Issue - meetings

Biodiversity

 

 

Meeting: 04/06/2024 - Cabinet (Item 7)

7 Meeting the Enhanced Biodiversity Duty Obligations pdf icon PDF 439 KB

(Cabinet Members with Special Responsibility Councillor Parr and Ainscough)

 

Report of Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change

Minutes:

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillors Parr and Ainscough)

 

Cabinet received a report from the Chief Officer – Planning and Climate Change to formally set out the City Council’s enhanced statutory responsibilities for biodiversity introduced as part of the Environment Act 2021. The Environment Act introduced a new Biodiversity Duty for all public authorities. The new Duty requires all public authorities who operate in England to consider what they can do to strengthen and enhance biodiversity and report on the delivery of these actions.

 

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:

 

 

Option 1: Cabinet approves the actions set out in ‘Meeting the Biodiversity Duty – First Considerations’ (Appendix 1 to this report) to ensure that it can demonstrate that it has taken appropriate action to address new Biodiversity Duty obligations introduce by Environment Act 2021.

Option 2: Cabinet does not approve the actions set out in ‘Meeting the Biodiversity Duty – First Considerations’ (Appendix 1 to this report) to ensure that it can demonstrate that it has taken appropriate action to address new Biodiversity Duty obligations introduce by Environment Act 2021.

Advantages

The Council sets itself a clear set of actions that should enable it to demonstrate that it has acted responsibly and appropriately to address the new Biodiversity Duty introduced by the Environment Act whilst also demonstrating actions to address its own declaration of an Ecological Emergency.

None apparent.

Disadvantages

None apparent.

The Council will not have committed to achieving a clear set of actions that should enable it to demonstrate that it has acted responsibly and appropriately to address the new Biodiversity Duty introduced by the Environment Act whilst also demonstrating actions to address its own declaration of an Ecological Emergency.

Risks

In describing its intentions to address the new obligations and publishing its First Considerations Report the Council will be committing itself to actions that it will need to resource.

The Council may be criticised or censured by government for not preparing a First Consideration Report when the need to do so is clearly set out by the Environment Act 2021.

 

The preferred option is Option 1: Cabinet approves the actions set out in ‘Meeting the Biodiversity Duty – First Considerations’ (Appendix 1 to this report) to ensure that it can demonstrate that it has taken appropriate action to address new Biodiversity Duty obligations introduce by Environment Act 2021. In doing so the Council will have set itself a clear set of actions that should enable it to demonstrate that it has acted responsibly and appropriately to address the new Biodiversity Duty introduced by the Environment Act whilst also demonstrating actions to address its own declaration of an Ecological Emergency.

 

Councillor Ainscough proposed, seconded by Councillor Dowding:-

 

“That the recommendation, as set out in the report, be approved.”

 

Resolved unanimously:

 

(1)            That Cabinet approves the actions set out in ‘Meeting the Biodiversity Duty – First Considerations’ report to ensure that the City  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7