Scrutiny Week – February 2016. #Manchester – More #climate silence…

Posted on February 19, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Why doesn’t Manchester City Council put all its scrutiny committee meeting agendas on one web-page?

Is it just their usual incompetence and indolence, or are they trying to make it that leeeetle bit harder for citizens to know what is going on, how and when to engage?

Manchester City Council has 6 “scrutiny” committees that are supposed to keep tabs on what the 9 member Executive and the officers are up to. Supposed to. One of the problems is, there is not a single non-Labour councillor. So, while there are some councillors with axes to grind and bones to pick, there are very few who will get hold of an awkward issue on which the council has been faaaaaaiiiiiiling consistently (take, oh, I don’t know, climate change as a random example) and ask specific questions, and then refuse to be fobbed off by the officer or Exec member. Failure to back off and accept the nonsense they spout would be a career-limiting move, you see. The people at the top do not reward such awkward independence that lets cats out of bag, skeletons out of closet.

But asides from them all being from the same party, the problems go deeper.  Reports are opaque, delivered at short notice and there is simply too much for some committees to tackle.  And councillors are just normal human beings (well, most of them), with other commitments (jobs, family, volunteering, helping people who are getting screwed by the Tories).  So the amount of time and energy they can dedicate to piercing the propaganda is extremely limited.

Meanwhile, both the media and civil society are largely asleep at the wheel. [For more on all this, see here] .

So, scrutiny is an empty soothing ritual, where naïve activists go to get their belief in the representatives of representative democracy crushed.

If you DO want to go to a scrutiny committee meeting then please, for the love of gaia

a) do not go alone

b) do not go unprepared.

Some of the most miserable, horrible, soul-destroying hours of my life have been spent watching the farce that calls itself ‘scrutiny’.

It IS worth going (once or twice maybe), but not alone, and not unprepared. Srsly. Here’s a five minute video about what happens and some further advice.

Please feel free to contact MCFly – mcmonthly@gmail.com if you want more info.

Here below I have click click clicked through to all the specific pages of the website where the six scrutiny committee agendas are.  The Council COULD, if it wanted, easily have one page where all the agendas were available. The fact that it doesn’t tells you exactly how much they care about keeping citizens informed.

Tuesday 23rd February

Young People and Children’s

10am The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Reports

 

Neighbourhoods

2pm The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Reports

 

Wednesday 24th February

Economy

10am The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Reports

Communities

2pm The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Reports

Thursday 25th February

Finance

10am The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Which is as follows,-

Urgent business
Appeals
Interests
4 The Council’s Budget 2016/17
The following procedure applies for this item:
The Committee will receive a Statement by the Executive Member for
Finance and Human Resources on the Executive’s budget proposals
and the key issues underlining the budget process.
The Committee is invited to consider any issues arising from individual
Business Plans that chairs of scrutiny committees wish to draw specific
attention to.
The Committee is invited to consider issues raised during the public
consultation round.
The Committee is invited to receive a Statement from the Executive
Member for Neighbourhoods regarding the Housing Revenue Account
calculations and to consider any amendment proposed in relation to
the Housing Revenue account 2016/2017 to 2018/19.
The Committee is invited to consider any amendments to the budget
proposals.
The Committee is invited to summarise its findings and formulate its
recommendations to the Council meeting on 4 March 2016.

 

 

Health

2pm The Scrutiny Committee Room, Level 2, Town Hall Extension

Agenda

Reports

Posted in Democratic deficit, Economy Scrutiny Committee, Manchester City Council | 5 Comments

Kindling Trust hopes to get wired for… food. #Manchester

Posted on February 17, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Kindling Trust is hoping to get help from techy-minded PhD students in order to grow more food. If you know techies, or you are one, the deadline for application is 2 March. All details below.

KINDLING TRUST

Wired Farm Project

kindling

Kindling Trust is a not-for-profit working to create a just and ecologically sustainable society through enterprising solutions. They are a team of ten staff who deliver innovative, creative & participatory initiatives which have the potential to have significant impact in creating lasting opportunities to improve the communities who are most in need. A third of food is wasted, whilst 1 in 5 Mancunians do not eat enough fruit & veg. At the other end of the food chain, rural poverty is compounded by extreme weather events and pressure from supermarkets. Yet, 20,000 farming jobs could be created if we prioritised local food.

THE PROJECT

In partnership with small-scale farmers, new FarmStart growers and others at Kindling Trust’s new Urban Farming site in Stockport, Kindling wish to develop, test pilot and eventually roll out a technical solution to the challenge of inefficiencies in small scale growing which: 1) monitors localised environmental factors (e.g. temperature and light levels), resources use (e.g. water consumption); 2) automates remote operations to help improve resource efficiencies (e.g. a grower could receive a text message if a glass house reaches a particular temperature); 3) connects allowing the sharing of crop availability to customers; and 4) communicates by sharing raw data and records, and utilising webcams and time-lapse photography.

PROJECT OUTPUTS – This is a guideline and an updated project outline will be discussed and agreed between partners and  research teams at the workshop of the 17th March.

The team will construct a working prototype that can be tested over a whole growing season. An additional output will be a method of communicating to Kindling Trust’s growers how to use the equipment developed. Guidance notes and training would therefore be very welcome.

RESEARCHER SKILLS NEEDED – We encourage researcher’s with the specific skill set that partner’s seek to apply, but also researchers who seek to grow their skill set to develop solutions for our partner’s specific needs. The benefit of researchers working on teams is that their individual expertise can support each other through exchanging knowledge and skills with each other for greater impact in delivery.

The research team is ideally composed by 1) technically minded individuals to help design, construct and test the proposed technical solution and 2) researchers with good communications skills to develop training and guidance for the device..

HOW TO APPLY:

For guidelines for participation and the application process, please read more here. If you are insterested in applying, please email us at uomrealab2016@gmail.com for an expression of interest form. Please send the completed form and your most recent CV to us by 2 MARCH 2016.

Posted in Food, University of Manchester | Leave a comment

Greater #Manchester Low Carbon Hub. Slightly pale. #justsaying

Posted on February 17, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

MCFly correspondent Ann Onymous looks at the Low Carbon Hub’s ethnic ‘mix’.

low carbon hub 2016This is the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub Board. There are 16 members. Notice any common theme about them, other than their burning passion for climate change mitigation and preparing greater Manchester for the climate disasters that are to come? The board has managed to find two people called Steve, but not that many Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people. Around 1 in 6 people in Greater Manchester (and 1 in 3 people in Manchester) are BME and the Low Carbon Hub board does little to reflect this. One thing that the board recognises is that if we are to mitigate climate change and prepare for its consequences, drastic behavioural changes will be required. Why on earth should the hundreds of thousands of BME people in Manchester listen to what the painfully white LCH has to say about behavioural change, or any other white environmental group in the city?

I will end this post by leaving, without comment, the Low Carbon Hub’s answer to my question ‘How many members of the Low Carbon Hub self-identify as BME/BAME?’

“We do not routinely collect this information.  In 2012, 20% of our wider stakeholders (ie wider than just the Board) were female and 80% male, ethnicity was not mapped. In 2013, the diversity of the stakeholder base had improved slightly with 29% of our wider stakeholder’s female and 71% male, including staff but excluding wider supply chain (SME’s).”

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Job Alert: RSPB 4 month contract in #Manchester

Posted on February 16, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Job opportunity: RSPB: Family Events Officer – Manchester (Part time)

Do you love wildlife? Can you share that passion to engage and inspire children and families?
The RSPB is passionate about making sure that young people have the chance to discover the wildlife that lives close to them. This summer we would like you to work in some of the best and busiest green spaces in Manchester running simple, fun activities that get families exploring and discovering nature.
Endless enthusiasm and a love for working with people, and children in particular, is a must. You’ll use your excellent knowledge of common wildlife to adapt and deliver activities in different locations across the city.
You’ll be reimbursed for travel expenses and are encouraged to use public transport where possible.

Salary: £18,000 to £20,000 per annum pro rate

Hours & contract information:  Hours: Part time, Working weekends during term time and 4 days a week during the school holidays, averaging 22.5 hours per week over the duration of the contract

Contract: Four month contract May to August

Closing date: 29 February 2016!

 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/413073-family-events-officer-manchester

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Upcoming Event: “The carbon and development space” #Manchester Thurs 25th February

Posted on February 16, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

feb25tyndallThe carbon and development spaces

Dr. Marco Sakai, University of Leeds (biography attached)
In the latest UN climate change conference held in Paris, governments all around the world agreed to strengthen efforts to limit the rise in the global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. While this greater level of ambition is welcomed, it significantly intensifies the need to attain even more drastic changes in our economies and societies. In particular, this increases the challenge of attempting to improve the standards of living of millions of people around the planet (i.e. the development space) within more stringent biophysical limits (i.e. the carbon space). In order to overcome this dual challenge, we require a better understanding of the climate-development nexus and start implementing transformational development pathways that enable a rapid global transition to a low-carbon and more equitable future.
 
The seminar will take place in room C1, in the George Begg Building on Sackville Street– number 17 on the map here-  http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/maps/interactive-map/?id=14  
Posted in academia, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

“Just sustainabilities” lecture – 8th March #Manchester

Posted on February 15, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Agyeman.jpg

You are warmly invited to the SEED Annual Social Responsibility Lecture, delivered by Professor Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, USA.

Tuesday 8th March, University Place, Theatre B

Reception from 4.30pm, talk at 5pm.

Julian is the originator of the concept of ‘just sustainabilities’ which he defines as ‘the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems’. Julian will argue that integrating social needs and welfare offers us a more ‘just’, rounded and equity-focused definition of sustainable development and sustainability.

The event is kindly co-sponsored by CURE, the Centre for Urban Resilience and Energy.

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion.  The event is free to attend, but please sign up here.

Everybody is welcome, across and beyond the University, so please feel free to circulate this invitation widely.

Posted in academia, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: “Show the Love” Fossil Free #Manchester Sat 13th Feb

Posted on February 11, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Fossil Free Greater Manchester (contact them at fossilfreegm@gmail.com)

“are planning a few hours of valentines fossil free action for the weekend on Saturday from 10am-2pm (weather and footfall dependent) to coincide with the national Show The Love action by Fossil Free UK.

We are going to start the day by meeting at 10am at Green Fish to sort out any last minute things with an aim to head off at 11am. We are going to walk the dinosaur over to St. Ann’s Square and maybe move across to Exchange Square depending on foot traffic etc.

Since the theme of the action is valentines we have decided to make some green heart postcards which we want to ask members of the public to write on explaining why they want to see GMPF divest and we will be sending these on to GMPF. There is also going to be petitioning and leafleting to do so the more the merrier to try and get the message out to as many people as possible! If you are coming along and get any pictures or want to make any live comments on social media be sure to use #divest and #showthelove

Once we have spread enough fossil free lovin’ we will walk the dinosaur back over to Green Fish and then everyone is welcome to join us for drinks (location to be decided by general consensus)

If anyone would like to help out with making the postcards, banners, placards, etc then feel free to join us at Green Fish from 2pm onwards on Friday where we will be having a crafts session to prepare for the Saturday. Just let us know if you are dropping in.

Hope to see many of you there! Tell your friends too!”

Posted in Campaign Update, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: Policing of Barton Moss Camp. 24th February #Manchester

Posted on February 8, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Weds 24th February, 7pm, Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester.

keepmoving

Posted in Campaign Update, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Event: Road from Wigan Pier Sat 6th Feb. Wigan.

Posted on February 5, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-road-from-wigan-pier-how-can-we-shape-our-northern-local-economies-tickets-19207996635

 

THE POLITICAL IDEA OF A NORTHERN POWERHOUSE IS GROWING BUT WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE? WHAT’S OUR RESPONSE? HOW DO WE BENEFIT?

How can we shape our local Northern economics using grassroots projects, networks and ideas to inspire collective action & economic resilience?

Join some of the UK’s most enterprising individuals and organisations for a day of discussion and planning on how WE shape the future economy of the northern powerhouse.

9:30am – WELCOME

10am – Chairman’s opening: Stephen Armstrong journalist (the Guardian, Sunday Times, Elle, GQ, Wallpaper) and author – The Road to Wigan Pier, Revisited

David Fernandez-Arias, Greater Manchester Referendum Campaign for Democratic Devolution 

Setting a new economic scene – “The Northern Powerhouse” – What does it mean for local people and economies? What are the opportunities? Threats.

Laura Outhart, Transition Network

REconomy – creating new livelihoods and developing new ways of providing essential goods and services is the essence of a resilient local economy. Hear how other groups are already running projects & enterprises and learn the practicalities of creating your own. 

Pam Warhurst, Incredible Edible, Todmorden

The local food economy – Incredible Edible is becoming a worldwide brand. Learn how the incredible Pam Warhurst did it back then, and keeps doing it now.

11:00 – 11:15 Questions

11:15 – 11:30 Coffee Break

Kath Godfrey, Positive Money

Positive Money – A new economic model for the country?  What can we do to help at a local level?

Professor Mark Burton, Steady State Manchester

Regional Currency/Innovative Technology Platforms – What is the “Manchester Social Platform” and what are “Community Loyalty Points”? Mark Burton describes a new initiaitive that is under development. 

Donna Hall, Chief Executive Wigan Council

Mission Impossible? Battered by funding cuts of more than £100m since 2010 and with another £60m to go, how is it possible for a council to stimulate and sustain a local economic recovery? Donna Hall explains “The Deal”. 

12.15am – COLLECTIVE WISDOM: Open forum and questions to panel – Questions from everyone, to everyone

12.45pm – LUNCH & NETWORKING

1.45pm – Stephen Armstrong 

The Road FROM Wigan Pier – where does it lead? Stephen will set the scene for the afternoon session, inspire collective action and push for a clarity of goal outcome that we can all walk away with at the end of the day

2pm – Introduction to the afternoon sessions

Purpose – work with others to explore ideas sparked by the morning sessions. How could these work in the NW, what are the next steps needed?

How it will work? – groups of up to 10 people around a table with a leader / facilitator. Groups will be asked to capture three key opportunities and three key challenges related to the idea they are exploring. A scribe will be allocated to capture these. 

A few pre-determined world cafe sessions will be hosted by the mornings speakers to dive deeper into the opportunities, and guests will be invited to lead their own sessions if they would like to do so. 

2.15pm – World cafe sessions

Session A: Mark Simmonds – Building a Transition Enterprise – from beer mat to business plan

Session B: Debate with Donna Hall, Chief Exec of Wigan Council – “Devloution and The Wigan Deal – what’s in it for you? How could it be used to stimulate Wigan’s local economy and how could it be exported beyond Wigan’s boundaries as revenue-producing service that community-based organisations might profit from?”

Session C: Mark Burton Mark will ask participants to challenge the possibility of a “non-monetary exchange system to promote community action and share resources that would otherwise be wasted.” 

Session D: tbc

Session E: tbc

Session F: tbc

3.15pm – Tea Break

Round table trouble-shooting to sort out the smaller problems;  the Big Nettles to grasp will be identified and parked

3.30pm – Sharing of opportunities and challenges identified by each group, then discussion with morning panellists of how to tackle some of the common key challenges

4.15pm – Stephen Armstrong 

What we need to do today; tomorrow; and over the next six months – summary of next steps

4.30pm – Thankyou and goodbye

(Free creche facilities are available if pre-booked)

When
Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM (GMT) – Add to Calendar
Where
Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) – The Mill at the Pier. Trencherfield Mill. Heritage Way, Wigan WN3 4BF GB – View Map
Posted in Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Greater #Manchester Low Carbon Hub hasn’t done its Carbon Literacy Training

Posted on February 4, 2016 by manchesterclimatemonthly

[UPDATE – if you’re coming here because of a LinkedIn post, please email mcmonthly@gmail.com with the details of it! I am #curious.]

The board of the Greater Manchester “Low Carbon Hub” (LCH), which aims to guide the city to a low carbon future… has not done its “carbon literacy training.”

The LCH has been existence for 5 years (it was known as the “Environment Commission”, before a meaningless rebranding of the type Manchester excels at).  It is allegedly there to drive the low carbon economy, (inward investment mostly, it seems), drive retrofitting of houses (awkward now that the Green Deal has collapsed) and push for a ‘low carbon culture’, including carbon literacy training.

“Carbon Literacy Training” was spruiked in 2009 as one way that Manchester would develop a ‘low carbon culture’. The “Manchester Climate Change Action Plan” of 2009 set a goal that everyone who lived, worked or studied in Manchester (roughly 1 million people) would have received a day’s “Carbon Literacy Training” by the end of 2013.  In mid-2015 it was revealed that so far the number was… 5 thousand. Oops.

Now, an investigation by Manchester Climate Monthly has revealed that, with the exception of the person who co-created “Carbon Literacy”, no-one on the crushingly white Low Carbon Hub board has as yet done the training

We contacted all of the members of the board, via email, twitter of phone call.

The new chair of the Board, Sue Derbyshire, who also leads Stockport Council stated “I hope I remain open to learning new things and in fact enjoy that, however as an individual I am not motivated by completing courses and receiving certification for knowledge, although I acknowledge that has a role for many people and organisations.”

Robin Lawler, chair of Northwards Housing, told us via twitter that he would be completing the training on February 18.

Helen Smith, of TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester) told us “I am new to the Board and to date have not had the opportunity to undertake the training.  I am on the list for the next opportunity, which I hope will be soon.”

Mark Atherton, who has performed secretariat functions for both the LCH and its predecessor stated that “I can confirm that I have not been blessed with the opportunity for carbon literacy training.”

The following people did not reply to emails sent on 24 January

Steve Rumbelow
Chief Lead Exec

chief.executive@rochdale.gov.uk

Julian Packer

j.packer@manchester.gov.uk

Anne Selby

Via info@lancswt.org.uk

Prof Nigel Mellors

University of Salford

n.j.mellors@salford.ac.uk

Cllr Eunice Smethurst

e.smethurst@wigan.gov.uk

Cllr Elaine Sherrington

elaine.sherrington@bolton.gov.uk

The following people did not reply to twitter messages sent on 29 January

Louise Blythe

BBC Media City

@LouiseBlythe

Alison Gordon

New Economy Director of Project Development

@AlisonMGordon

The following people’s gatekeepers were contacted and told us (29 January) that  responses would be forthcoming.  At time of publication they have not arrived.

Steve Johnson – CEO of Electricity North West
Roger Milburn – Arup
Paul Maher – Siemens
Ian McAulay – Viridor

MCFly says:

While it’s a good step that the Low Carbon Hub is now having its meetings in public (the previous Chair, someone called ‘Richard Leese’, unilaterally decided the meetings would exclude members of the public) this latest debacle is troubling.

If the Low Carbon Hub is not going to lead by example, why should anyone take it seriously? If the people behind the Carbon Literacy Training can’t even get Manchester City Council and the Low Carbon Hub to do their training, why should we take their claims for a bright future seriously? Srsly?

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