At its meeting on 19 December 2019, Cabinet will consider a report on the Citizen's Assembly on Climate Change: Outcomes. This item provides an opportunity for the Committee to comment on the report and make such recommendations to the Cabinet as it wishes. The report will be presented by Tom Hayes, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford; and Mish Tullar, Corporate Policy, Partnership and Communications Manager. This report will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

Councillor Tom Hayes, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, introduced the report. The Citizens’ Assembly was part of a response to the Council’s unanimous declaration of a Climate Emergency a few months earlier and a demonstration of the need to take positive action to address the emergency. He paid tribute to the work of the  cross-party Advisory Group of the Citizens’ Assembly, chaired by the Leader.  The Assembly had focused its attention on the 5 key areas relating to emissions in Oxford and voted on a number of different scenarios for tackling them. It was instructive to see that there was more or less unanimous support for the options which went “further and faster” than current Government targets. It was also noted that Oxford was not starting from a low base in relation to climate change matters, given the significant number of initiatives already in place. It was also important to recognise that the City Council’s capacity to have a direct impact was limited (estimated to account for about 1% of the City’s total emissions) but its capacity to influence was considerable.

In discussion the following points were made and responded to among others.

·         Some of the significant amounts of funding mentioned in paragraph 2 of the report were not new but were continuing as the report recognised.

·         ‘Retro fitting’ housing  would be an important matter in the future

o   Oxford Direct Services (ODS) might be able to share its knowledge/skills about retrofitting  with others

o   A network of other organisations locally were in a position to help with/ advise about retrofitting

o   Bulk purchasing (perhaps at a street level) of necessary products might contribute to making retrofitting more economical

o   The Council, as landlord, would rarely wish to enforce a requirement on tenants  to retrofit but would rather work with them on a co-operative basis.

o   An objection from a tenant to the option of loft insulation might, for example,  be based on an unwillingness to clear the loft. Consideration could be given to ODS offering a service for loft clearance

·         A clear message from the Assembly had been the need for more ‘signposting’ to resources/advice.

·         Reducing the use of single use plastics had not featured directly in the Assembly’s deliberations but consumption (including of plastics) had.

·         The Assembly was of the view that too much was expected of  individuals regarding waste and a greater onus should be placed on companies and producers.

·         The Council would continue to lobby and campaign for desirable changes at a national level regarding producers’ obligations.

·         The City’s regularly changing student population presented some challenges when it came to communicating messages in respect of waste and  recycling.

·         The recently rejuvenated Oxfordshire Waste Partnership provided an important forum to extend this work beyond the City’s boundaries.

·         The Council’s proactive role was welcomed but it was particularly  important to reach those who were not yet ‘converted’. The importance of communicating ‘outside the bubble’ was recognised. It had become clear from the Assembly that many members of the public did not look at the Council website and  didn’t follow the local media. Bus advertising was however seen as effective. There were already good communication links with some partners and, for example, with schools in relation to anti-idling messages; these links could be developed further. It was recognised that Councillors were not, necessarily, the best people to deliver messages.

·         The importance of biodiversity was the subject which had most energised the Assembly.

·         The use of photovoltaic panels on Council buildings was being explored and would be part of the subject of a future report.

·         Given the importance of engaging residents, thought could perhaps be given to the use of an empty shopping unit as an information base.

·         While consideration might be given to running a scaled down version of the Assembly on a local basis in community centres it was probably not feasible to do that now.

·         It would be important to ensure that the voice of young people is heard in the future. The meeting noted the intention to form a youth climate emergency forum.

·         Advice about what  members of the community can do on an individual basis would be useful, perhaps with outreach sessions at community centres or ODS running  ‘pop up’ events in shopping centres.

·         Volunteers to share their experience of retrofitting their homes could be very helpful.

The Committee was pleased to note this important report.