Agenda item

Report attached.

The Leader of the Council presented a report by Councillor Noordad Aziz, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, requesting Cabinet to consider the recommendations arising from the Committee’s meeting held on the 31^st October 2019 in relation to the Hyndburn Green Review- Overview and Scrutiny Panel Report.

The Leader reminded Members that the Council at its meeting on 19^th September 2019 had signed up to the declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’.  Subsequently, the Council had engaged One Carbon World, a delivery partner for the UN ‘Climate Neutral Now’ campaign, to provide advice upon carbon neutrality.  The cost of engaging this organisation was £3k, but grants were available for up to 80% of this cost.  The grant funding would also be available to other Lancashire authorities, but Hyndburn was the first to sign up.

Councillor Tony Dobson was pleased at the announcement and that Hyndburn was the first authority in Lancashire to engage One Carbon World.  He commented that there was cross-party support for the green initiatives indicated that the Conservative Group looked forward to the details that would follow.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

At its meeting on 11^th September 2018, the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee resolved to establish a Scrutiny Panel to look at environmental issues which affect Hyndburn.  The Scrutiny Panel would be called “The Hyndburn Green Review”.

It was determined at that meeting that the quantity of work required, background research to be carried out and consultation with Hyndburn Borough Council departments, Lancashire County Council and local organisations needed could not be done thoroughly within the confines of a formal committee meeting, therefore the Hyndburn Green Review Scrutiny Panel was established.

It was agreed that Councillors Jenny Molineux and Stephen Button would act as Co-

Chairs of the Panel, and that an open invitation should be submitted to all non-Cabinet members to become part of the Panel.  Councillors Noordad Aziz, Tim O’Kane and Michael Miller were appointed to the Panel, as was Joan West, a member of the Green Party who the Panel determined could add some real knowledge to the review being carried out.

It was agreed that the Panel would set its own terms of reference and project plan.  There was much debate on establishing the particular terms of reference, with several variations discussed before agreement was made, as follows:

(i)     To review Hyndburn Borough Council’s contribution to improving the environment including, but not limited to, energy usage, carbon footprint, recycling and service areas linked to the green agenda.

(ii)    To investigate whether or not the Council has environmental objectives, and if so, its performance against those objectives.

(iii)   To review on a wider scale, environmental issues in Hyndburn which are not related to Hyndburn Borough Council, including, but not limited to LCC, transport, landfill and other organisations with a green agenda.

The Panel held its first meeting on the 13^th November 2018.  This initial scoping meeting would determine exactly what Members wished to get out of the review and the scrutiny review process.  The subject of this review had potentially endless angles which could be considered relevant, therefore the Panel felt it was important to narrow down exactly where they wished the review to focus.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer and Chair of the Panel collated all the information to produce the Panel’s report.  A final meeting was held with the Panel to agree the document and recommendations, which was held on the 24^th October 2019.

As part of the Scrutiny process, the full report of the Panel was submitted to the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 31^st October 2019 for approval prior to submission to an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

Due to the number of recommendations in the report, the Panel would not expect instant responses to the recommendations from Cabinet and instead hoped that Cabinet will report back to the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee with its responses once it has had time to consider the report by the Panel in full.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

Cabinet may choose to agree to any or none of the recommendations made by the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Hyndburn Green Review Panel.

Resolved                        (1)   That Cabinet notes the contents of the Hyndburn Green Review - Overview and Scrutiny Panel Report.

(2)   That Cabinet approves the implementation of a cross-party Member and Officer working group to analyse the summary of information within the report and make progress on the recommendations of the Panel.