Report of the City Solicitor

This report aims to provide an update to the report that came to this committee in June 2021 for further discussion to enable the Committee to consider further areas within their responsibility where the impact of climate change is of particular relevance and for the committee to identify areas within its remit it would like to receive more information on and debate further.

The Committee received a report of the City Solicitor which aimed to provide an update to the report that came to the Committee in June 2021 for further discussion to enable the Committee to consider further areas within their responsibility where the impact of climate change was of particular relevance and for the Committee to identify areas within its remit it would like to receive more information on and debate further.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Community engagement;
• Culture sector and voluntary sector;
• Libraries’ contribution to Climate Change Emergency;
• Leisure and sport; and
• A framework for considering climate change.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• The retrofitting of business premises, which was not covered by Government schemes;
• The environmental impact of major events and mitigation measures to reduce this, while also recognising the importance of continuing with events such as the Wythenshawe Games;
• How the Sustainable Events Guide was used and how the Council could use its powers, for example when authorising events or allowing its facilities to be used for them, to influence the sustainability of events organised by external organisations, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of its own events;
• To suggest that Manchester City Football Club be invited to a future meeting to tell the Committee how it was responding to the Climate Emergency;
• Funding made available to improve the environmental impact of the taxi sector;
• How to engage with local communities on climate change, including the role of schools; and
• The importance of good public transport in reducing car use.

The Chair informed Members that Manchester City Football Club had previously delivered a report to the Council, although not to this Committee.  He advised that it was useful to hear what partner organisations within the city were doing to address climate change and that he would discuss this with the Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee.  Bearing in mind that business premises cut across the remit of other scrutiny committees, the Chair suggested that the Committee could look at the retrofitting and environmental impact of the Council’s leisure estate. 

The Executive Member for the Environment advised that the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee had recently received a report on the culture sector and events and that she would share this report with the Committee.  She also suggested that the Committee could look at ward-based climate change action plans at a future meeting.  The Chair advised that he would be speaking to the Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee about this.

Decisions

1.            To receive a report on retrofitting and improving the sustainability of the Council’s leisure estate.

2.            To receive a report on the environmental impact of events and what can be done to minimise this impact.

3.            To receive a report on what can be done to make the city’s taxi fleet more environmentally sustainable.

4.            To recognise that Members need to look at their local climate change action plans and identify what support and resources are needed to achieve these.