Commitments to jury recommendations

The Oversight Panel was made up of organisations that are able to influence what happens in the town. Their role was to ensure the jury process remained fair and unbiased throughout. Each organisation  made a commitment to take action on the recommendations produced by the Citizens’ Jury. 

All three tiers of the local authorities have formally highlighted how they will action the recommendations:

  • South Lakeland District Council’s response is available here.
  • Kendal Town Council have incorporated many recommendations into its 2021/22 Action Plan available here. 
  • Cumbria County Council have highlighted how they will action the recommendations here.

The following committments were made before the recommendaitons were created:

KENDAL TOWN COUNCIL

“The recommendations written by jury members in their own words will be presented to a meeting of Full Council on Monday 2nd November, who within 3 months, will explain how they will respond to or act on each point. The recommendations will feed into the future work of Kendal Town Council’s Carbon Neutral Kendal Group.

Given there are three tiers of local Government (Town, District and County,) it is likely one or more of the recommendations will relate to services for which either the District or County, or indeed other organisations, are responsible. This is why the Jury’s Oversight Panel includes representatives from all three tiers.

We are encouraging other organisations to commit to respond to the recommendations and will update the website as we make progress.”

CUMBRIA COUNTY COUNCIL’S LOCAL COMMITTEE FOR SOUTH LAKELAND

South Lakeland Local Committee is made up of all the county councillors for the South Lakeland area. The Committee has powers to make decisions on a range of matters affecting their local area.

“In support of the work of the Kendal Citizens Jury, the Local Committee for South Lakeland formally noted the below commitment at its meeting on 21 July 2020:

“The Local Committee for South Lakeland has demonstrated its support for the work of the Citizens Jury through the contribution of funding for its development as well as ongoing county councillor support on the Oversight Group.  The Local Committee is keen to learn more about the local issues and what might be possible to mitigate against the effects of climate change.

The Local Committee invites the Citizens Jury to present their findings to the Strategic Planning Working Group where it will give due consideration to the findings and achievable actions which fall within the purview of the Local Committee.  This will then feed into the following Local Committee meeting of the 16th November 2020 for formal consensus.

We will continue to communicate openly with the Oversight Panel / Support Group, sharing concerns and reporting issues in a timely manner.”

CUMBRIA ACTION FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) is Cumbria’s climate change and sustainability organisation, striving for a carbon zero Cumbria by supporting people, communities and business.

CAfS commits to:

  • share news about the Jury as it progresses through social media and e-newsletters
  • build recommendations into the development of project proposals for funding bids
  • reference the recommendations as evidence of public interest in climate change in bids, reports, articles
  • draw attention of local authorities and other organisations with which we may work in an advisory capacity to the Jury findings to influence their strategy and plan development.
NFU

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is a representation body for agriculture and horticulture in England and Wales and is known to many as the voice of British farming.

“The NFU has made a commitment for agriculture to be net zero by 2040, more of which can be found here.  We commit to work with the recommendations to make sure that the local farmers can help deliver the aspirations, where possible and practical.”

KENDAL FUTURES

Kendal Futures is a public/private sector partnership with a voluntary board made up of both sectors. It works to encourage investment and make it possible, with the aim of making Kendal a better place for businesses to operate and working age people to live and work.

“The Kendal Futures Board welcomes the opportunity to consider the recommendations of the Kendal Citizens’ Jury for Climate Change.  We have already agreed that sustainability in its widest sense will be embedded in the delivery of the Kendal Vision, and will influence the work of future Vision Action Groups.  We will:

  • Discuss the Jury recommendations at our Kendal Futures Board on Wednesday 21st October
  • Respond in writing to the recommendations by Friday 6th November
  • Ask our Board members to share the recommendations with their own representative groups and organisations, and consider how they may also respond”
REBECCA WILLIS

Rebecca Willis is an independent researcher in environment and sustainability policy and a professor in practice at Lancaster University.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work pulling together various local processes and the national Citizens’ Assembly – to make the case to government (national and local) that they should take this approach to climate policy; and to look across all the processes and see what common themes emerge. I will feed Kendal into that.”

KENDAL ACTIVISTS SAVING THE LITTLE EARTH (KASTLE)

Kendal Activists Saving the Little Earth (KASTLE) is a network of local environmental activists engaging communities to take action against climate change.

“We commit to giving our continued support to the Jury process, and its’ outcomes, sharing news of the project, and implementing the results into future pursuits. We commit to discussing, acting upon, and promoting the results of this jury to assure that in our projects, our community, and the younger generation, are aware of, and committed to making positive changes for the good of all.”

SOUTH LAKELAND DISTRICT COUNCIL

From Cllr Dyan Jones, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency

“The International Panel on Climate Change (2018 report) recommend that we must limit global warming to 1.5oC to limit negative impacts in the future. This would entail a global reduction in carbon emission of 45% by 2030, and becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

South Lakeland District Council takes the business of climate change seriously. sustainability underpins everything we seek to do. We will work towards becoming carbon neutral. Collaborating with communities is crucial. Embracing ‘in this together’ to think globally and act locally is something we cannot do in isolation. This is why South Lakeland District Council supports the Kendal Climate Jury.

We look forward to any recommendations by Kendal Climate Jury which we will give due consideration to, against SLDC’s existing action plan and policies on climate change and biodiversity and respond accordingly

The council has a public participation scheme and welcomes all members of the jury to join cabinet, council or O&S meetings to inform and update council at any time throughout the year.”

South Lakes Action On Climate Change
“South Lakes Action on Climate Change commits to offering a place for  those concerned about the impacts of climate change in our area to communicate and influence our activities.
We annually review those projects which we are able to be a part of and are always open to new members who might want to be involved either in existing projects or in setting up and being active in future ideas.
Currently SLACC focusses on waste reduction (through its involvement in the “Waste into Wellbeing” project with Kendal Peoples Cafe) as well as campaigning and educating on issues likely to impact climate change.     There is also a monthly Newsletter. SLACC always welcomes new members who can join via our website.”
Extinction Rebellion South Lakes

Extinction Rebellion South Lakes commits to:

  • Publicising the work of the Jury through our mailing lists and social media during the process and afterwards
  • Using the findings to put pressure on all tiers of government and big businesses involved in fossil fuels to make urgent systemic changes to reduce carbon emissions to zero.
SOUTH LAKES LABOUR

“South Lakes Labour is the Labour Party in the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency. Many of our members live and/or work in Kendal and its environs. We welcome the initiative taken to set up the Climate Change Kendal Citizens’ Jury and commit to:

· Share news about the formation, process and progress of the Citizens’ Jury with our members, supporters and affiliated unions

· Fully discuss and debate the Jury’s recommendations within the local Party, with the aim of agreeing supportive actions that South Lakes Labour can undertake within the next year; and

· Continue the conversation on responding to the climate change emergency in developing Labour policies locally, and more widely, in contributing to policy debates within the Labour Party.”

Westmorland & Lonsdale Constituency Labour Party Executive Committee (August 2020)

 

 

Further commitments to follow soon.