Asking permission to ask a question at cabinet using the "Environmental Information Regulations 2004”

 I wrote to Cllr Athwal and other councillors on the 10th October per the below

Dear Cllr Athwal and other Councillors

Cabinet meeting of 19^th October asking a question using the “Environmental Information Regulations 2004”

The UK has signed the Aarhus convention which gives UK residents the right to make verbal requests for information relating to the environment, which includes the built environment.

I say Redbridge cabinet is the appropriate decision-making body to make such a request. I or others will make such a verbal request at the above meeting.

I say this right is in addition to the right residents have to ask a question relating to an issue on the agenda.

So I will be submitting a question which is on the agenda and also asking a question relating to the local environment which is my right under the Aarhus convention. The regulations do not state that advance notice of the content of the verbal question must provide the wording of the question.

This council has declared a climate emergency so I hope this right will not be opposed.

I look forward to your reply in due course.

Regards

 

Andy – supporting references below

I cut the relevant part of the regulations - “environmental information” has the same meaning as in Article 2(1) of the Directive, namely any information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on—

(a) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements;

(b) factors, such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment referred to in (a);

(c) measures (including administrative measures), such as policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements, and activities affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in (a) and (b) as well as measures or activities designed to protect those elements;

(d) reports on the implementation of environmental legislation;

(e) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used within the framework of the measures and activities referred to in (c); and

(f) the state of human health and safety, including the contamination of the food chain, where relevant, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures inasmuch as they are or may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment referred to in (a) or, through those elements, by any of the matters referred to in (b) and (c); END QUOTE

The regulations allow a verbal request per this regulation which is different from freedom of information where verbal request are not allowed. I quote form the regulations:

“Verbal requests for information

Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)

This is a verbal request log for use by public authorities. You may find it a good way of recording verbal requests you receive for environmental information.

The EIR do not specify how a valid request must be made. They can be verbal (ie, spoken) or in writing, so a request could come by telephone, letter or email, or using social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. It is good practice to have a policy for recording details of the requests you receive, particularly those made verbally.

You may wish to check with the requester that you have understood what information they want. This can help avoid later disputes about how you have interpreted the request. We recommend you use this verbal request log as a reminder of what you should record in these cases. For detailed guidance on handling a request under the EIR, see the ICO website.

The log can also be used to record requests you may receive under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). This may be useful if you are responding to a request for reasonable adjustments. END QUOTE

A non-councillor who I copied in asked for further information: in reply I wrote

I cut and paste the UN introduction to the Aarhus convention at the end of this email.

The convention ordinary residents several rights regarding the environment. The recent stop the Tesco Toxic Towers judicial review relied upon Aarhus rights to cap the campaign costs at £15K when we lost. The full costs would have substantially lower. I am now part of a team relying upon Aarhus seeking the right to send child death and hospital admission data to an academic in order to discover the real risks of building in the space between busy roads and the Elizabeth Line. I hope this request will be sent to BHRUT in the new year with the support of local community groups.

So, for me Aarhus is working to allow ordinary people to influence governance locally.

I say residents have the right to ask Aarhus verbal questions without notice at council meetings. However, in order to be helpful, I have given more than a week’s notice of my intention to use the Aarhus right to ask a question at a council meeting.

I say this Aarhus right is imported into the Council standing orders. Perhaps Labour may dispute this in due course. However, when this council has declared a climate emergency it would be odd for Labour to block me from speaking on the environment at the October cabinet.

Examples of questions could be:

1) What percentage renewable energy as a total of all energy was consumed by Redbridge for September 2023 (If Redbridge does not keep monitor this information this it begs the question of how seriously the council is taking the climate emergency). Advances in information technology and artificial intelligence allow this data to be found if the political will exists.

2) What is the Council’s best estimate of CO2 emissions for the month of September 2023?

3) What is this boroughs best estimate of the Redbridge population at 1^st September 2023 (The human population is part of the environment)

4) What percentage of the Redbridge population could not heat their homes adequately in September 2023?

5) What percentage of the Redbridge population went hungry due to poverty in September 2023 (food bank use could be one indicator)