Issue - meetings

(a)      That the Terms of Reference of the Climate Change Committee be approved;

(b)      That the Chair of the Climate Change  Committee be remunerated; and

(c)       That Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson be appointed as Chair of the Climate Change Committee.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer referred to the Annual Meeting of the Council, when it was agreed to establish a Climate Change Committee and said the Terms of Reference for this Committee were located at Appendix 1 of the report.  Clarification on a slight amendment to the Terms of Reference was provided together with confirmation that it was a non-statutory committee, but that Council had agreed that it would be politically balanced.  The first meeting was scheduled for the 22 November and Council was required to appoint a Chair for the committee, to agree if the Chair should receive a remuneration for the role and to agree the Terms of Reference. 

The Chief Officer (Planning Environment & Economy) provided an overview of the commitment made by Cabinet in 2019 that the County Council would be carbon neutral by 2030 following Welsh Government (WG) advice.    He provided information on the appointment of the Climate Change Co-ordinator, Alex Ellis, and outlined the work undertaken by the Climate Change Programme Board.   He said the Committee would be an advisory committee to inform Cabinet on the actions required to reach that target of carbon neutrality by 2030.   The Action Plan and Strategy were agreed in February 2022, and he explained how this committee would work collaboratively across the council and with other business partners to achieve that aim of carbon neutrality by 2030. 

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure moved the Terms of Reference recommendation, as amended.  He also moved that the Chair of the Climate Change Committee was remunerated.  He nominated Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson as Chair the Climate Change Committee.   He felt confident that with Councillor Ibbotson as Chair, together with the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economy, that they would be able to drive forward the important work that was required to be done.   The was seconded by the Cabinet Member for Governance and Corporate Services (including Health and Safety and Human Resources).

            Councillor Andrew Parkhurst asked for an amendment to the terms of reference recommendation.    He read out a statement from the Liberal Democrat Group.  His proposed amendment to recommendation 1 was “to approve the Terms of Reference of the Climate Change Committee subject to a review during the next municipal year”.   This amendment was proposed in the spirit of supporting the aims of Flintshire County Council to seriously address climate change.

            The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure accepted the amendment.  The Cabinet Member for Governance and Corporate Services (including Health and Safety and Human Resources) as seconder also accepted the amendment.

The Chair then referred to the third recommendation to appoint the Chair of the Committee saying that one nomination of Councillor Alistair Ibbotson had been received.   The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economy fully supported the nomination of Councillor Ibbotson. 

Councillor Helen Brown nominated Councillor Allan Marshall for the Chair of the Committee.   This was seconded by Councillor Richard Jones

Upon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32