Agenda item

To provide a 6-monthly progress update on actions for this year contained within the Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan (CESAP)

Resolved:

(1)   That the Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan progress report provided as part of the Authority’s commitment in its Climate Emergency declaration in 2019 be noted;

(2)   That it be noted that the increasing likelihood that the West of England’s ambitions for achieving carbon neutrality and nature in recovery by 2030 would be unachievable without substantial national and international changes in approach;

(3)   That the development of a West of England Mayoral Combined Authority framework for embedding climate and nature recovery considerations throughout its current and future decision making be endorsed.

(4)   That authority to approve business cases and funding applications within the Green Recovery Fund (approved by Committee in March 2023) be delegated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Head of Environment in consultation with Unitary Authority Environment Directors. In the event of a consensus not being reached at Director level, decision making to be escalated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in consultation with the Unitary Authority CEOs.

(5)   That authority to approve change requests within the tolerances set out in Table 1 (as recommended by the Programme Review Board) be delegated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Head of Environment in consultation with Unitary Authority Environment Directors. In the event of a consensus not being reached at Director level, decision making to be escalated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in consultation with the Unitary Authority CEOs.

The Committee received a report which provided a 6-monthly progress update on actions for the current year contained within the Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan (CESAP), following on from March 2023 Committee’s adoption of a revised CESAP.

The recommendations were moved by Metro Mayor Dan Norris and seconded by Cllr Kevin Guy.

Cllr Guy was disappointed that national government was seemingly rowing back on its climate ambitions and called for the West of England to show leadership and push ahead with its ambitions as fast as possible.  He welcomed the intention for the plan to embed climate and nature recovery considerations throughout the Authority’s current and future decision-making.  He asked that information on the carbon impact of the loss of rural bus services be brought forward and taken into consideration as this was not part of the KPMG’s report on the Bus Services Improvement Plan (Item 14).  He also noted the extreme difficulty highlighted in achieving net zero by 2030 at a local level without the appropriate funding or powers to act.  He called for the West of England Combined Authority to adopt a “doughnut economics” socially just plan going forward in this area.  He especially welcomed the initiatives at Chew Valley Lake and Bath Riverline.

Cllr Young also mentioned that the recent government announcements would hinder the West of England’s ability to meet its targets and asked that future updates consider the implications of these recent announcements and the Net Zero Review conclusions compiled by Chris Skidmore MP.  On recommendation (2) it was noted that the University of West of England (UWE) had been commissioned to provide a report into the likely emissions gap by 2030 based on several scenarios and showed a likely reduction with mitigation works.  Therefore it was important to recognise the ‘soft power’ that the West of England had to influence the area-wide emissions.   In respect of recommendation (3) South Gloucestershire had recently adopted a new decision-making tool the Climate and Nature Decision Wheel based on the economic theory of “doughnut” economics, to help ensure better social and environmental outcomes were always considered when making decisions about projects and asked the Combined Authority to consider adopting a similar approach for all key decisions.  Cllr Young also noted the absence of a Climate or Environment Committee and asked whether there were plans to establish one.

Cllr Young also proposed an amendment for Recommendation (4) as follows:

That the following wording be added to recommendation (4) “in the event of a consensus not being reached at CEO’s level decision-making will be escalated to the West of England Combined Authority”.

Mayor Rees also shared his frustration on recent government announcements as the pace of change locally was dependent on support from central government, including the scale of infrastructure changes.  Core Cities had recently been asked to identify a pipeline of decarbonisation investment opportunities worth over £300bn. He welcomed the ambitious plans set out for the region which also drew on and coordinated work done at a more regional level by the UAs as well as ample cross-border opportunities.  There was also work being shared through the Local Government Association on urban heat risks which can be picked up by other authorities to assess their resilience in this area.  He also called for a ‘just transition’, a fair and collaborative approach to ensure that the poorest and most disadvantaged were not impacted most by any climate change and its measures and policies.

In respect to recommendation (2) Mayor Rees noted that the ambitions were challenging but it was important to work collaboratively with other institutions such as the universities and health services to pressure national government policies when necessary and unite around a shared goal. 

Mayor Rees also highlighted areas of key risk and opportunity such as housing (e.g. the types of houses built and where to build them) which were being considered as part of the local plans, transport (Bristol was a rapidly growing city in terms of population, with more than 1m people in the city during work hours) and finance (the challenge of getting investable opportunities ready).  He stated that a recently commissioned study estimated that £1tr (£1,000bn) of investment in UK cities would be needed to meet social and economic and environmental needs.  He also asked that the delegations in the report be reconsidered.

The Authority’s Interim Chief Executive stated that there was a considerable amount of work happening around capturing the carbon zero targets and taking the numbers into account when decision-making.  In respect of housing it was noted that the Bristol Temple Quarter (BTQ) project was progressing well in providing around 10,000 new homes whilst taking net zero targets into account in the design and development stages.  He also confirmed that the Authority was working with organisations on attracting additional investment into the region, this work would include all the regional partners and formed part of the transformation plan.

In respect of the proposed amendment, the Interim Chief Executive stated that the Authority had worked effectively so far within the delegations that had been granted.  Within this report there were already tolerances set out in table 1 around the approvals and stated that the delegations could be looked at as a wider piece around the constitutional changes work.

Cllr Young withdrew her proposed amendment.  She stated that there was a difference between specific projects and wider funds of money and therefore this was a different scenario to that raised in the previous item.  She stated that the proposed style of delegation should exist for all relevant decisions and in most cases there would not be sufficient disagreement to necessitate a referral back to the Committee and would return to the point on a later item.  In this case, however, given the table of tolerances, she withdrew the proposed amendment.

In respect of recommendation (4) Mayor Rees stated agreement on this item, due to the sum of money involved needed a commitment that the constitutional work would be carried out as planned.  Cllr Guy stated that there needed to be a mechanism when fundamental differences of opinion on the allocation of the funds existed to debate the matter at Committee and it was important this formed part of the constitutional work.

 The Interim Chief Executive agreed that the constitutional work was vital on a number of levels, including the delegations.  He stated that Section 10 of the report broke down the sums of money into smaller allocations.

[voting arrangements: In order to be carried, a decision on this matter required a majority of the members present and voting, such majority to include the Metro Mayor. Each member present could cast one vote. If a vote was tied the decision would not be carried. There is no casting vote].

It was unanimously

Resolved:

(1)   That the Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan progress report provided as part of the Authority’s commitment in its Climate Emergency declaration in 2019 be noted;

(2)   That it be noted that the increasing likelihood that the West of England’s ambitions for achieving carbon neutrality and nature in recovery by 2030 would be unachievable without substantial national and international changes in approach;

(3)   That the development of a West of England Mayoral Combined Authority framework for embedding climate and nature recovery considerations throughout its current and future decision making be endorsed.

(4)   That authority to approve business cases and funding applications within the Green Recovery Fund (approved by Committee in March 2023) be delegated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Head of Environment in consultation with Unitary Authority Environment Directors. In the event of a consensus not being reached at Director level, decision making to be escalated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in consultation with the Unitary Authority CEOs.

(5)   That authority to approve change requests within the tolerances set out in Table 1 (as recommended by the Programme Review Board) be delegated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Head of Environment in consultation with Unitary Authority Environment Directors. In the event of a consensus not being reached at Director level, decision making to be escalated to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in consultation with the Unitary Authority CEOs.

At this point of the meeting there was a short break.