Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment (Form created August 2021)

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Social Housing Allocations (revised NYC allocations policy and allocations scheme)
Brief description of proposal	To align the two separate social housing allocation schemes from the legacy organisations by 01 April 2025 and create one, single allocations policy for the new authority. Local housing authorities are required by law to have a scheme for determining priorities and procedures when allocating social housing, including council housing stock and housing association properties to rent. At present The Council (North Yorkshire) operates two allocation schemes, North Yorkshire Home Choice which covers all localities except for Harrogate and a standalone allocation scheme covering the former Harrogate BC area. Local Government (Structural Changes) (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 provide a period of two years for the housing allocation schemes inherited from predecessor councils to be revised and harmonised across the new unitary authority The North Yorkshire Home Choice (NYHC) allocation scheme sets out how this is achieved via a Choice Based Lettings (CBL) scheme. The scheme applies to households seeking social housing within North Yorkshire and existing social tenants wishing to transfer.
Directorate	Community Development
Service area	Housing
Lead officer	Carl Doolan
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	Ollie Braithwaite Climate Change Officer

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.  Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on emissions
Waste	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on waste
Water use	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	Choose an item.	Choose an item.	No effect on heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	ü	Continue to full CCIA:
Reason for decision	The harmonisation of the two existing allocation schemes is not considered to have any adverse climate impacts. Consideration will however be given to data storage as part of any procurement process and for the project group to ensure that climate impacts are integral to any decision.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Andrew Rowe
Date	17/5/2023