Kirklees Budget 2019 - Green Party Leader Cllr Andrew Cooper's speech

It’s at moments like this that I genuinely miss Tory Councillor Andrew Palfreeman as he had his good natured bash at the Green Party Budget Amendment with no hint of malice. He would always end by naming us. My favourite was when he referred to us as Compo, Clegg and Foggy. Which I pointed out were 3 old guys from Holmfirth who had some bizarre ideas. I suggested that perhaps he should look closer to home for these characters. But I guess nothing from the Tories today, no Tory Budget amendment so they must be happy with Labour’s budget. No ideas not even bizarre ones. So I guess it will be a dignified silence from them now. Perhaps not.

We have reiterated our call for support for rough sleepers in our town centres, to restore play areas removed for health and safety reasons and greater support for safety schemes on our roads. We have proposed taking action to address the lack of support for new tenants on low incomes getting set up in a new homes and provision of outdoor gym equipment in our town centres to encourage greater exercise and a new element as part of our town centre regeneration. We of course recognise the increasingly embarrassing record of Kirklees on recycling and have suggested ways to address this.

We have been inspired by the Council’s Declaration of a Climate Emergency and want to get Kirklees off to a flying start in efforts to reduce carbon emissions and play our small part not just saving the world but also creating a better world for us here in Kirklees.

We have sought a realisable but ambitious tree planting programme. The Kirklees Forest Project, where every school child will get the opportunity to plant at least one tree during their education. But this is not just a fluffy feel good project, or as has been suggested by one uninformed commentator ‘virtue signalling’. This is a project to plant 150,000 trees over 4 years and the precursor to a much larger project over the next 25 years. The Kirklees Forest project is not just about capturing carbon, it is about flood resilience through strategic planting, it provides habitats for wildlife, reduces air pollution and noise levels in built up areas, creates natural space which is good for communities, well being and mental health.

As you will see from our amendment it is not all Council money we are using it as leverage to bring in funding from other sources. It is an ambitious and worthwhile project the sort of thing we need to be doing if we are to be a leading Council on something that stands out in this country and beyond on addressing climate change.

We have again called for a much more ambitious investment in electric vehicles. Leeds City Council has 200 in its vehicle fleet, Kirklees 3. I know there are more to come but it’s piecemeal. We need to be bold, we need to regain the lead we once had, that has been lost, as a ‘Green Council’. We propose 127 electric vehicles cutting emissions on our roads, lowering running and maintenance costs for our vehicles and the investment in the charging infrastructure needed to support them.

Not a matter for this budget but we also need to see what we can do to set higher energy efficiency standards in our Local Plan though Supplementary Planning Guidance. We can do this and we should

With these 3 measures we can make a beginning on the road to action. Without some sort of significant, substantial actions on climate change then you simply make the words of the naysayers true. If your house is on fire it is an emergency. You don’t throw a cup of water on it you call the fire brigade and get a hosepipe on it. Declare a Climate Emergency yes but then act accordingly.

So I propose that after we have heard the Lib Dem amendment that we have a short recess to consider the elements of the amendments that refer to a climate emergency and see if we can come to a consensus on this one crucial issue.

The support for a Declaration of a Climate Emergency was agreed on a cross party basis so why not an amendment to the Council Budget agreed by those parties who voted for the Climate Emergency and those that have actually submitted amendments.

In other parts of the country we have people protesting in council chambers because they feel they are not been listened to on action on climate change. We are not in that place yet in Kirklees and I sincerely hope we won't be.

 And I suggest to the Labour Party that having a Majority and taking on the views of other parties shows more strength and confidence in your administration than the times when you have had to because you don’t have a majority.

Press Release - Green success in Kirklees Anti Fracking Policy

Cllr Cooper on an anti fracking march in 2017

Green Councillors are celebrating after a ground breaking policy they submitted to the Local Plan has been approved by the Government's Planning Inspectorate.

Green Party Leader on Kirklees, Councillor Andrew Cooper said,

"Because the Government has a pro-fracking policy we couldn't simply ban it in the Local Plan. We had to take another approach. We added a condition that any application to Frack for gas would have to demonstrate how it has 'net zero impact on Climate Change'. We used the Government signing up to the Paris Climate Agreement and their support for the Climate Change Act as evidence to justify our proposal."

This is the first time that the link between the negative impacts on climate change has been linked to Fracking in a Local Plan anywhere in the UK.

Cllr Cooper who is also the Green Party's Energy Spokesperson said,

"The policy we have successfully proposed here has implications for every Council in the country. Now others will be able to refer to this policy in Kirklees and use it in their own areas as another way of protecting their local environment from the HGVs, earthquakes and toxic chemicals involved in the Fracking process".

"If we have learnt anything in the last few years it is that we need to extracting less fossil fuels not more. The best way to ensure we have energy security for the UK is by having more energy efficient buildings with less energy demand and more home grown renewable energy. Fracking is the past not the future."

Kirklees Budget 2019 - Green Party Budget Amendment

The aim of our budget amendment is to address just some of the social, environmental & financial issues that affect the Council. What this amendment cannot do is solve all the problems faced by the Council and the people who live within its boundaries

We have proposals here that will enable Kirklees to make a meaningful start on action to address carbon emissions following the Declaration of a Climate Emergency.

Kirklees Forest Project

A large scale project to increase the tree cover across Kirklees with an initial target of planting 150,000 trees across Kirklees in 5 years. We regard this project as a precursor and pathfinder for a much larger project over the next 25 years

We will seek a mix of urban, suburban and rural locations for tree planting to help improve the attractiveness of built up areas.

 Where appropriate we will provide fruit trees to help with provision of local healthy food and to support the local bee populations helping the pollination of local crops.

There are many other benefits to this project including:-

Flood resilience through strategic planting

Habitats for wildlife

Reducing air pollution

Tackling Climate change by capturing carbon emissions

Reducing noise levels in built up areas

Creating access to natural space

The project will have a strong focus on citizen engagement with a particular emphasis on:-

•          Schoolchildren – the opportunity for every school age child to be able to plant at least one tree during their school years

•          Kirklees employees – in their two days of volunteer time each year Kirklees employees will have the option of engaging in tree planting activities

•          Communities – provision of tree whips will be made available for community groups and  Parish Councils

We will seek partnerships with other organisations and landowners to identify land and provide partnership funding and support.

A detailed note comes as an appendix to this amendment showing how the project would work in practice

Restoring Play Areas removed for Health and Safety reasons

Play areas have recently been removed from Manor Estate in the Newsome Ward and Rufford Road in the Golcar Ward. These were removed for Health and Safety reasons but no provision was made by the Administration for their replacement. This amendment addresses that deficiency.

Huddersfield Town Centre is not a family friendly area and our proposal to provide a play area on Macauley Street outside the Bus Station would go some way towards addressing this.

Mount Pleasant Primary School - Roof to Multi Use Games Area

Mount Pleasant Primary School in the Crosland Moor Ward has just had a new school building built to Government specifications. As a result it has lost the large covered Sports Hall that enabled children and local people outside school hours to play sport in all weathers. Installing a roof on the soon to be installed Multi Use Games Area would restore the flexibility the school had previously with all the benefits for health, school effectiveness and wider community engagement.

Traffic Calming measures

The provision of resources for traffic calming are insufficient. This amendment will not resolve that but will provide more flexibility to address the many calls on the Highways Service for traffic calming across Kirklees.

Provision of Electric Vehicle fleet

The first Kirklees Council Electric Vehicle was provided over 10 years ago as a result of a Green Party Budget amendment. Electric vehicles since then have come on leaps and bounds and have low servicing costs, lower costs per mile and the range of electric vehicles is well within the Councils operational requirements. The benefit to the Council is not just lower running costs but also demonstrates that we are playing our part in reducing vehicle emissions at a time when we have growing concerns about air quality in Kirklees. As the carbon intensity of UK electricity begins to fall electric vehicles will play an important role in storing renewable energy generated overnight. This will help us play our part in reducing carbon emissions in line with the COP21 Paris Climate Goals.

Public Rapid Charging of Electric Vehicles

With a growing number of people buying and using electric vehicles the Council needs to play its part in providing the infrastructure we need to allow this cleaner more efficient form of transport to grow.  Match funding is being provided for charging points so this proposal can be used as leverage.

Addressing the growing number of rough sleepers in Kirklees

There are a growing number of rough sleepers in Kirklees as the result of benefit changes, mental health issues and the lack of sufficient social rented housing. This proposal seeks to provide more support and assistance to rough sleepers to help them get back control of their lives.

Kirklees Recycling Initiative

Kirklees needs as a matter of urgency to address our poor recycling rates. This budget amendment will seek to improve community recycling facilities, glass collections and pilot food waste collections for possible anaerobic digestion linking with our climate change objectives.

Furniture & Appliance Scheme (KNH)

To re-establish a furniture/appliances service for new tenants on low incomes. The Food banks seek to help around 500 clients a year moving into new homes with nothing. Getting loans or low cost options from ‘Pass it on’ takes considerable time often meaning that tenants fail to move into their homes and end up back sofa surfing and can end up losing their tenancies. KNH could be source furniture and appliances from their own voids and donations.

To re-establish a furniture/appliances service for new tenants on low incomes.

One used to run through Fusion housing but this was discontinued. As a consequence the food banks seek to help around 500 clients a year moving into new homes with nothing. Getting loans or low cost options from ‘Pass it on’ takes considerable time often meaning that tenants fail to move into their homes and end up back sofa surfing and cab end up losing their tenancies. A service like this might best sit with KNH. They could be sourcing furniture and appliances from their own voids and donations. They could more easily organise gas and electrical checks on donated appliances. It would be expected that they would help both council and private sector tenants and coordinate with support staff at the Food banks.

Kirklees Budget 2019 - No Tory Amendment

A bloke in a pub

One of the key purposes of being an opposition party on Kirklees Council is to provide an alternative view on issues facing the Council. That doesn't mean you have to be oppositional for the sake of it but give a perspective on the budget that reflects the values of your Party. So for what I think is the third or maybe the fourth time in the nearly 20 years, that I've been a Councillor, the Conservative Group have failed to submit an amendment to the Council's budget.

I'm always interested in the reasons why political parties make the decisions, or non decisions, they do. These often split into two categories. The reasons they give and then there are the real reasons . So what reasons can the Conservatives give for failing to produce on of the  expectations of a functioning political group on the Council. The last time they didn't produce an amendment they said it was because the Labour budget was "unamendable". They went on to say that if the Labour Party had taken account of their previous amendments then it would have been amendable but as they hadn't it isn't. This is clearly nonsense. Other groups can find funding for priorities, projects and schemes as the Green Party Group and the Liberal Democrats have but the Conservatives are not presenting the Council with any priorities, projects or schemes.

The real reason I believe they aren't submitting an amendment is because it would mean having to admit that their own Government has given them very little room to manouvre from a Conservative perspective. To attempt to maintain maintain services requires that you raise Council Tax to the maximum limit that their own Government will allow given the  reduction in funding the Council receives from central Government. Their Government. There is no dodgy Council Tax freeze grant from the Government any more and efficiencies are harder and harder to find.

Will this mean that the Conservatives will be exhibiting an uncritical dignified silence in the Council's Budget meeting next Wednesday to reflect their non statement on the Councils finances. I doubt it. They will of course be getting up and saying how terrible things are and how this and that needs sorting but they will have all the relevance of some bloke mouthing off in the pub.

Speech to UK 100 - What needs to change?

My speech to an event in Leeds today hosted by UK100 the network of Local Government leaders "which seeks to devise and implement plans for the transition to clean energy that are ambitious, cost effective and take the public and business with them".

What needs to change? In 6 minutes.

The short pithy answer is of course lots and quickly. The IPCC Report told us that we have only 12 years to get a grip on carbon emissions as if there wasn’t enough evidence already. What frustrates me is the  lack of urgency from policymakers on reducing emissions. It is like we have all the time in the world and sadly we simply don’t. We are not treating this as the climateemergency that it clearly is.

The final statement at COP24 in Katovice last December, which the UK Government signed up to, called for a much stronger relationship between national governments and Local Government on achieving the Paris Climate goals. There now needs to be a genuine and much deeper partnership between Local and National Government to work together to reduce emissions. That simply isn’t there at the moment and we need it. Used imaginatively Councils can be a swift and effective tool to deliver programmes to reduce emissions and engage citizens. We have Nationally Determined Contributions towards acheiving the Paris Climate goals why not Locally Determined Contributions or Regionally Determined Contributions.

So housing and specifically new build housing. In July Government told us that Councils could set our own energy efficiency standards in our Local Plans for new housing. That’s good and I am pushing for the Passivhaus Standard in Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Kirklees Local Plan. If Kirklees agrees it and government allows it and  I succeed then that will be one Local Authority out of hundreds. Why doesn’t government just improve building regulations and actually properly enforce them with an independent publicly managed Building Control system to ensure their quality of build and energy performance.

Retrofit housing. We all know that one of our biggest challenges is the existing housing stock and that we need to rapidly improve the energy efficiency of the existing homes to reduce energy demand with all the health and income benefits that would come with that. So we desperately need a mass retrofit programme. The easy stuff has largely been done in terms of loft and cavity wall insulation. It is the solid wall properties with attic rooms that we need to address with internal drylining, room in roof insulation and external cladding where appropriate and we need to aim for the Enerphit standard for retrofit. Yes it needs paying for and a combination of ramping up the Energy Company Obligation and use of general taxation is what is required. We can spend countless billions on HS2 and the expensive dangerous folly that is Hinckley C but wouldn’t it be better to invest those funds in a programme like this that would directly help millions of people, with substantial additional benefits.

We need to reboot and re-energise the mass solar PV sector and give it a sustainable future with no chopping and changing of Government policy every 6 months. This would enable it to be a mass market product again but this time with a strong focus on community owned renewables and energy storage.

The effective ban on onshore wind projects needs to be lifted. It is ludicruous that our cheapest form of renewable energy is basically a non starter and if we do re-energise it we need to encourage more publicly owned and community owned renewables.

Renewable heat and Combined Heat and Power needs to have a much stronger focus from government. I’m not a big fan of the incineration of waste but it’s not just the waste that goes into these that I object to but the waste heat going up the chimneys. Some great work is going on in Leeds and other authorities but it is not the norm. It is not mainstream.

We need to stop subsidising fossil fuels. We hear all this talk from some politicians about the renewable sector having to stand on its own two feet in the energy market yet we subsidise fossil fuels to the tune of £12 billion/year and renewables £8.3 billion/year. The balance is wrong and doesn’t reflect where Government support is needed. Local Government and wider public bodies need to divest from fossil fuels which if we are serious about addressing emissions will become worthless stranded assets (according to the Governor of the Bank of England). Some have already done so, others need to like the West Yorkshire Pension Fund for instance.

I’d love to see a mass tree planting project with large scale civic engagement and I hope the Northern Forest proposal becomes that. Every school child in the UK should be given the chance to plant a tree.

The revolution in electric vehicles needs to be accelerated and Councils and large fleet operators incentivised to act more swiftly with infrastructure and in their own procurement. Leeds is doing well with 200 electric vehicles. Kirklees has 3. Come on Kirklees!

Fracking. We need to keep it in the ground. Ban it like so many other civilised countries in the world have and Scotland.

We need to ensure we do these things but focus on those on the lowest incomes first. We don’t just save the world we must create a better world.

Do all this and it will be a good start

Newsome Councillors visit Hillside Primary School

Today myself and Councillors Julie Stewart-Turner and Karen Allison visited Hillside Primary School. We've done a few of this visits now to various Primary schools in the Newsome Ward. I'm keen that we demystify Councillors and local democracy to make it accessible, normal and for local politicians to be people they are aware of. So I always enjoy these visits. You always get good questions and views. Thanks to Kirklees staff for facilitating this event.

Councillor Andrew Cooper - Speech to Kirklees Council on Declaring a Climate Emergency

Firstly I welcome this motion to 'Declare a Climate Emergency' and I thank Councillor Murgatroyd for his initiative in bringing it forward. It follows on from a number of other motions by Councils around the country the first one in the UK in Bristol introduced by my Green Party colleagues there and this has been followed by a number of others including Stroud and most recently Bradford Council last night. It is also now a global phenomenon and even Councils on the other side of the Planet in Australia are passing similar motions based on the call to action inspired by the IPCC report.

So what is it all about. We have limited time to act and national Governments are not acting nearly fast enough. I was at the UN Climate Talks in Katovice , Poland last month where on behalf of the EU Committee of the Regions we were calling for National Government’s to work in partnership with Local Authorities to address climate change. So a quick question to members. How many emails , memos, calls for assistance with the Paris Climate goals have we in Local Government received from National Government since it was signed over 3 years ago? You know the answer it is zero.

We are the people with the closest links to communities, who can mobilise action quickly, who have strong links with the wider public sector and business. If we are not properly valued and involved in action to address climate change then we will fail.

Passing this Climate Emergency motion is an important first step but it will meaningless if not followed up by meaningful action. I know recycling is an important issue and does have a relationship with climate change and it is somewhat bizarre that it is the only specific aspiration mentioned in this motion. There is a lot more we could do.

In July this year Government announced that we could set our own energy efficiency standards in our Local Plan and that crucially these could be higher than those set in National Building regulations. On Monday I visited the Navarre Region of Northern Spain where the Local Authority there is currently building 524 Passivhaus accredited homes for social rent. It was inspiring stuff, the people on the lowest incomes having good standard housing with negligible fuel bills. It was good to see such strong leadership. It is not an isolated story and around Europe we now seeing tens of thousands of such homes being built. In the UK we have leading authorities like Norwich and Exeter doing some successful groundbreaking work on Passivhaus developments. In Kirklees it has been a bit slow. The Passivhaus Report produced by the All Party Policy Task force probably reported about 2 years ago and has never been responded to. Now I know some positive work on standards is being pursued but we like a strong statement of what our policy is in this area to guide officer and show we are a leader in this area.

Similarly with the use of electric vehicles we are well behind a number of other Local Authorities. We now have 3. I am told via the Examiner that we have another 17 planned. Leeds City Council has 200 electric vehicles. We need to do more.

We have been at our best as once the Leading Authority on Green policies when we have been our boldest. When we were the first Council in the country to provide householders with a universally free insulation scheme. We won the prestigious Ashden Award recognising our pioneering work in energy efficiency

When we finally decided to pursue a solar programme on Council homes ( 5 years too late in my opinion) we won the Solar installer of the year award. No we shouldn’t chase baubles for the sake of it but recognise that fortune favours the bold.

We need to ignore the naysayers, those who urge caution based on outdated or just wrong knowledge, and ignore those who will never take a risk until they have all the information they feel they need. Why should we take this approach? Because it is a climate emergency and should be treated as such. We don’t have the time to come up with perfect plans, we should be guided by what has worked well for others and take informed risks when we need to. If we heed the advice of dinosaurs we will go the way of the dinosaurs.

Action on climate change is a great opportunity for this council. New skills, activities that can bring communities together. Not simply saving carbon and energy but money as well. Let’s pass this motion and act decisively not just for Kirklees, or to do just what others have done but to provide the direction and leadership on climate action that is lacking in this country.

Support this motion