Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cattanach, Ireton (substitute Cllr Jabbour), Mason (substitute Cllr Slater) and Trumper (substitute Cllr Nick Brown).

Councillor Warneken raised that his request to have an update on Active Travel at the next committee meeting on 10^th July 2023 was not recorded under the minute for the Work Programme. It was reported that whilst the request for a report at the July meeting was not included in the minutes, it had been added to the Work Programme as seen at Agenda item 7 of the papers today and that a briefing note on Active Travel could be expected ahead of the July meeting to update Members on progress and decide on future scrutiny.

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2023, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice (including the text of the question/statement) to Will Baines of Democratic Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Monday 22 May, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

·         At this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·         When the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chairman who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

David Tonge of the North Yorkshire Climate Coalition had registered to speak but did so before Agenda Item 6 – Climate Change Strategy Consultation Results. The following points were raised:

·         Science has proved that climate change is occurring and therefore everybody needs to act urgently to combat it.

·         North Yorkshire needs a clear Climate strategy that is ambitious and robust and NYC has the perfect opportunity for Councillors to cooperate to produce this.

·         NY Climate Coalition believes that the current draft strategy lacks a clear pathway to net zero, a resourcing plan, review mechanisms, a robust methodology and timescales for delivery. It is Mr Tonge’s view that these cannot all be addressed before the Strategy goes to the Executive on 18^th July.

·         The NY Climate Coalition recommended that climate friendly procurement be established through the planning system, that more nature-based solutions be used and that independent climate literacy training for all Councillors and senior council employees be undertaken.

Peter Jeffreys, Head of Service Waste at North Yorkshire Council (NYC), and Aimi Brookes, Service Delivery Manager, gave a presentation that looked at harmonising the waste collection service and the introduction of food waste collection. The following points were made:

·            The presentation referred only to household waste as commercial waste is being looked into separately.

·            The Environment Act 2021 introduced the need to collect dry recycling from the kerbside; the need to collect separated food waste from the kerbside weekly; it extended producer responsibility for packaging by no longer requiring Local Authorities to pay for the packaging that is collected, but instead requiring businesses to pay for the packaging that they produce; and it introduced the idea of a deposit return scheme where customers can return recyclable drinks containers for to receive their deposit back.

·            There is the opportunity to look at the whole system as since Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), NYC controls both collection and disposal. LGR has also opened up an opportunity to harmonise the process across North Yorkshire.

·            An overview of the current waste collection processes was given and details of these can be found in the presentation slides. There are three approaches across the county: fully comingled, twin-stream and full kerbside sort. The work done by Allerton Waste Recovery Park (AWRP), Harewood Whin Waste Transfer Station, YORWaste and third parties was explained.

·            The work done by volunteers that promote correct recycling and the reduction of waste was commended.

·            It is expected that most Local Authorities will have to collect food waste from the kerbside by 2025 but North Yorkshire Council has transitional relief until 2043, the expiration date of the Allerton Waste Recovery Park contract. It was reported that some central government funding would be available, but that this may not cover the full costs.

·            The following options were presented to Members. The processes used by other Local Authorities had been used to shape these options.

1)          A fully comingled option similar to that previously used by Craven District Council and Scarborough Borough Council in the past where residents would have two waste bins, one for dry recycling and another for household waste. This wouldn’t greatly affect the recycling rate or the carbon impact, but it would increase the cost of sorting.

2)          A multi-stream approach similar to that used in the former Ryedale District Council area. Residents would receive at boxes and a bag for dry recycling, and a waste bin for household waste. The recycling rate and carbon impact of this approach is similar to option one but, rather than producing an additional cost, this option would produce a saving.

3)          An approach similar to that used in the former Selby District Council area. Residents would receive a waste bin for paper, a waste bin for household waste and a waste bin for dry recycling. This approach has a similar recycling rate and carbon impact to the above two options and a similar cost saving to option two.

4)          Another option used a similar  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Jos Holmes, Climate Change Policy Officer and Adam Vaughan, Climate Change & Environmental Project Officer, introduced the report and presentation raising the following:

·         An outline of the background to the report and consultation on the North Yorkshire Council climate change strategy was given.

·         It was noted that the strategy needs to be evidence based and the public consultation has produced a very thorough review of the strategy so far. Member’s comments will help to shape the revised strategy that goes to the Executive in July.

·         It is essential to have energy efficient housing before the focus is switched to renewable energy production.

·         A climate change action plan is being developed to focus on the delivery of the key priorities within the climate change strategy.

·         The successes of the council so far were highlighted, and it was reported that a focus on climate change is being embedded into service plans across the new authority.

The following points were then discussed in the debate:

·         The methodology of the strategy was commended.

·         Members suggested that the strategy could be improved in the following ways:

-         By adding an action plan to make targets, and ways of reaching these targets, stronger. Officers reported that specific targets are not set in the strategy, and that the action plan comes after the strategy is adopted. Members were informed that the strategy endorses the York and North Yorkshire Routemap to Carbon Negative but hopes to make the performance targets more understandable.

-         That the definition of net zero is made clearer.

-         That the climate change programmes of the former Borough, County and District Councils are integrated into the new strategy. Officers reported that this had been done at an early stage.

-         That all Councillors and senior officers be required to take climate literacy training.

·         The number of responses to the consultation was higher than average when compared to similar consultations and these responses seem to accurately reflect the views of residents. Work needs to be done on how to increase the number of responses from the Scarborough and Selby areas.

·         Responses to the consultation often discussed climate change in general and didn’t refer to the strategy directly.

·         The importance of keeping North Yorkshire’s peat reserve was highlighted.

·         According to the presentation given, public transport is vital for the strategy. Members raised a number of areas that this could be improved, for example, lobbying to extend the £2 cap for bus fares, introducing bus lanes and lobbying for contactless tap-in for buses.

·         It is proposed that the strategy will be reviewed every 6 months and refreshed every 2 years.

Councillor Warneken proposed that the draft strategy be noted but that once revised should come back for members of the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee to provide comments on before going to the Executive in July. This was approved.

Resolved –

i)            That the report is noted.

ii)          That the revised North Yorkshire Council Climate Change Strategy is brought back to an informal meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Principal Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer introduced the report and Members made the following suggestions:

·         That an air quality report be added to the work programme. This may include the following discussion points:

(a)   How we currently measure air quality and how we can measure it in the future.

(b)   Whether LGR is an opportunity to change the way we review air quality

(c)   How we compare to other local authorities.

·         Following the briefing note regarding Active Travel, it may be necessary to have a report on the topic to a future meeting.

Resolved –

i)        That the work programme is noted.

ii)       That the above items are added to the work programme.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There were no other items of business.