Agenda and minutes

Members to declare any interests they have in the business to be considered at the meeting.

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 6^th January 2016 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

(a) To receive any questions or petitions from the public, or communications submitted by the Lord Mayor or the Chief Executive and to pass such resolutions thereon as the Council Procedure Rules permit and as may be deemed expedient.

(b) Petitions Requiring Debate

The Council’s Petitions Scheme requires that any petition containing over 5,000 signatures be the subject of debate at the Council meeting.  Three qualifying petitions have been received as follows:-

(1) Petition calling on the Council to install crossing at the junction where Castle Street/Waingate and Haymarket join

To debate an electronic petition containing 7,793 supporters (as at 25th January) calling on the Council to install crossing at the junction where Castle Street/Waingate and Haymarket join.   The wording of the e-petition is as follows:-

“I am writing this petition to ask Sheffield Council to install traffic lights at the junctions in the Sheffield city centre. The same spot where Summer Lee Seymour lost her life in a collision with a bus along with her boyfriend, who is currently fighting for his life.

As a bus driver myself, this has been an accident waiting to happen for a long time. It really saddened me to hear of Summer’s passing and I think that in respect of Summer, and for her boyfriend, Sheffield needs to do this to prevent any other lives at risk.

15 year old Summer Seymour had her whole life ahead of her. I didn't know her personally and neither do I know the family or her partner, but this beautiful girl lost her life and I think it could have been prevented had there been traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing installed. It is really bad driving round the city centre, especially in this area. I've come across lots of near misses myself and it won't be the last time if something isn't done about this soon.

So please do this in respect of Summer Seymour and her boyfriend. Please sign and share. We don't want anymore tragic accidents, please act now.”

(2) Petition calling on the Council (acting as trustees of Graves Park) to protect the Park and not sell Cobnar Cottage

To debate an electronic petition containing 12,421 supporters (as at 25th January) calling on the Council (acting as trustees of Graves Park) to protect the Park and not sell Cobnar Cottage.  The wording of the e-petition is as follows:-

“Cobnar Cottage in Graves Park is up for auction at the end of this month. If the Council (acting as trustees of the park) succeed in selling the cottage, it will break the covenants on Graves Park. This will put any of the rest of the park at risk of sale. It also puts at risk all the other covenants on property given to the people of Sheffield by J G Graves.

Graves Park does not belong to the Council, it belongs to the citizens of Sheffield.

In 2009 Sheffield City Council put all of the Graves Park covenants into one  ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

5.1       Questions relating to urgent business – Council Procedure Rule 16.6(ii).

5.2       Supplementary questions on written questions submitted at this meeting   – Council Procedure Rule 16.4.

5.3       Questions on the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and Rescue and Pensions – Section 41 of the Local Government Act 1985 – Council Procedure Rule 16.6(i).

            (NB. Minutes of recent meetings of the two South Yorkshire Joint Authorities have been made available to all Members of the Council via the following link -

            http://sheffielddemocracy.moderngov.co.uk/ecCatDisplay.aspx?sch=doc&cat=13165&path=0)

To consider any changes to the memberships and arrangements for meetings of Committees etc., delegated authority, and the appointment of representatives to serve on other bodies.

Report of the Interim Executive Director, Resources.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill will lead to a reduction in the number of homes available at genuinely affordable rents at a time when Sheffield needs more;

(b)       deplores the decisions of the current Government and the previous Coalition Government to cut grant funding for new social housing;

(c)        opposes:-

(i)         the Government’s decision to allow private consultants to process and potentially determine planning applications, and believes locally elected representatives are the most suitable people to deal with this; and

(ii)        the watering down of Section 106 and the broadening of the definition of ‘affordable homes’ to include Starter Homes, and is concerned that these changes are likely to produce fewer new homes at genuinely affordable rents in Sheffield;

(d)       believes:-

(i)         children of tenants have rights and that the ending of home security for people upon the death of a parent is both ethically and morally unfair;

(ii)        limiting councils to giving tenancies of  between 2 and 5 years maximum is unfair on tenants and detrimental to developing strong, safe and cohesive communities and a stable schooling  environment for young people;

(iii)       believes the Right to Buy discounts for housing association tenants funded by the sale of high-value council housing is effectively a levy on the Housing Revenue Account and is detrimental to the housing needs of the City; and

(iv)       a couple earning £15,000 each should not be the target of re-assessment for higher market rents; and

(e)       welcomes:-

(i)         the current Administration’s commitment to increase Sheffield’s council housing stock by 1,000 units; and

(ii)        the news that more than 100 new homes are to be built in the Manor area on brownfield land owned by Sheffield City Council and that more than 150 jobs will be created during construction.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that Sheffield has an international reputation for steel making, and that steel remains a crucial part of the City’s economy;

(b)       reiterates the motion passed in November calling on the Government to take action to support the steel industry;

(c)        believes that the Government’s response to the job losses around the country have been completely inadequate and believes that the Secretary of State must urgently reconsider his approach;

(d)       deeply regrets the news announced earlier this month that Sheffield Forgemasters is to cut up to 100 jobs and extends full sympathy to everyone affected;

(e)       welcomes action taken by the present Administration to work at a city region level to try to extend the support packages that have been put together for Tata steel workers to anyone affected by job losses at Forgemasters and to do everything it can to put in place support to get people who are facing redundancy back to work;

(f)        reaffirms that Forgemasters is a world class company but needs urgent support and a level playing field with its international competitors; and

(g)       supports the Save Our Steel Campaign and calls on the Government to:-

(i)         provide support for a business rate cut for the steel industry;

(ii)        give the steel industry a break from green taxes and high energy bills;

(iii)       take urgent action to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel;

(iv)       make a commitment to use British steel for all major infrastructure and construction projects; and

(v)        look to use British-made steel in all Government backed contracts.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that building has begun of the new Tinsley School on Tinsley Recreational Ground;

(b)       notes that this was the only publicly accessible green space in the Tinsley area and was a part of our city’s heritage as the park that Gordon Banks, England’s 1966 World Cup winning team goalkeeper played on as a child;

(c)        notes that there were alternative sites and options which could have been considered but believes the Administration refused to listen to public opinion;

(d)       believes that our city’s green reputation and treasured open spaces are not safe in the hands of our current Administration;

(e)       notes that last January, Ochre Dike Playing Fields, Waterthorpe was designated as a ‘Fields in Trust’ protected site to allow it to be further protected and managed as a public park and playing field in perpetuity; and

(f)        therefore calls on the Administration to:-

(i)         award the remainder of Tinsley Recreational Ground ‘Fields in Trust’ status to protect this community asset from this current Administration and in perpetuity; and

(ii)        resolve that not one blade of grass of designated public open space or park land in Sheffield will be sold off or developed further.

That this Council:-

(a)       extends its sympathy and support for the people across the country affected by severe flooding over Christmas and the New Year;

(b)       notes that flooding is becoming the new norm in Britain, and recalls the flooding of Sheffield in June 2007 in which two people tragically died and millions of pounds worth of damage and disruption was caused;

(c)        understands that Sheffield’s geography makes it vulnerable to flooding, and recognises that the city is in need of extra flood defences to better protect homes and businesses;

(d)       therefore welcomes the current Administration’s plans, developed in partnership with the Environment Agency, to develop a comprehensive flood management capital programme involving five new major schemes which will provide protection for 6,000 homes and more than 1,700 businesses;

(e)       is, however, concerned that the Government has so far earmarked only £23 million of the £43 million required to build the defences;

(f)        notes figures from the National Audit Office which show that investment in flood defences delivers £9.50 in benefits per £1 spent;

(g)       notes that the Leader of the Council has recently written to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling on the Government to meet the £20 million shortfall in funding so Sheffield can get the flood defences it urgently needs; and

(h)       notes that the current Administration has developed one of the largest flood protection programmes in the country and is committed to protecting Sheffield from flooding.

That this Council:-

(a)       recalls that:-

(i)         the State Pension Age (SPA), created in the 1995 Pensions Act, set out incremental women’s SPA rises from 60 to 65 to equalise with men’s SPA; and

(ii)        this was accelerated by the 2011 Pensions Act, so that women’s SPA would increase to 65 by 2018;

(b)       welcomes the equalisation of the State Pension Age but is concerned that the acceleration of that equalisation, implemented by the Coalition Government and overseen by former Liberal Democrat Pensions Minister, the Rt. Hon. Steve Webb, discriminates against women born in the early 1950s, leaving them with inadequate time to make alternative arrangements and adversely affecting their retirement plans;

(c)        notes Steve Webb’s admission to the Institute for Government in December that he made a “bad decision” on raising the State Pension Age; and

(d)       calls on the current Minister of State for Pensions to immediately introduce transitional arrangements to provide protection for women affected by equalisation of the State Pension Age.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that work has begun on Sheffield’s new Chinatown development;

(b)       welcomes this development and believes that this is great news for Sheffield, which will bring £65 million of private foreign investment to regenerate part of the city and create 400 jobs;

(c)        believes that this is a great complement to the re-development of The Moor which was secured by the previous Administration and which is progressing at pace and on course for completion by the end of next year;

(d)       expresses disappointment at the rate at which the New Retail Quarter has progressed;

(e)       believes that the people of Sheffield have waited long enough for progress on the New Retail Quarter to be made; and

(f)        hopes that with the planning application submitted and a new developer soon to be announced there will be no further delays in the development.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that the recent consultation on proposals for devolution of powers to the Sheffield City Region closed on January 15th;

(b)       notes that the consultation was only open for a period of roughly six weeks, that it was only late in this period that the consultation was publicised on the front page of the Council website, and does not believe this was sufficient to ensure a robust consultation providing the widest possible range of views from the people of the Sheffield City Region;

(c)        recalls that in a 2012 referendum the people of Sheffield voted decisively against the creation of the post of executive mayor for Sheffield City Council, and believes this shows strong strength of feeling across the city against centralising executive power in the hands of a single individual;

(d)       believes that while genuine devolution of powers to local authorities and cross-authority areas is an important objective in principle, the deal as proposed appears more concerned with seeking economic growth than with the genuine enhancement of local democracy;

(e)       therefore, calls upon the Administration to:-

(i)         return to negotiations with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make clear Sheffield City Council’s opposition to the imposition of a mayor;

(ii)        oppose, on behalf of the people of Sheffield, any devolution deal that includes as a prerequisite the creation of the post of Sheffield City Region Mayor; and

(iii)       work with local authority leaders from across the Sheffield City Region and across the North of England to secure a better deal for the people of Sheffield; and

(f)        directs that copies of this motion be forwarded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to the leaders of each local authority in the Sheffield City Region.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes a relentless attack on Great Britain's coal and heavy industry continues unabated, and that the few remaining miners of this country, the salt of the earth, were brought to tears by the closure of Kellingley Colliery a week before Christmas 2015;

(b)       notes that Kellingley Colliery was the last deep coal mine operating in Great Britain, and is situated at Beal in North Yorkshire, three and a half miles east of Ferrybridge power station;

(c)        further believes “the powers that be” have now conspired to destroy our country's last remaining underground kingdom of coal;

(d)       also believes that, in effect, the badges and slogans that proclaim "Coal Not Dole" around Sheffield and in this Council Chamber have been washed away, like tears in the rain;

(e)       regrets that the island of Great Britain, which stands with enough coal under its ground sufficient for 500 years’ use, now imports coal from all over the world;

(f)        believes that if Great Britain is to have energy security and cheap, plentiful, reliable sources of power, coal must be a part of the solution, and that it is a crying shame that more of the coal we use will now be mined from under some other nation’s footprint instead of our own;

(g)       places on record its conclusion that politics is too important to be left in the hands of our current crop of national politicians; and

(h)       suggests that a copy of this motion should not be sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for fear it would cause bewilderment and confusion.

That this Council:-

(a)       condemns the Government’s decision to abolish maintenance grants for lower income students and replace them with a loans system from September 2016;

(b)       notes that around 40% of students at Sheffield Hallam University are reliant on maintenance grants to help fund their studies;

(c)        is concerned that:-

(i)         abolishing maintenance grants will make life harder for students from low income backgrounds, and could deter some from entering higher education; and

(ii)        the Government’s own Equality Impact Assessment reveals a risk to the participation of students from poorer backgrounds, women, BME students, mature students and disabled students; 

(d)       recalls comments from the Rt. Hon. Lord David Willetts, former Universities Minister, in 2010: “Our proposals [tuition fee rise] are progressive because they help to encourage people from poorer backgrounds to go to university because of the higher education maintenance grant…”;

(e)       agrees with Dapo Adaramewa, Sheffield Hallam Students’ Union President, that turning the grants into loans “flies in the face of the poorer students who are being saddled with even more debt”;

(f)        notes research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies which found that scrapping maintenance grants will mean the poorest 40 per cent of university students in England will graduate with debts of up to £53,000, rather than £40,500 at present;

(g)       believes that higher education should be accessible to all, including those from low income backgrounds; and

(h)       calls on the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Education Secretary to reverse this decision.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that Sheffield is world famous for its pubs and real ale, and last year was named by the New York Times as the beer capital of Britain;

(b)       recognises the important role local pubs play in the life of our city by providing a community hub for residents to meet, relax, debate and do business;

(c)        notes the recent study by Oxford University for Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) which found that people who have a "local" pub are "significantly" happier, have more friends, better life satisfaction, and drink in moderation compared to those who haven't;

(d)       regrets the decline of community pubs in recent years and notes that last year, figures revealed 46 pubs had shut across Sheffield since 2010;

(e)       notes the recent rejection by this Administration of 9 applications to give some of our city’s best known pubs Asset of Community Value status on the ground that they have no community;

(f)        believes that the Administration is being too stringent in its definition of ‘community’ and that a community can be defined other than by geography; and

(g)       calls on the Administration to support Sheffield’s pubs by:-

(i)         reassessing the definition of community that it uses for Asset of Community Value applications;

(ii)        supporting community groups who wish to register their local pubs as assets of community value; and

(iii)       amending local planning policies to stipulate that no pub will be allowed to change use unless it is demonstrated that continued trading is not economically viable and that the premises has been marketed as a pub unsuccessfully for a stipulated minimum period.

That this Council:-

(a)       asks what other country in the world would pay lawyers to persecute its own soldiers, our very own war heroes;

(b)       believes that the current practice of pursuing soldiers who have fought for this country in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ulster, whereby many soldiers have had investigators turn up at their home addresses asking questions on their door steps regarding their military actions, of men who were simply carrying out orders, is deplorable and is nothing more than a “witch hunt”;

(c)        believes that this is beyond comprehension, and unless an individual has served on a battlefield/front, you cannot imagine what it must have been like to fight for your life, or to have lost a fellow comrade, shot or blown to pieces by an improvised explosive device (IED);

(d)       is concerned that Sergeant Alexander Blackman (Marine 'A') was sent to prison not by a British jury but by a military Court, and believes that if Sergeant Blackman had been judged by the ordinary public (i.e. a Jury) the result would have been somewhat different; Sergeant Blackman was prepared to die for his country, a man who signed up to be a soldier, who we expected to fight, and believes that the Government let Sergeant Blackman down, didn’t support him as a soldier and has hung him out to dry; and

(e)       supports the release of Sergeant Blackman and will not rest until the “witch hunt” against our soldiers in the British Army comes to an end.