Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and introduced the members of the committees. He also welcomed Richard Bonner, recently elected as the new Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Board, to his first meeting.

The Chair thanked Watermore Primary School hosting this meeting.

A brief presentation was received from pupils of the school.

Apologies were received from Mayor Marvin Rees (Councillor Craig Cheney substituting).

It was also noted that Councillor Winston Duguid, Chair-designate of the Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee was unable to attend this meeting; Councillor Huw James was in attendance to present comments on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (see item 6).

Members who consider that they have an interest to declare are asked to: a) State the item number in which they have an interest, b) The nature of the interest, c) Whether the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, non-disclosable pecuniary interest or nonpecuniary interest. Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself.

There were no declarations of interest.

Please note: as this is an Extraordinary joint meeting of the committees, questions and statements (and any petitions) must be about the business for which this extraordinary meeting has been arranged.

WRITTEN PUBLIC QUESTIONS (written procedure)

1. Any member of the public can submit a maximum of two written questions in advance of this meeting.

2. The deadline for the submission of questions is 5.00 pm, at least 3 clear working days ahead of a meeting. For this meeting, the deadline for questions is 5.00 pm on Wednesday 15 September.

3. Questions should be addressed to the Chair of the meeting and e-mailed to democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk

4. Under the direction of the Chair, wherever possible, written replies to questions will be sent to questioners by the end of the working day prior to the meeting.

5. Please note - under the Combined Authority’s committee procedures, there is no opportunity for oral supplementary questions to be asked at committee meetings.

6. The written questions and replies will be circulated to committee members in advance of the meeting and published on the Combined Authority website.

PUBLIC STATEMENTS

1. Any member of the public may submit a written statement (or petition) to this meeting.

2. Please note that one statement per individual is permitted.

3. Statements must be submitted in writing and received by the deadline of 12 noon on the working day before the meeting. For this meeting, the deadline for statements is 12 noon on Monday 20 September. Statements should be emailed to democratic.services@westofengland-ca.gov.uk

4. Statements will be listed for the meeting in the order of receipt. All statements will be sent to committee members in advance of the meeting and published on the Combined Authority website.

5. Please note: If any member of the public wishes to attend the meeting to orally present their statement, they are asked please to notify the Combined Authority’s Democratic Services team of this at the point when their statement is submitted and by 12 noon on the working day before the meeting at the very latest. Due to Covid-19 measures and the capacity limits at this meeting venue, it is very likely on this occasion to be necessary (depending on the number of statements received) to limit the number of people permitted to attend to present their statements in person; statements to be presented physically at the meeting will be listed in the order of receipt of notification. For those presenting their statements at the meeting, a maximum of 3 minutes ‘speaking time’ is permitted for each statement. The total time available for the public session at this meeting is 30 minutes.

Please note that this particular meeting will be live-streamed on the West of England Combined Authority You Tube channel  https://youtu.be/wRT1gPIg3y0

All members of the public attending to present statements are requested please to take a Covid-19 lateral flow test 24 hours before the day of the meeting.

The Chair advised that 9 questions had been submitted in advance of this meeting on the following subjects:

1. Nigel Shipley - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

2. Tarisha Finnegan-Clarke - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

3. Mary Collett - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

4. Jackie Head -Motion on Bristol airport expansion

5. Richard Baxter - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

6. David Redgewell - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

7. Councillor Martin Fodor - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition and Green Recovery Fund

8. David Tudgey - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition and Green Recovery Fund

9. Councillor Ani Stafford-Townsend - Green Recovery Fund

The Chair then confirmed that written replies had been sent to all questioners in advance of the meeting. The questions and replies had been circulated to committee members and were available to view on the Combined Authority web site.

The Chair then advised that 24 statements had been received in advance of the meeting.  The statements had been circulated to committee members and were available to view on the Combined Authority web site. The statements received were on the following subjects (statements were presented by those in attendance; statement 21 was read aloud at the meeting by the Director of Legal Services at the request of the person who had submitted the statement, who was unable to attend the meeting in person):

1. Nigel Shipley - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

2. Jacqueline Walkden - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

3. David Redgewell - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

4. Rob Porteous - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

5. Richard Prior - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

6. Peter Travis - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

7. Bill Roberts - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

8. Marcus Grant - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

9. Martin Garrett - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

10. Tony Jones - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

11. Janet Grimes - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

12. Ollie Lax - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

13. Claire Gronow - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

14. Caroline New - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

15. Cllr Tristan Clark - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

16. Jerome Thomas - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

17. Stephen Clarke - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

18. Mike Birkin - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

19. Dr Tessa Cook - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

20. Richard Baxter - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

21. Jackie Head - Motion on Bristol airport expansion

22. Councillor Martin Fodor - Motion on Bristol airport expansion; Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition; and Green Recovery Fund

23. David Tudgey - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

24. Katrina Billings - Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition

To receive any comments from the Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership on the reports to be considered at this meeting.

Richard Bonner, Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board commented as follows:

* He welcomed this meeting which acknowledged the increasing urgency presented by the climate emergency.

* He fully supported the principles for a refreshed climate and biodiversity strategy and action plan and the proposed investment into a £20m Green Recovery Fund to support initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, protect the environment and create green jobs.

* It would be important to support the aerospace industry in their efforts to decarbonise, e.g. through the Jet Zero initiative.

* There is a clear need to take action now - by working together, there is a better chance of achieving the outcomes that will help the journey to net zero by 2030.

* The proposed regional climate board will provide focus and momentum across the region and ensure work is joined up. He fully supported the proposals for the creation of the board and welcomed the inclusion of business representatives. The Local Enterprise Partnership Board was keen to work closely with the new Climate board and he was keen to ensure membership included Local Enterprise Partnership Board members with relevant expertise; two new members were being recruited to lead this work for the Local Enterprise Partnership Board, recognising the importance of the work to be done.

* The Local Enterprise Partnership Board was very supportive of the creation of a new environment director post at the Combined Authority. There was already a substantive programme of activity in this area and it was important to secure the right person to lead this work, bring it together and take it to the next stage.

* The Local Enterprise Partnership Board was keen to work with Mayors and Leaders and others to secure this region as the place that leads the world on innovations to reduce carbon emissions.

To receive any comments from the Combined Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the reports to be considered at this meeting.

The Chair advised that the Combined Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee had submitted written comments following on from their meeting held on 20 September.  These comments had been circulated in advance of the meeting and were available to view on the Combined Authority web site.

Councillor Huw James presented the comments, highlighting the following points:

a. Metro Mayor’s attendance at Scrutiny:

The Metro Mayor’s attendance at the meeting was welcomed and scrutiny members looked forward to future positive and ongoing engagement with the Metro Mayor.

b. Principles for a refreshed climate emergency ambition (item 8):

Scrutiny members noted and welcomed the fact that tackling the climate emergency was a key priority for the Metro Mayor and strongly supported the revised principles as set out in the report, recognising also the public appetite for fast, urgent action.

The committee also supported the proposal to create an interim Environment Director to drive forward the refreshed ambition with a view to recruiting to this post on a permanent basis in the medium term.

Members welcomed the broad representation proposed in terms of the membership of the Climate Board and the collaborative partnership approach to be taken.  The committee also wished to strongly request that a scrutiny member was given observer status on this Board, in line with the arrangements being made for scrutiny member observers to attend the other Combined Authority Boards. 

Members particularly welcomed the clarity of the target that in order to meet the 2030 net zero carbon ambitions, a cut of 464kt of CO2 needs to be achieved each year (10% of today’s total) - this set the huge scale of the challenge ahead and demonstrates the region’s ambition.  It would be essential to continue collaborative work with the unitary authorities to establish clear, measurable targets within the Climate and Biodiversity strategy/action plan, which were agreed by all authorities and with robust progress checks and reporting in place; there must be clear lines of accountability for the delivery of each action.

Noting that the new Climate and Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan will be delivered in Spring 2022, members requested that a progress update is specifically brought to Scrutiny in January 2022 to allow an opportunity to comment and input to this critically important plan.  Members were particularly keen to see momentum build through urgently identifying and delivering tangible ‘quick wins’ in parallel with the development of the new strategy and action plan.

c. Green Recovery Fund (item 9):

Scrutiny members broadly welcomed and supported this report and the recommendation to earmark (from the existing Combined Authority Investment Fund) headroom of £20m for a Green Recovery Fund. This amount should be seen as a start and any avenues of increasing the amount through match funding or otherwise should be explored.  Scrutiny members would like to be kept fully informed as the detailed plans for the drawdown of this fund to support specific actions are developed and were also concerned that the appraisal methods used to guide investment decisions should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The following motion has been submitted for consideration by the West of England Joint Committee:

Motion on Bristol Airport Expansion

Motion to be moved by Metro Mayor Dan Norris.

‘The Joint Committee recognises:
- There is a climate and biodiversity emergency.
- The West of England has ambition net zero targets for 2030.
- The proposed expansion of Bristol Airport is one of the biggest carbon decisions in the region for the coming decade.
- The pandemic has significantly reduced air travel with a 75.6% drop in passenger numbers in 2020.
- Bristol Airport’s role as an employer in the region and the need for a just transition to a greener economy that does not leave workers worse-off.
- Bristol City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council opposition to current airport expansion and North Somerset Council's decision to refuse planning permission to expand beyond 10 million passengers a year.

The Joint Committee resolves:
- To oppose the latest plans to expand Bristol Airport.’

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

The Joint Committee recognises:  

- There is a climate and biodiversity emergency.

- The West of England has ambition net zero targets for 2030.   

- The proposed expansion of Bristol Airport is one of the biggest carbon decisions in the region for the coming decade.  

- The pandemic has significantly reduced air travel with a 75.6% drop in passenger numbers in 2020 and is expected to recover although to an unknown level.

- Bristol Airport’s role as an employer in the region and the need for a just transition to a greener economy that does not leave workers worse-off.  

- Bristol City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council opposition to current airport expansion and North Somerset Council's decision to refuse planning permission to expand beyond 10 million passengers a year

- The importance of the wider aerospace centre of excellence at Filton and its major contribution to our economy, skills base and industrial heritage.

- Ongoing efforts being pioneered locally by industry to decarbonise aviation, including through the Jet Zero initiative.

Further recognises:

- The Combined Authority’s role as Transport Authority for its area to improve sustainable and decarbonised travel options to and from the Airport.

The Joint Committee resolves:  

- To oppose the latest plans to expand Bristol Airport.   

- Supporting North Somerset Council’s position in refusing Bristol Airport’s latest planning application which is currently the subject of an appeal inquiry and to oppose the additional expansion of Bristol Airport represented in that planning application.

- Opposing the carbon emissions associated with the additional expansion of Bristol Airport represented in their latest planning application.

- To request that West of England Chief Executives bring a report back to the October 2021 meeting setting out a range of proposals to support the decarbonising of aviation.

Motion – Bristol Airport expansion

The Chair moved the following motion for consideration by the West of England Joint Committee:

‘The Joint Committee recognises:

- There is a climate and biodiversity emergency.

- The West of England has ambition net zero targets for 2030.

- The proposed expansion of Bristol Airport is one of the biggest carbon decisions in the region for the coming decade.

- The pandemic has significantly reduced air travel with a 75.6% drop in passenger numbers in 2020.

- Bristol Airport’s role as an employer in the region and the need for a just transition to a greener economy that does not leave workers worse-off.

- Bristol City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council opposition to current airport expansion and North Somerset Council's decision to refuse planning permission to expand beyond 10 million passengers a year.

The Joint Committee resolves:

- To oppose the latest plans to expand Bristol Airport.’

In moving the motion, the Chair added that in his view, it was time for moral leadership to be shown on this issue, in line with public opinion.  He reflected that 11 years ago, when he was a government environment minister responsible for climate change adaptation, he had been advised that Great Britain was the second biggest producer of CO2 emissions in the history of the world.  Given this context, he was proud of the region’s ambitious 2030 net zero carbon target and was determined to do everything possible to achieve it, recognising that this was a very tough challenge requiring a 10 per cent reduction each year in CO2 emissions.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Guy.  In seconding the motion, Councillor Guy  added that it was important to be clear about how the region can support the aerospace industry to become greener.  It was unrealistic to think ‘overnight’ that people would stop flying, so therefore it was critical for the authorities to do their utmost to encourage the aerospace industry to be as green as possible, as quickly as possible.  He reminded the committee that Bath and North East Somerset Council opposed the latest plans to expand Bristol Airport and welcomed this motion which moved the Combined Authority’s position towards that footing. Referring to Bristol Airport’s plans and actions to reduce its carbon footprint, it was unrealistic for the Airport to expect to achieve this at the same time that it was seeking to expand passenger numbers.

Councillor Savage then moved the following amendment to the motion:

The motion to be reworded as follows:

‘The Joint Committee recognises:

- There is a climate and biodiversity emergency.

- The West of England has ambition net zero targets for 2030.

- The proposed expansion of Bristol Airport is one of the biggest carbon decisions in the region for the coming decade.

- The pandemic has significantly reduced air travel with a 75.6% drop in passenger numbers in 2020 and is expected to recover although to an unknown level.

- Bristol Airport’s role as an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

- To agree the principles for a revised ambition to address the climate emergency.

This report was submitted for consideration by the West of England Combined Authority Committee and the West of England Joint Committee (agenda item 8). 

The report set out a recommendation for the Combined Authority Committee’s consideration and a separate recommendation for the Joint Committee’s consideration, as follows:

Recommendation for the Combined Authority Committee:

- To approve the creation of an interim Environment Director, with a view to recruiting to this post on a permanent basis in the medium term.

Recommendation for the Joint Committee:

- To agree the principles for a revised ambition to address the climate emergency.

At the suggestion of Councillor Davies, the Chair agreed it would be appropriate for the recommendation for the Joint Committee to be considered first.

The Chair then moved the recommendation for the Joint Committee as follows:

‘To agree the principles for a revised ambition to address the climate emergency.’

This motion was seconded by Councillor Davies.

Councillor Davies commented that the work now being developed was moving in the right direction; it will be important for the Joint Committee to ambitiously deliver on the new Climate Emergency approach and, given the time lost through reframing the approach, to accelerate delivery even more quickly. He therefore supported the new approach, which must be accompanied by ambitious delivery to achieve net zero by 2030 – it will be important to challenge delivery on an ongoing basis to ensure the ambitious approach is maintained.

Councillor Guy thanked Combined Authority officers for working in collaboration with unitary authority officers in developing this more ambitious and dynamic Climate Emergency approach.  As part of this, it will be essential for the Combined Authority to embed climate emergency considerations into transport delivery.  He also appreciated the comments submitted by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. To help assist the delivery of the new approach, he felt an amendment was needed to add further wording to the recommendation, to ensure clarity about the role of the new Climate Board in delivering the ambitions and measuring and challenging that delivery and progress.

Councillor Guy then moved the following amendment to the report:

The recommendation for the Joint Committee to be reworded as follows:

‘To agree the principles for a revised ambition to address the climate emergency and that a full review of the governance and terms of reference for the new Climate Board should be approved at the next Joint Committee in October 2021.’

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Savage and Councillor Cheney.

Councillor Savage commented that there are lessons to learn in terms of how partnership and collaboration has worked; it will be important to ensure that the Climate Board’s voice, incorporating all the unitary authorities, will be listened to. 

Councillor Cheney, noting the above comment, stressed the need to ensure full collaborative working. 

Councillor Davies welcomed the proposal, as included in the amendment, to review the detail of the Climate Board’s terms of reference.  He suggested it would be appropriate to consider using a term other than ‘Board’ for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

No decision was taken by the Combined Authority Committee on the recommendation included in the submitted report.

This report was submitted for consideration by the West of England Joint Committee and the West of England Combined Authority Committee (agenda item 9). 

The report set out a recommendation for the Combined Authority Committee’s consideration and a separate recommendation for the Joint Committee’s consideration, as follows:

Recommendation for the Combined Authority Committee:

- To earmark from the existing Combined Authority Investment Fund headroom £20m for a Green Recovery Fund.

Recommendation for the Joint Committee:

- To note the fund’s objectives and framework.

The Chair moved the recommendation for the Combined Authority Committee as follows:

‘To earmark from the existing Combined Authority Investment Fund headroom £20m for a Green Recovery Fund.’

In moving the motion, the Chair stressed that this proposal was in line with and would deliver his manifesto commitment to create a Green Recovery Fund of this scale.   He emphasised that retrofitting of properties to reduce emissions would be a key element of the proposal.  The fund was also designed to lever in additional resources and opportunities. He was determined that the region should be at the ‘cutting edge’ of green delivery, with the region showing that it was a national leader, well placed to take advantage of government funding opportunities.

This motion was not seconded.  The motion therefore fell.

Councillor Guy indicated his support for the principle of a Green Recovery Fund but advised he was not able to second the current proposal.  The fund in his view needed to be bolder, more ambitious and at least three times bigger than the £20 million proposed in the report, i.e. at least £60 million.

The Chair commented that the item would be brought back for discussion at the October meeting, adding that officers will explore how the £20 million fund could be increased as he was keen to ensure that the proposal is as ambitious as possible.

Councillor Savage referred to the fact that he had circulated to committee members a potential new recommendation for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee.  He indicated that it was not necessary for him to formally move this new recommendation, noting that committee members were in agreement about the need to create a more ambitious Green Recovery Fund.  He asked for a verbal assurance from the Metro Mayor that there will be collaboration between the Combined Authority Chief Executive and the unitary authority Chief Executives on the refreshed proposal in advance of the October committee meeting.

In response, the Chair stated that the authorities will need to work very closely together to achieve the ambitions around this fund, including increasing the size of the fund.

Councillor Cheney commented that from Bristol’s perspective, there was a lack of clarity in the current report about how the Green Recovery Fund would be financed, including information about how funding this priority may potentially affect the funding of other priorities.

The Chair confirmed that a further report on the Green Recovery Fund would be brought back to the October meeting, linked in with the latest Investment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.