Agenda and minutes

To consider the report of the Chief Officer (Sustainable Energy and Air Quality) that seeks the approval of the Committee’s Annual Report to Full Council.

The Chief Officer (Sustainable Energy and Air Quality) submitted a report seeking the approval of the committee’s Annual Report to Full Council.

The Chief Officer introduced the report, providing an overview of the work of the committee and working groups during 2021 and advised Members that a separate update of all council-led projects and programmes in response to the Climate Emergency, will be submitted to Executive Board in February 2022.

Members requested several amendments to the annual report, as follows:

·  That the Chair’s foreword be amended to expand on the reference to four-degree warmed world, and that the reference to remote meetings ‘assisting healthy work life balance for members and officers’ be removed.

·  That the responses to open forum submissions throughout the year be appended to the report, along with lobbying correspondence, where appropriate.

·  In response to a request for the inclusion of next steps and key actions for the committee and its working groups, and several suggestions of future areas of focus for the committee, it was suggested that a draft work schedule for the 2022/23 municipal year be appended to the report.

·  That the ‘Finance Working Group’ section be amended to reflect that the group have held one meeting to date. It was also requested that references to exploring alternative funding solutions within the report summary be reworded for clarity.

·  That a section detailing the progress following the committee’s recommendation to Executive Board, regarding the West Yorkshire Pension Fund’s investment in fossil fuels, be included.

·  That the reference to PAS2035 in the report be explained for clarity.

The Chair and Members thanked the Chief Officer for her support to the committee and its working groups, and valuable presentations on a wide range of matters throughout the year.

RECOMMENDED – That the annual report be referred to Full Council, subject to amendments requested during the meeting and a final version agreed with committee members prior to submission.