Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): If members are content, I will proceed through the draft report, seeking the Committee's consent or comments after each section. We will begin at section 2, as section 1 merely provides details of the Committee's membership and its powers, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.

Section 2 is an executive summary of the Committee Stage of the Bill and provides a general overview of the Committee’s considerations. Are members content with section 2, which is paragraphs 5 to 12 of the draft report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): OK. Section 3 is the introduction and provides an overview of the report. Are members content with section 3, which is paragraphs 13 and 14 of the draft report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Section 4 provides background information on climate change and its impacts locally, nationally and globally. It also describes the Paris agreement, the aims of COP26 and various legislative provisions to mitigate climate change on these islands. Are members content with section 4, which is paragraphs 15 to 48 of the draft report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Section 5 is a summary of the UK Climate Change Committee's (CCC's) progress report of June 2021 and the actions that are needed to meet the net zero pledge. Are members content with section 5, which is paragraphs 49 to 54 of the draft report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): OK, we are moving on. This is all background information.

Section 6 provides information on the profile of greenhouse gas emissions locally between 1900 and 2017, as well as a sectoral breakdown of emissions in 2018. Are members content with section 6, which is paragraphs 55 to 57 of the draft report?

Mr McGuigan: Section 7 summarises the CCC's advice that is outlined in its sixth carbon budget for the North. Are members content with section 7, which is paragraphs 58 to 60 of the draft report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Section 8 is a breakdown of the Bill as drafted. Are members content with section 8, which is paragraphs 61, 62 and the table of clauses?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): The first eight sections are merely background information. Section 9 sets out the Committee's considerations of the Bill. That includes a Bill timeline at paragraphs 63 to 76; briefings that we received from RaISe; a summary of the key messages from our call for evidence; and summaries of our oral evidence sessions with different stakeholder groups, including the Bill sponsor team, climate experts and academics, the environmental sector, the agri-food sector, Departments, arm's-length bodies and other sectors.

The Committee also held informal deliberations, which are described in section 9 from paragraph 190 onwards. Those deliberations were on the climate emergency; climate action plans; the climate office and commissioner; the climate objective and net zero targets; supplementary aspects of the Bill; other issues; a report from the Examiner of Statutory Rules; and the financial implications. Are members content with section 9, which goes from paragraph 63 to 269 of the draft report?

The Committee Clerk: Members should note that, in paragraphs 219 to 221 of the draft report, there is reference to the work that we recently undertook to seek advice from the Legal Services on the powers of the commissioner. This afternoon, Legal Services has advised a slight amendment to those three paragraphs that does not substantively change them. If the Committee is agreeable, I propose to swap those three paragraphs for the three proposed by Legal Services?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): I am happy with that. Is everybody else content with that and the rest of section 9?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Section 10 details the Committee's clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Bill, which will be fresh in our memories because we did it this morning. The Committee Clerk sent out an email with some of the papers that we discussed this morning. Are members content with section 10, which comprises paragraph 270 and a table on the deliberations?

The Committee Clerk: So, Chair —

Ms Bailey: Chair —

The Committee Clerk: Sorry, go ahead.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Clare, do you have a question?

Ms Bailey: Yes, I am running a wee bit behind you. If possible, I want to go back to paragraph 230, which talks about the Bill team putting forward a suggested amendment about reaching a net-negative economy. Is it worth noting in there that that amendment was removed? Is that possible? It is worth noting that that amendment was not made and was removed. It was certainly discussed, but it did not go any further.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): That is exactly right, Clare. I second the proposal that that be added in.

Ms Bailey: We did write to the Committee to inform them of that as well.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Yes, you did. Is everybody else happy for the point that Clare raised to be inserted into the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): I am giving members a wee bit of time on this. It is fresh in our minds. We did it this morning. Nick sent out the email, and I hope that everybody had an opportunity to read through that prior to this session.

Are members content with section 10, which is paragraph 270 of the draft report and the accompanying table.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Section 11 presents recommendations made by the Committee following its scrutiny of the Bill. That is paragraph 271. Are members content with paragraph 271 of the draft report?

I will ask this of the Committee Clerk: an amendment was proposed by Legal Services. and a slight amendment was proposed by Clare, and that was accepted. Do we have to wait on those coming back before we progress?

Ms Bailey: Can I suggest another one, Deputy Chair?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Go ahead, Clare. Yes.

Ms Bailey: I am looking at the recommendations. Stakeholder feedback was for the gender-proofing of all policies by the Executive. The Committee adopted that as well. Can that be added as a recommendation?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Sorry, can you repeat that, Clare?

Ms Bailey: Under the recommendations at paragraph 271, can we add a further recommendation, which was given during stakeholder feedback and evidence sessions, for the Executive to gender-proof all policies? Can we add that, as it was taken up by the Committee to be added into the Bill? Can we put that in as a recommendation for the policy level?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Yes, I am happy with that.

Ms Bailey: Thank you.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): I want to take advice, Clerk. Those are three amendments, albeit they are all small. Do we wait for the inclusion of those before formally agreeing the report?

The Committee Clerk: If the Committee is agreeable to this, given that it is a relatively small number of proposed areas of amendment, I will update the document and circulate it to members by email. I will highlight the changes and give members a few days to come back with any queries or issues before publishing the report. That is if members are willing to do that rather than scheduling another session to go through that. I am happy to facilitate that, either way.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): No other issues were raised, and those amendments are fairly minor. There was no dissention to those being included so, unless you word them totally wrongly, I am happy to accept that proposal. If members are happy to agree to that, the Committee Clerk will circulate those three amendments in the body of the text and highlight it for our purposes. If there is no issue after a couple of days, the report can be published.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): On the basis of that, and for my own purposes, I am going to say that the Committee has agreed all sections of the draft report. Does the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs agree to the draft report on the Climate Change Bill and is it content for it to be published?

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): Members, in your packs is a draft summary Bill report. It is a snapshot of the main report, and provides a breakdown of the salient points of the Committee's considerations.

What are members' thoughts on that, and can we publish the summary report?

Ms Bailey: I want to thank the Committee Clerk for doing such a good summary, and

report as well. I am more than happy with it

Mr Blair: Likewise, Chair.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): OK. On behalf of all Committee members, I thank the Committee Clerk and his team for their work in producing the report. This has been a busy time for us all but it is important work. We took the scrutiny of the Bill seriously, but we could not have done it without the assistance of the Committee Clerk and Committee staff, and others within the Assembly, including the Bill Clerk and Legal Services.

Mr Blair: Agreed, Chair.

The Committee Clerk: Thank you, Chair. That is very kind.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McGuigan): That was straightforward, members. I thank all of you for attending the meeting, and for your time and effort in progressing the Bill. I look forward to the debates that we will, no doubt, have on it in the Chamber. Thank you very much.