Consultation over future governance of City

RESIDENTS in Liverpool are set to be asked their views on how the City is governed from 2023. It follows the passing of a motion at a Full Council meeting in January, which asked Council officers to draw up and implement a full and meaningful consultation over the future model of political leadership in the City. A report to the Cabinet on Friday, 18 March 2022 proposes a letter is sent to every household in the City, with a secure link to an online portal, to answer the question:- "How would you like Liverpool City Council to be run?"

The options are the 3 forms of governance that are allowed by law:-

► By a Mayor who is directly elected by voters every 4 years (current system)

► By a Leader who is an elected Councillor, chosen by a vote of the other elected Councillors

► By 1 or more Committees made up of elected Councillors

► The documentation will include a summary of how the consultation is being conducted and information about the models of governance and how they are different.

► There will be instructions in multiple languages, to make it as accessible as possible and paper copies of the voting form will be available on request for those without internet access.

► A digital information campaign in support of the consultation will also take place to raise awareness and encourage participation.

► If approved, the consultation will begin on Monday, 28 March 2022, and end on Monday, 20 June 2022, after which officers will collate and analyse the responses.

► The outcome of the consultation will be reported to Full Council who will make the final decision on whether to change governance arrangements.

► A referendum on whether to change governance arrangements was ruled out by Full Council on cost grounds as it is estimated it would have a price tag of ₤450k, compared to ₤120k for the consultation.

► Any change in governance will take effect from the elections in May 2023, and will be binding on the Council for 5 years. It will still be possible to hold a referendum in this period if a petition of 5% of electors is presented to the Council asking for a referendum of Liverpool electors to vote on whether to change governance model.

City Solicitor, Dan Fenwick, said:- "The Council wants to give as many people as possible the chance to have their say over the future governance of Liverpool City Council. A consultation is the only way that local people can express a preference for all 3 available governance models and we have made the process as clear and simple as we can. People's views in the consultation will be reported back to the Council, which will make the final decision on whether to keep the mayoralty or move to a different model of governance from May 2023. I look forward to hearing what residents have to say and encourage everyone to take part."

Zero Carbon Commuting is the answer to rising fuel costs

THE repercussions of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are causing rapid increases in the cost of fuel across the UK. Against a wider backdrop of high inflation, many people are seeking to save cash as the cost of living soars. Prices threaten to reach all time highs of ₤2 per litre, leaving many wondering if they'll soon be able to afford to use their cars at all. Mobilityways, a certified social enterprise, believes Zero Carbon Commuting to be the answer. "The cost of relying on this type of fuel is more than financial, with serious implications for the future of our planet."

Categorised as Scope 3 emissions, commuting emissions account for 5% of the UK's total emissions; 18 billion kg of CO2e annually. Data from the Mobilityways Platform, which has analysed 532,214 individual employee commutes, revealed that 95% of commuters in the UK them had at least 1 viable sustainable commuting option available to them.

Results from the sample, which was taken from over 350 large employers, revealed that 40% of employees were close enough to walk or cycle to work, 53% of employees had an accessible public transport route available to them and 91% of employees could share a lift with a colleague. This data shows how our habitual reliance on single occupancy vehicles is both misplaced and unnecessary.

The Department for Transport's Decarbonisation Plan outlined that:- "walking and cycling should be natural 1st choice for short journeys," with active travel offering a host of benefits to individuals and the environment. This includes improved physical health, mental wellbeing and travel cost savings in addition to reduced congestion and the associated air pollution and a fall in GHG emissions. The DfT also sets out that reducing single occupancy commuting journeys by just 10% would save 500,000 tonnes of CO2e a year.

Ali Clabburn, Chairman of Mobilityways siad:- "Zero Carbon Commuting is the natural solution to rising fuel costs; which are a symptom of our over reliance on fossil fuels. We must decarbonise the commute if we hope to protect ourselves from the impacts of climate change. If more people choose to walk, cycle, utilise public transport and Liftshare we can reduce and eventually eliminate the need for expensive and polluting fossil fuels. The cost of relying on this type of fuel is more than financial, with serious implications for the future of our planet. These price increases just aren't sustainable for the majority of us and it's a serious wake up call that we need to change our commuting behaviour's before it's too late."

Over ˝ of all commuting trips are made by car in England alone, generating 11m tonnes of CO2 emissions every day. 90% of these emissions come from cars, many of whom are driven alone, highlighting car usage as the largest emissions challenge to be addressed. There are 47m empty seats on our roads every rush hour. Sharing a car journey is twice as efficient and ˝ as expensive than driving alone and can save sharers thousands of pounds in fuels costs every year.

Ali, who established car share platform, Liftshare.com, which now has over 700,000 members said:- "Employers are going to be key in facilitating Zero Carbon Commuting for their teams, particularly now so many organisations have returned their teams to the office at least part of the week. Fuel poverty is a huge barrier to making those plans a reality. Car share communities are a huge well of untapped potential for so many employers; over 700 of our corporate clients have experienced huge successes, collectively saving over 1 billion miles. The Pandemic has shown we have the propensity for change. It's time for us to commute back better."