To receive Mayor’s Announcements.

The Mayor announced that Councillor Ashley Pearce’s wife, Karen, had recently given birth to twins, Claudia and Miles.  The Council extended its good wishes to the new-born babies and their parents.

Councillor Hopper, at the invitation of the Mayor, made a personal statement at the meeting, which would be his  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The Mayor to sign the Minutes of the proceedings of the Council Meeting held on 22 January 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To receive petitions in accordance with Standing Order 8.

Jennifer Leach and Skye presented a petition in the following terms:

“Declare a Climate Emergency in Reading

• Humans have caused irreversible climate change to Planet Earth; the impact of this is already being felt around the world.
• We were warned last month by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Questions in accordance with Standing Order 9.

Questions in accordance with Standing Order 10.

(The full text of the questions and replies  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Report by Director of Resources

The Director of Resources submitted a report fulfilling the requirement on her under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 as the Council’s Chief Finance Officer to report on the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations of the budget and the adequacy of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Report by Director of Resources

The Director of Resources submitted a report asking the Committee to recommend to Council, on 26 February 2019, the draft 2019/20 Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and associated spending plans for the three years 2019/20 to 2021/22.  The report covered all aspects of the Council’s spend: General Fund  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Report by Director of Resources

The Director of Resources submitted a report seeking approval of the calculations for determining the Council Tax requirement for the year 2019/20, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992. The report also sought approval to set the Council Tax amounts for each property valuation band in the Borough  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Report by Director of Resources

The Director of Resources submitted a report seeking approval for a Treasury Management Strategy, which had to be in place before the start of each financial year, in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice 2017 and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Councillor Page to move:

Please note the motion below was altered at the meeting.  The final agreed version of the motion can be found in the link to this item.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) believes the world is now clearly in the midst of a climate emergency and that more concerted and urgent action is needed at local, national and international level to protect our planet for future generations.

RBC has a long standing commitment to action on climate change.  A signatory of the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change in 2006, the Council was one of the first authorities to produce a detailed Climate Action Plan. 

We note that CO₂ emissions in the Borough have fallen by 41% since 2005, which is greater than all but 19 of the 405 authorities in Great Britain, and that Reading Borough Council has reduced its own emissions by 53% since 2008. 

Reading is urban in nature and the majority of emissions are from the use of fossil fuels and energy to run buildings and transport.  Methane is also harmful to the climate.  In Reading, these emissions are primarily from food, human waste and landfill.  Gases from the latter two are captured and used to generate energy.

Despite good progress at local level, new evidence continues to emerge about the scale of the likely impacts of climate change.  We are now aware through the launch of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018 that, in order to reduce the risks of severe climate change, all countries must act much more quickly. 

This Council was proud to host the Model Climate Conference in December 2018 in this Chamber attended by students from local secondary schools, which coincided with the Katowice Climate Conference (COP24), and resulted in all the participating students stressing the urgency of climate action and pressing the Council, Government and others to act quickly.

RBC notes that we have already set out a number of ambitious policies and actions which will help to pave the way for the delivery of a Zero Carbon future such as: 

·       ‘Zero Carbon Standards’ within its draft Local Plan,

·       The RBC Carbon Plan

·       The forthcoming consultation on options, such as a Clean Air Zone, for improving local air quality and reducing congestion prior to publishing our draft Fourth Local Transport Plan

·       The Reading Climate Change Partnership and Strategy - Reading Means Business on Climate Change

·       The Launch of Reading Community Energy Society

This Council therefore instructs officers to report to the SEPT and Policy Committees on further potential measures that could accelerate the timescale for reducing carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2030, but recognises that this date can only be achieved with substantial policy changes from national government.

The Council also calls on the Government to follow the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change and radically improve the policy framework including, for example:

·       detailed and practical proposals for retrofitting private and public housing stock, where the Green Deal failed.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 48.

Pursuant to Notice, the motion set out in the resolution was moved by Councillor Page and seconded by Councillor Eden and CARRIED:

In accordance with Standing Order 14(10)(a), Councillor Page received the consent of the Council to alter the motion he had submitted in writing, in the following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.