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14
Sept 2022
County council set to reject climate change action appeal
North Yorkshire County Council looks poised to dismiss moves by Green and Liberal Democrat councillors to accelerate the response to thr climate change and biodiversity crises, claiming they could be counter-productive.
The council’s Conservative-run executive will consider two environmental notices of motion that councillors were prevented from debating at a full council meeting in July, with the authority’s chairman instead opting to refer the proposals to its cabinet members.
Both motions propose the establishment of a new committee specifically to scrutinise the council’s progress and leadership in tackling climate change and establishing biodiversity plans to ensure oversight of the collective ambition of the council.
Since losing its overwhelming majority at the May elections, the Tory-led council has been facing mounting pressure, particularly from the Liberal Democrat and Green groups, to redouble its climate change and biodiversity efforts and allow opposition councillors to play a greater role in shaping such policies.
An officers’ report to the executive states the creation of a new scrutiny committee would take the number of such forums at the council to seven.
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It adds the council’s scrutiny function is under review as part of the establishment of a new unitary authority and recommendations would be brought before all elected members later this year.
One of the motions also calls for the creation of a new executive member to reflect the scale of the job, but the officers’ report highlights the executive already has the maximum number of members allowed under the county council’s constitution.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Bryn Griffiths, who represents Stokesley, said the officers’ report failed to fully address the high priority and action needed to effectively deal with climate change and the ecological emergency in North Yorkshire.
He said:
The council’s Conservative leader, Cllr Carl Les said the executive’s debate and recommendations to the next full meeting of the authority in November would focus on how the authority could best manage the impacts of climate change.
He said:
When asked if the decision to reject specialist climate change roles and groups at the council was politically-fuelled, Cllr Les said:
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