South Yorkshire Citizens Assembly findings fraught with delays.

A guest blog by Ci Davis

One hundred people, selected as a representative cross-section of the South Yorkshire population, met between October and December 2023 as members of the South Yorkshire Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change; I was one of the members.  We were asked “to consider how we might respond to climate change and how we might create a thriving, sustainable future for everyone who lives here” Oliver Coppard (New Statesman December 2023).

As a manifesto commitment, Mayor Oliver Coppard stated: “A South Yorkshire citizens’ assembly is at the heart of my plans for us to get to net zero” (Now Then April 2022). The assembly was designed for ordinary members of the public to consider how to address the regional impacts of the climate crisis over the coming decades.

Some of the assembly members had strong views on the severity of climate change; I am one of those. Others were unsure about the threat, and some didn’t believe there was a problem. All those views were important because to enable solutions to be found, we needed to listen to the evidence presented by experts, to each other’s concerns, and to trust that when sitting together to discuss the issues, we were working for the best interests of the community.

Over 5 long days, we listened, discussed, argued, came together, considered trade-offs, and in the end, we whittled down 400 proposals to 40 to vote on. The top 14 were passed to Oliver Coppard on 10^th December 2023.

As the assembly concluded, we were told the recommendations would be quickly published.  In January I was told by the Net Zero Officer: “We’re currently working on how we do that; it could be as early as next week”. The mayor has had ample opportunity to announce the recommendations, and although he has said he plans to release them on 11th October, the process has been fraught with delays, and now is the time for the community to see them; indeed, it feels fitting for a citizen to choose the way in which our work is seen.

I strongly believe in the power of the process, and it feels important to respect the time committed by assembly members who worked for the best interests of the region, the testimony given freely by dozens of experts, and the public money invested.  We need to see the recommendations and allow the discussions to be continued in our homes and workplaces, and for the findings to be used to hold our politicians to account.

These are summarised for brevity, and ranked by votes received:

·         Bring the South Yorkshire transport network into full public control.

·         Establish training courses and apprenticeships providing skills, re-skilling, cross-skilling for getting into work, and for those in work but most affected by the emergence of green jobs.

·         Reopen Doncaster Airport for future economic viability, sustainability, and to be a leader in green aviation.

·         Fund and enforce a gold standard quality of new buildings.

·         Retrofit and plan public spaces to prioritise pedestrian usage and accessibility.

·         Create solar schemes for all without means testing, commercial solar fields, and community electricity.

·         Create a comprehensive green action plan.

·         Set up a community hub for growing, distributing, and sharing food.

·         Upgrade local neighbourhoods to include retail, health, education, entertainment, and employment facilities.

·         Fund a food education program for schools.

·         Challenge the mayor to achieve, or exceed, his target of planting 1.4 million trees.

·         Establish community hubs that provide repair, recycling, and loaning facilities.

·         Design school curriculum with more practical involvement in green living skills.

·         Establish integrated travel infrastructure for e-bikes, scooters, and pedestrians.

Not all members of the assembly agreed with all the recommendations, but the experience was important, the process participatory and democratic, and the ideas developed by ordinary people. I hope that the full recommendations, and the shortlist from which they came, will be published by SYMCA on 11^th October. 

Some of these recommendations are manifesto commitments and so we should expect them to be implemented quickly, for example tree planting. The Supertram has already been brought into public control, so I hope the recommendations encourage other parts of the public transport system to follow. The airport has received major funding of £138 million, a controversial recommendation, which makes it even more important that the evidence presented to the assembly, on which the decisions were based, is made public by the Mayor.

The assembly and its recommendations are not perfect, but in the words of Oliver Coppard, it has proven that “the confidence, energy, and legitimacy we need to overcome our fears and frustrations can be found in doing politics with people – not to people. Crucially, we must give our communities the chance to help political leaders navigate a path through challenges both old and new”.  Last autumn we did that work, let it not be lost, let this be an opportunity for the mayor to feel the power of what he initiated, and let us continue together to work in our communities to confront the threat of climate catastrophe.  

Don’t miss an article from TelltheTruthSheffield.org. Subscribe for free today.

Want to know more about Citizen’s Assemblies and Deliberative Democracy? This interview is inspiring and will get you thinking about organising a Community Assembly in your area!