At each Cabinet meeting, up to 15 minutes shall be allocated for questions from and discussion with, non-Cabinet members. Members wishing to speak during this session should if possible, give notice in advance. Who speaks and for how long will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.
Minutes:
The following non-Cabinet members spoke under this item:
1. Councillor David Smith expressed his disappointment that the motion on notice presented to Council on 16 July 2019, was not debated at the meeting. He quoted from the Council Procedures Rules contained in the Constitution that ‘Any motion on notice under paragraph 9.1 above of these Rules, on being moved and seconded, will usually, without discussion, be referred to the appropriate forum for consideration. If the Chair considers it appropriate, allow the motion to be dealt with at the meeting at which it is moved and seconded….’. Councillor Smith felt that in this circumstance, it was appropriate for the Chair to allow the motion to be debated at the Council meeting and not be referred to the appropriate forum, which in this case was Cabinet.
Councillor Smith also felt that it was a missed opportunity for the Council not to declare a Climate Emergency as called for as part of the motion, particularly as several other local authorities had already passed this resolution.
In response, Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, stated that the motion was very detailed and had asked for various commitments, many of which may have financial implications. In accordance with the Rule 9.6 of the Council Procedure Rules of the Constitution, the Chair had considered the following rule should be applied:
‘Any motion on notice under paragraph 9.1 above of these Rules, on being moved and seconded, will usually, without discussion, be referred to the appropriate forum for consideration.If the Chair considers it appropriate, allow the motion to be dealt with at the meeting at which it is moved and seconded provided that the motion, if carried, would:
(a) Not involve the Council incurring expenditure not included in the Council’s approved revenue or capital budget….
Councillor Griffiths added that this matter was not only about declaring a Climate Emergency, but what that declaration would actually mean, and more importantly, the action needed to be taken to make a real difference. He went on to reiterate that he had previously announced at the Annual Meeting in May 2019, before the motion had been presented to Council on 16 July 2019, his intention to set up a taskforce to look at environmental and climate change issues, and this proposal was now on this Cabinet agenda at Item 9.
The Monitoring Officer (MO) was invited to state the constitutional position in respect of the way the motion on notice was handled at the Council meeting on 16 July 2019. Whilst it was at the Chair’s discretion as to what he felt was appropriate, the Chair had considered that as expenditure was likely to be incurred, that the matter should be referred to the appropriate forum, as quoted above. The MO added that a Constitution Review Group had been established to look at proposing changes to the Constitution and therefore should Members have concerns regarding particular elements of the Constitution, these could be put to the Group for consideration.
2. Councillor Max Clarke commended the Leader for speaking with members of the public following the Council meeting on 16 July 2019 regarding the contents of the motion on notice. He expressed concern that should the proposed Environment and Climate Change Taskforce be looking to follow the Government’s 25 Year Plan (this document was referred to in the proposed Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Taskforce – see minute 27. for further detail), this timeframe was too far into the future. Councillor Clarke considered that the effects of actions taken needed to be evident within 15-20 years from now.
In response, Councillor Griffiths explained that point 3 (a) of the draft ToR stated that the Taskforce would look to develop and appraise options for the actions the Council would have to take to be net-zero carbon by 2030…
He added that the Taskforce would aim to ensure that the Council used the opportunity to review and assess its existing activities and future opportunities in response to increased societal awareness of environmental issues. The purpose of the Taskforce was to ensure action was taken to achieve real outcomes, therefore his proposal for establishing the Taskforce went far beyond declaring a Climate Emergency. The draft ToR had been circulated to all Group Leaders for comment prior to this meeting and it was hoped that membership to the Taskforce would be drawn from all Groups, regardless of political affiliation. It was expected that final, meaningful, purposeful recommendations emanating from the Taskforce would be presented to Cabinet for approval and subsequent action in 2020.
Councillor Clarke agreed that the establishment of the proposed Taskforce was the right course of action to take this matter forward.