Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

The Committee received apologies from Councillors Carlill and Hart-Brooke.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

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

The Committee received the Annual report of the Chief Officer Sustainable Energy and Air Quality (SEAQ) for the 2022/23 municipal year, prior to its referral to Full Council.

The Committee thanked the SEAQ team for their work over the municipal year.

The Committee discussed the work programme of Committee over the year, including the work of the working groups, specifically the Community and Business Engagement group, previously known as the Transport and Behaviour Change group. As the focus of the group has widened there were discussions of whether transport is still within the group’s terms of references, with the Chief Officer confirming that it is. As the working groups cover several related topics, it is expected that each working group will have a different focus each year.

The need for a strong transport system was noted by the Committee regarding  local business support needs.

The Committee noted the recent Grade A classification from the Carbon Disclosure Project and discussed the scoring criteria. Officers clarified that the scoring is based on ability to change rather than measuring existing work. The Committee noted that the scoring criteria will be a useful steer for future work in this area.

Yorkshire Water’s policy on Woodland sales was requested and will be supplied at a future meeting.

The following amendments were requested;

·  The Open Forum appendix lists the 21^st July 2022 attendee as Seacroft Community Hub, but was Climate Action Seacroft.

·  A formatting error referenced both appendix A and appendix 1

The Committee discussed community engagement at the open forum for the next year and Members will distribute details of the Committee widely to community groups.

RECOMMENDED: That the Climate Emergency Annual Report, as presented, be referred to Full Council for consideration, subject to the amendments listed above.