Agenda and minutes

1.1

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lisa Banes, Keith Davis, Mohammed Mahroof, Ian Saunders and Jack Scott.

2.1

Personal interests in agenda item 6 – Notice of Motion regarding Ensuring Tenant Safety in Sheffield - were declared by (a) Councillors John Booker, Dianne Hurst, Mazher Iqbal, Bob Johnson, Abdul Khayum, Mike Levery, Abtisam Mohamed, Shaffaq Mohammed, Zahira Naz, Josie Paszek, Colin Ross and Paul Scriven, on the grounds of being private sector landlords, (b) Councillors Ian Auckland and Sue Auckland on the grounds of being private sector landlords as trustees for a minor and (c) Councillors Talib Hussain and Cliff Woodcraft on the grounds of their spouse being private sector landlords.

3.1

Petitions

3.1.1

Petition Requesting a Review of the Licensing of Sexual Entertainment Venues in the City

The Council received an electronic petition containing 27 signatures, requesting the Council to review the licensing of Sexual Entertainment Venues in the City.

Representations on behalf of the petitioners were made by Charlotte Mead and Lisa Markham. Charlotte Mead said that the Council had been urged to consider the effects that strip clubs had on communities. She said that this had not happened and some local people had therefore taken matters into their own hands.

Charlotte Mead stated that two male former police officers had visited the Spearmint Rhino on two occasions in February 2019 and had identified breaches of licensing conditions and possible unlawful activity. Lisa Markham read three excerpts from a report, which described in detail the type of activity that had taken place at the venue and Charlotte Mead then read the club’s rules which set out expected behaviours for dancers and formed part of the licence. She said that the findings of this investigation showed the links between the so called acceptable part of the sex industry, sexual entertainment and prostitution and it appeared that there were breaches of licencing conditions and also unlawful activity taking place in the Spearmint Rhino.

Charlotte Mead said the Council was licensing the premises and that it was not acceptable for Councillors to choose not to be involved or pretend that issues were not happening. It was stated that this was a matter of upholding the law and the Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty, which she said the Council had failed to do in recent years.

She said that objections had been made to the premises since 2015 and a request had also now been made to meet and share evidence with the Licensing Service and it was also requested that the Cabinet Member attended that meeting. It was requested that the licence for the Spearmint Rhino was immediately revoked. Councillors were requested to ensure that they had the relevant knowledge of the facts with regards these matters and to make Sheffield a sexual entertainment free city.

The Council referred the petition to Councillor Lewis Dagnall, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport. Councillor Dagnall stated that issues concerning Sexual Entertainment Venues were sensitive and there were strong views on different sides of the argument on this issue. He said that Parliament had legislated for a framework permitting lawful sexual entertainment venues and which were regulated by local authorities. The Council had operated a policy for Sexual Entertainment Venues and it granted licenses appropriately. 

Councillor Dagnall identified several issues in relation to Sexual Entertainment venues, as follows:

Firstly, issues concerning a potential breach of the law, which should be reported to South Yorkshire Police. Secondly, there were issues concerning a breach of the license, in relation to which he would pass the information provided by the petitioners to the Council’s Licensing Service and the most appropriate course of action was for the petitioners  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.1

Urgent Business

4.1.1

With the permission of the Lord Mayor (Councillor Magid Magid), Councillor Paul Scriven asked the Leader of the Council (Councillor Julie Dore) the following question relating to urgent business, under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.6(ii):-

“In light of the issues that have emerged at Welcome to Yorkshire over the last 24 hours of over £40,000 of expenses having been falsely claimed and internal investigations having been set up and West Yorkshire Police now looking into possible criminal offences, will the Council suspend its £50,000 membership fees until such time as West Yorkshire Police and the internal investigations have been completed to ensure that Sheffield council tax payers’ money is safe?”

4.1.2

In response, Councillor Dore stated that the Council had not yet paid its membership fee for the coming year, and payment of the membership fee would be withheld until the Authority was satisfied that it was appropriate to do so.  She added that the issues that had recently emerged were allegations and that there was an investigation ongoing.  The Council had been alerted to the matter, and the Chief Executive had written to Welcome to Yorkshire (WTY) asking for assurance that the funding provided by the Council had been used appropriately.  The payment of the fees now due would be withheld pending receipt of a satisfactory response from WTY.

4.2

Written Questions

A schedule of questions to Cabinet Members, submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 16, and which contained written answers, was circulated.  Supplementary questions, under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.4, were asked and were answered by the appropriate Cabinet Members.

4.3

South Yorkshire Joint Authorities

There were no questions relating to the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and Rescue or Pensions, under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.6(i).

5.1

It was moved by Councillor Mohammad Maroof, and seconded by Councillor David Barker, that this Council:-

(a)       believes that it is a national scandal that child poverty is rising and school budgets are being cut, and that the country’s children deserve much better than this Government are providing;

(b)       notes that child poverty is rising and food bank usage is increasing for those in and out of work, caused in part by the following:-

(i)         damaging changes to benefits such as universal credit and child benefits;

(ii)        a lack of investment in youth services;

(iii)       cuts to funding for Sure Start;

(iv)       a shortfall worth millions in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities funding;

(v)        supposed fair funding for schools, which this Council believes is anything but fair, as Sheffield schools are losing out on millions;

(vi)       the scrapping of the Educational Maintenance Allowance; and

(vii)      children and young people’s mental health is suffering at the same time as mental health services are becoming increasingly stretched;

(c)        congratulates children and young people for speaking up and protesting about austerity and on the impact of climate change and the need to radically improve our environment, and tribute is paid to the local school children of Watercliffe Meadow Primary School, and children joining from other schools, for their recent demonstrations and for the many letters they have sent to the Government demanding more for their school;

(d)       believes that it does not need to be like this for the city’s young, as continued austerity is a political choice and a Labour government would instead listen to the concerns of young people by reversing the negative impacts of austerity and take head on the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation; and

(e)       notes that a Labour government would give votes to 16 year olds, invest in a proper National Education Service, invest millions more for Sheffield schools and colleges, scrap tuition fees and give our young people the skills and labour market they deserve.

5.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Martin Smith, seconded by Councillor Andrew Sangar, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the addition of new paragraphs (c) and (d) as follows:-

(c)        notes subjects such as languages, music, drama and art are increasingly being cut from the curriculum to balance budgets;

(d)        is dismayed that there are cases of state schools crowd funding to keep music lessons on the curriculum, and believes education at state schools should be free;

2.         the deletion of original paragraphs (d) and (e), and the re-lettering of original paragraph (c) as a new paragraph (e); and 

3.         the addition of new paragraphs (f) to (h) as follows:-

(f)         further notes that our 16 year olds are politically active, therefore should have the right to vote;

(g)        believes strongly in our children and young people and their right to the education of their choice; and

(h)        asks that the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1

It was moved by Councillor Jim Steinke, and seconded by Councillor Sophie Wilson, that this Council:-

(a)        notes that following sustained pressure from Sheffield City Council, the Government have finally agreed to cover the cost of recladding of Hanover Tower – the only council-owned tower block which failed the post-Grenfell safety test;

(b)        notes that following the Grenfell disaster, Councillors acted quickly and decisively to reassure tenants by moving forward plans to fit sprinklers in all 24 council-owned tower blocks;

(c)         believes that this was the right thing to do and that the Authority needed to do this for tenant safety, regardless of the cost or the fact that national regulations did not at the time require this;

(d)        notes that the Labour Party has always maintained that the cost of post-Grenfell safety measures should not fall on cash-strapped local authorities and that the Government needs to fund this;

(e)       notes that, together with ten local authorities, of different political persuasions, this Authority is demanding that the Government funds the sprinkler systems for all tower blocks, all of which are now recommended under national fire regulations, and notes that Sheffield Councillors took this case direct to 10 Downing Street on 26 March;

(f)        believes that by working in collaboration with other councils and a wider national campaign, it gives added weight to our demands to fund sprinkler safety measures for all council-owned tower blocks;

(g)       further notes this Council’s commitment to social housing and that this year’s Housing Revenue Account means that tenants will also see around £400 million of investment over the next five years to make sure homes and estates are well maintained;

(h)       notes, in addition, that Sheffield Councillors are calling for government action to make private tower blocks in Sheffield safe for residents and to ensure that those living in the buildings are not left having to pay for this;

(i)         notes that Sheffield Councillors are supporting the work of Labour MPs in their demands to the Government to hold developers and freeholders to account for the situation, and believes that if the law is currently not up to the task, then the Government needs to change it; and

(j)         believes that private rented tenants should have greater protection – and calls on the Government to end Section 21 eviction powers which means private tenants can be evicted through no fault of their own; so that private rented tenants in Sheffield know that as long as they meet their legal obligations, the home is theirs, instead of the current situation whereby landlords can evict a blameless tenant which means the rental market will keep failing to provide the certainty we associate with having a place to call home.

6.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Penny Baker, seconded by Councillor Steve Ayris, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the substitution, in paragraph (d), of the words “Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats have”, for the words “Labour  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1

It was moved by Councillor Paul Scriven, and seconded by Councillor Adam Hanrahan, that this Council:-

(a)       notes:-

(i)         the importance of local businesses across the city to the prosperity and vibrancy of Sheffield;

(ii)        that local economies and opportunities are improved when local businesses can thrive and be encouraged by pubic bodies;

(iii)       the employment and wealth that local business contributes to Sheffield; and

(iv)       that according to the Centre for Cities, the Sheffield economic area needs to improve on key areas such as business closures (ranked 44th of 62 areas), business start-ups (50th of 62), GVA per employee (53rd of 62) and ratio of private to public sector employment (45th of 62);

(b)       also notes that Sheffield is home to many innovative and successful businesses that create employment and wealth, but, like all cities that want to improve business friendly policies, local growth and employment opportunities, knows more can always be done;

(c)        wishes to do all it can to foster a culture of making Sheffield a great place to do business, encourage local small and medium sized businesses to set up and thrive here and to complement larger businesses by being part of their supply chains;

(d)       believes that more should be explored to support and encourage local business and help the local economy to grow; and

(e)       directs the Chief Executive to bring a report back to this Council within three months to give practical examples of what more can be done to support the local economy, including such ideas as:-

(i)         a local currency called the Sheffield Pound to encourage people to spend their money with local, independent businesses;

(ii)        more pop up shops in local shopping areas and the city centre;

(iii)       a full weekend festival of busking and street art to be held across the City;

(iv)       improving the amount of goods and services the public sector buys from local small business;

(v)        encouraging large companies engaged on public sector contracts to use at least 50% of local businesses in their supply chain;

(vi)       supporting and developing local cooperative and community interest companies in the City;

(vii)      developing and supporting "pop up market days" in the city centre and local shopping areas that promote and celebrate local food and drink, arts, gifts and crafts;

(viii)     offering business rates relief on office space for tech start-ups that offer jobs to first-time employees such as school and college leavers and graduates from local universities;

(ix)       offering business rates relief to landlords who volunteer their vacant properties for pop up shops; and

(x)        training and support for ‘getting the most from online trading’ for local small and medium sized businesses, including retail business.

7.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Mazher Iqbal, seconded by Councillor Abtisam Mohamed, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council”, and the addition of the following words:-

(a)       notes that Sheffield  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.1

It was moved by Councillor John Booker, and seconded by Councillor Jack Clarkson, that this Council:-

(a)       (i) believes joining the European Union was the biggest political blunder in Great Britain's history, and that, had we not joined, Britain would be more democratic, significantly richer and happier and (ii) further believes that never in living memory have the citizens in the United Kingdom been so at odds with their elected representatives;

(b)       notes that (i) the Conservative Party contested the 2015 General Election on the explicit promise of a binding referendum on membership of the EU, (ii) on 7th September 2015, a bill setting out its terms and format passed by 316 votes to 53 votes, a huge 85.6% mandate, (iii) in the “people's vote” that followed on 23rd June 2016, despite "Project Fear" and incessant media and government propaganda, a decisive 7.9% (1.3m) more people voted to leave than remain, (iv) on 8th February 2017, Parliament passed the Article 50 Bill, explicitly setting the 29th of March 2019 as the exit date, by 494 votes to 122 votes, a massive 80.2% vote to leave the EU, and on that date, and (v) the 29th of March 2019 will be 1,009 days after the Referendum, and believes that another delay after this date accomplishes nothing but damage to the UK;

(c)        contends that once the momentous decision was taken to proceed with a Referendum on continued membership of the EU, and after the result to leave was officially declared, the duty of all elected representatives should have been to work in a professional and diligent way, free of discrimination, to carry out the democratic will of the people, working for a positive future and leaving self-interest and personal ambition behind;

(d)       believes that the behaviour of the majority of MPs in the House of Commons over a considerable number of months has been disgraceful, and that, despite both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party stating in their General Election Manifestos that they would take the United Kingdom out of the EU, they now appear to be captivated by the EU; and

(e)       (i) notes that, should the United Kingdom Independence Party’s position on the EU be adopted, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland can look forward to the day when it becomes a sovereign nation once again; where all citizens can unite as one, working for a better society, free from discrimination on the grounds of their race, religion, ethnic origin, education, beliefs, sexual orientation, class, social status, sectarianism or any other basis prescribed by law and (ii) believes this would be in the interests of promoting liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and the essential, traditional freedoms of the people of the United Kingdom and those under the protection of the United Kingdom.

8.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Ben Miskell, seconded by Councillor Chris Peace, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1

RESOLVED: On the Motion of Councillor Peter Rippon, seconded by Councillor Dianne Hurst, that the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 6^th February 2019, and the special meeting of the Council held on 6^th March 2019, be approved as true and accurate records.

10.1

There were no changes made to the membership of Committees, or the appointment of representatives to serve on external bodies.