The Yorkshire and The Humber Regional Committee of the House of Commons is seeking written evidence for an inquiry into carbon emissions in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

The Committee is interested in receiving evidence on:
Levels of carbon emissions

• the extent to which Yorkshire and the Humber is a region with a carbon-intensive economy;
• which regional industries and other activities contribute to carbon production in the region;
• how Yorkshire and the Humber compares with other regions in terms of carbon production;

Reducing carbon emissions

• which organisations are active in the region to reduce carbon emissions;
• which branches of central, regional and local government are working to reduce carbon emissions in the region, and the extent to which they are working together;
• the extent to which the Integrated Regional Strategy is likely to be effective in coordinating efforts to reduce carbon production in the region;
• what projects are operating or are planned to reduce carbon emissions in the region, with illustrative examples of how they are working and their prospects for success;

The low-carbon economy

• how regional industries can take advantage of the low-carbon economy;
• the barriers to the region becoming a low carbon economy;
• where the future of the regional carbon economy lies.

The Committee asks for written submissions in accordance with the guidelines stated below by noon on 29 January 2010.

Please note

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to regionalcommittees@parliament.uk and marked "Yorkshire & the Humber Regional Committee Inquiry". The Committee's strong preference is for submissions in electronic form, although hard copy originals will be accepted and should be sent to Emma Sawyer, Senior Committee Assistant, at:

Regional Committees
House of Commons
7 Millbank
London SW1P 3JA

Each submission should:

• be no more than 3,000 words in length;
• begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
• have numbered paragraphs; and
• (if in electronic form) be in Word format or a rich text format with as little use of colour or logos as possible.

For Data Protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals submitting written evidence send their contact details separately in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please supply a postal address so that a copy of the Committee's report can be sent to you upon publication.

A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/witnessguide.pdf

Please also note that, once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee will normally, although not always, choose to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Regional Committees: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/regional.cfm

On the 12 November 2008 the House resolved: “that this House welcomes the Third Report from the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons on Regional Accountability (House of Commons Paper No. 282); approves the proposals for regional select and grand committees for each of the English regions set out in the response from the Government in the White Paper, Regional Accountability (Cm. 7376), except that Chairmen of regional select committees shall not be paid; accordingly endorses the clear expectation that the regional select committees should meet significantly less frequently than departmental select committees; and considers that the combination of select committees providing opportunities for inquiries and reports into regional policy and administration together with opportunities for debate involving all honourable Members from the relevant region will provide a major step forward in the scrutiny of regional policy.”

Debate on 12 November 2008 Hansard (with motion) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm081112/debtext/81112-0010.htm#08111228000899

Committee Information:
Emma Sawyer, e:mail sawyere@parliament.uk Tel: 020 7219 0654
Dr Sarah Thatcher (Committee Clerk) e:mail thatcherse@parliament.uk

Media Information: Nick Davies, e:mail daviesnick@parliament.uk Tel: 020 7219 3297

Watch committees and parliamentary debates online: www.parliamentlive.tv

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