projects visits to Grime Dyke Primary School and Temple Newsam Farm had been made. A ‘Running out of time’ event had been supported by him and the Executive Member for Climate, Energy, Environment and Green Spaces to raise awareness of the need for immediate action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Members were requested to share the climate action route map with other primary schools and in conclusion the Leeds Children’s was proud of the progress and awareness he had raised but there was much more work to be done.

Members thanked the Leeds Children’s Mayor for his presentation and all his support and success with the work that aligned to the Committee.

To consider the report of the Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces introducing a presentation to be provided at the meeting which will give the Committee an overview of carbon literacy and an insight into how the Council and wider city is addressing climate mitigation and climate adaptation, as well as the sectors and partnerships the Council engages with.

The report of the Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces (CEGS) introduced a presentation which gave the Committee an overview of carbon literacy and an insight into how the Council and wider city was addressing climate mitigation and climate adaptation, as well as the sectors and partnerships the Council engaged with.

The Chair noted that it was a pre-election period and the items for consideration by the Committee had been selected to limit political discussion whilst also providing a good overview of the Committee’s remit for new Members.

Polly Cook, Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces, and Rachel Wainwright, Policy Officer, presented the report and highlighted the following information:

·  Targets had been omitted from the report and presentation, in line with the politically conscious approach.

·  The CEGS department held responsibility for developing climate policy and delivery for the Council, as well as engaging with other departments and seeking improvements to climate action work. It was noted that Directors attend the Committee over the year to provide updates on relevant progress.

·  It was outlined that mitigation and adaptability were corelated counterparts, with mitigation focused on ending Leeds’ contribution to climate change and reliance of fossil fuels and adaptation was to reduce impacts of future climate hazards.

·  The Carbon Disclosure Project was noted to be a useful international, independent review of the action in Leeds, with a score provided to benchmark and compare results and share ideas with other core cities and organisation. Leeds had proudly received an A rating; however, the criteria changed each year to encourage improvements and there was greater focus on adaptability methods.

·  Relevant partners that CEGS engaged with were noted as Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, Climate Action Leeds, University of Leeds, Place-Based Climate Action Network and Leeds Beckett University. Achieving net zero and creating sound adaptability plans required a multiagency approach.

·  Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission and Leeds Climate Commission were noted to be good engagement forums, bringing in businesses and relevant stakeholders such as utility companies, allowing information to be shared to encourage large scale and efficient action.

·  Climate Action Leeds was community led, linked to the University of Leeds, and encouraged localised community action through the Hubs and the organisation had previously provided Open Forum submissions.

·  Public sector organisations were outlined to have the biggest initial impact against climate change, with them being large energy consumers across the city and also holding influence.

·  Links to core cities allowed better understanding of the impacts of Government policy, alongside work with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) allowed a collaborative approach to create a bigger difference and share best practises.

·  The three scopes of emissions were explained as; 1 being direct from owned or controlled sources, 2 being indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy and 3 being indirect upstream and downstream emissions that occur through procurement in the value chain of a reporting company. Business travel and employee mileage would also be scope 3.

·  The understanding and measuring of scope 3 were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider the report of the Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces which sets out the meeting schedule for the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year and proposes that each meeting will progress one (or more) of the key climate change mitigation and adaptation themes as identified in the attached work programme.

The report of the Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces set out the meeting schedule for the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year and proposed that each meeting would progress one (or more) of the key climate change mitigation and adaptation themes as identified in the attached work programme.

Polly Cook, Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces, presented the report and highlighted the following information:

·  The proposed items of business contained in the forward plan focused on a mix of topics across mitigation and adaptation, as well as outward and inward looking discussions and points of influence.

·  Member’s views, comments and amendments to the schedule were sought, including providing any topics and submissions for the Open Forum and Director’s updates.

During the discussions the following matters were considered:

• In order to address alternative views on climate change from external groups or individuals, it was suggested that a private sub-group meeting may be appropriate to address varied views, perception, misinformation concerns and confirming evidence which led the Council to conclude on specific policies. In response there was discussion as to whether this met with the aims and outcomes of the Committee, given its role to advise the Executive Board and entering re-discussion for the Committee’s direction may be time intensive with limited results for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Some support for the private sub-group approach was outlined as the more accurate information provided was beneficial for society so people can make more informed decisions and develop an understanding for individual responsibility and misinformation.
• A session on scrutiny of information and communication may be of use to Members in order to provide correct information to the public to support the Committee’s beliefs and pledges, as well as to disprove misinformation through evidence based conclusions.
• It was proposed and agreed that one of the working groups could cover communication and engagement to address common concerns and encourage carbon literacy.
• It was agreed that an item regarding air quality across the district of Leeds be added to the forward plan, this was also to include discussions on air quality issues stemming from Leeds and Bradford Airport.
• It was confirmed that discussions of pesticide use were relevant to, and were to be included in, the tree planting and maintenance update that had been scheduled.
• Further collaborative work with relevant organisations, such as WYCA and the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission, was suggested in order to streamline work and share learning and practise. The forward plan had allowed for topics that covered internal and external impact and it was noted that the Chair sat on a WYCA Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, which fed into the Committee’s plans and discussions.
• The WYCA transport plan scoping consultation had been paused during the pre-election period, but when the results had been published, the contents were relevant to the Leeds transport plans, with substantial funding expected to be provided by WYCA. This was also to be linked to air quality and outer area  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Monday 22nd July 2024 at 2.00 pm – the meeting to be held remotely as a Consultative Meeting.

RESOLVED – To note the date and time of the next meeting as Monday 22nd July 2024 at 2.00 pm – this meeting was be held in person and form a formal meeting rather than a Consultative Meeting, as originally proposed, as agreed by the Chair.