Agenda item

Motion 450 submitted by Andy Croy

 

Council believes the Executive should commission a Citizens’ Assembly on the Climate Emergency.

 

A Citizens’ Assembly on the Wokingham Borough response to the Climate Emergency is required to address the hard choices which need to be made if the Borough is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

 

To be effective and credible, the Citizens’ Assembly must be independent of the Executive and political parties.  The Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) approved by Council on 23rd July 2020 has a significant gap between the carbon savings required and the carbon savings which are identified in the CEAP.

 

Council also notes the serious criticisms of the CEAP contained in the Overview and Scrutiny Management Task and Finish Group full report on the CEAP presented to the Executive on 29th October 2020.

 

Council also supports the following statements on the Local Government Association and UK Parliament websites.

The Local Government Association website states: “A citizens' assembly is a collection of individuals selected to be representative of the wider population”.

 

The UK Parliament website identifies several key features of a Citizens Assembly including “assembly members are representative of the wider population” and “independent facilitation: the assembly is not facilitated by the organisation that commissioned the assembly.”

 

Links to these sources and other resources can be found here:

https://www.wokinghamlabourparty.org/green-vision/why-we-need-a-citizens-assembly-on-the-climate-emergency/

 

Minutes:

The Council considered the following Notice of Motion, submitted by Andy Croy, and seconded by Carl Doran.

 

Council believes the Executive should commission a Citizens’ Assembly on the Climate Emergency.

 

A Citizens’ Assembly on the Wokingham Borough response to the Climate Emergency is required to address the hard choices which need to be made if the Borough is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

 

To be effective and credible, the Citizens’ Assembly must be independent of the Executive and political parties.  The Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) approved by Council on 23rd July 2020 has a significant gap between the carbon savings required and the carbon savings which are identified in the CEAP.

 

Council also notes the serious criticisms of the CEAP contained in the Overview and Scrutiny Management Task and Finish Group full report on the CEAP presented to the Executive on 29th October 2020.

 

Council also supports the following statements on the Local Government Association and UK Parliament websites.

 

The Local Government Association website states: “A citizens' assembly is a collection of individuals selected to be representative of the wider population”.

 

The UK Parliament website identifies several key features of a Citizens Assembly including “assembly members are representative of the wider population” and “independent facilitation: the assembly is not facilitated by the organisation that commissioned the assembly.”

 

Links to these sources and other resources can be found here:

https://www.wokinghamlabourparty.org/green-vision/why-we-need-a-citizens-assembly-on-the-climate-emergency/.’

 

Andy Croy commented that there had not been meaningful engagement with the public on climate emergency.  The Citizens Assembly must reflect the composition of the Borough and would act like a jury.  Jury selection must be transparent and be seen to be free of bias. The Assembly could engage with a range of external experts and draw their own conclusions which the Council could benefit from.  The Assembly would vote in secret on recommendations, and the Council must accept the recommendations of the Assembly.

 

Carl Doran commented that when the Council had declared a climate emergency, he had hoped it would directly involve residents, which he felt had not happened.  He believed that a Citizens Assembly on climate emergency would help to take residents with the Council on the issue of climate emergency.

 

Gregor Murray commented that he agreed with the intent of the Motion, and supported engaging with the residents on climate emergency.  However, Citizens Assembly was not a catch all term for engagement.  It was one part of the local democratic process available to the Council.  He felt that agreeing the Motion would not give consideration to other methods available such as citizens juries, citizens advisory panels, consultations, citizens forum, focus groups, e panels, or more crowd sourcing, which could provide useful recommendations.  Gregor Murray commented that it would be reckless to commit to one option without fist considering the other options available.  He had sought to amend the Motion so that the words ‘Citizens Assembly’ were substituted by the words ‘Local Democratic Process’ but this had been refused.  He went on to comment that Extinction Rebellion favoured Citizens Assemblies at a national level but advocated a local democratic process, at local level.

 

Alison Swaddle agreed that it would be reckless to commit to one form of action, when the other options had not been fully explored.  The Council owed it to residents to get it right as it was one of the most important things that was being undertaken for the next generation.

 

Tahir Maher emphasised that residents should be able to participate fully in their community and decisions that effected their life.  He supported the Motion but noted that there were other options of engagement also available.

 

Gary Cowan and Sarah Kerr emphasised that the Motion did not preclude other options of engagement.  However, John Halsall stated that he felt that the Motion did preclude other options of engagement.

 

Andy Croy commented that the amendment referred to by Gregor Murray would have negated the Motion.  He felt that the Council had a poor record of engagement and needed to do better.  He questioned what due diligence had been carried out with regards to the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

 

In accordance with rule 4.2.15.5, Gary Cowan requested a recorded vote, which was agreed.

 

For

Against

Abstain

Rachel Bishop Firth

Parry Batth

Keith Baker

Shirley Boyt

Laura Blumenthal

Malcolm Richards

Prue Bray

Chris Bowring

 

Rachel Burgess

Jenny Cheng

 

Stephen Conway

UllaKarin Clark

 

Gary Cowan

Michael Firmager

 

Andy Croy

Guy Grandison

 

Richard Dolinski

Charlotte Haitham Taylor

 

Carl Doran

John Halsall

 

Lindsay Ferris

Pauline Helliar-Symons

 

Paul Fishwick

Emma Hobbs

 

Jim Frewin

Graham Howe

 

David Hare

John Kaiser

 

Clive Jones

Dianne King

 

Sarah Kerr

Abdul Loyes

 

Tahir Maher

Charles Margetts

 

Adrian Mather

Ken Miall

 

Andrew Mickleburgh

Stuart Munro

 

Imogen Shepherd-DuBey

Gregor Murray

 

Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey

Barrie Patman

 

Caroline Smith

Angus Ross<