Agenda and minutes

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

To receive the records of the proceedings of the extraordinary meeting of the Council held on 18^th March 2016, the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 6^th April 2016, and the annual meeting of the Council held on 18^th May 2016, and to approve the accuracy thereof.

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.

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.

That this Council:-

(a)       places on record its thanks to everyone involved in conducting the recent local elections;

(b)       notes that preparing for and running an election is a very complex process requiring commitment, teamwork and professionalism;

(c)        further notes that, during polling day, teams in 214 polling stations across the city provided fantastic support to voters, and the votes were verified, counted and adjudicated professionally at the count;

(d)       also places on record its thanks to the people of Sheffield who exercised their democratic right to vote and to signal their confidence in the current Administration by providing it with a substantial majority;

(e)       believes that,  despite having to contend with unprecedented levels of cuts handed down by the current Government and previous Coalition Government, the current Administration has a proud record of achievement over the last five years; and

(f)        notes the current Administration’s determination to continue standing up for Sheffield and retain its ambition for the city following its recent election victory.

That this Council:-

(a)       is concerned by recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing the disability employment gap  – the difference in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled people – is widening;

(b)       agrees with Mark Atkinson, chief executive of disability charity Scope, that: “current measures to support disabled people into employment aren’t working”;

(c)        believes that policies implemented by the Government, such as the abolition of the Independent Living Fund and the decision to cap Access To Work payments, will make it harder for people with disabilities to get into work;

(d)       further expresses its concern about Work Capability Assessments and the private providers who run them, noting a report released by the National Audit Office in January which found that under Maximus - the new providers of Work Capability Assessments - while cost has almost doubled, there remains a backlog of 280,000 cases and individuals are still having to wait an average of 23 weeks for decisions to be made on whether they will be entitled to Employment and Support Allowance;

(e)       notes the work Sheffield City Council is doing to support people with disabilities back into employment, including:-

(i)         its action to bring resources together from various Council portfolios to better target spending;  and

(ii)        new initiatives to better support people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions to secure work;

(f)        welcomes the current Administration’s pledge to double the number of people with disabilities moving into employment in Sheffield; and

(g)       calls on the Government to overhaul the assessments system and cancel the planned cuts to Employment and Support Allowance that will take up to £30 a week from people with disabilities.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes with regret the decision by the Government to relocate 247 jobs in the Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London and the decision of HSBC to relocate 595 jobs from Sheffield and Tankersley to international locations;

(b)       further regrets the redundancies at Polestar, resulting in 613 redundancies and the 831 jobs at risk at TATA in Stocksbridge;

(c)       calls on the Administration to do all it can with other partners to support those facing job losses across the city to help them find alternative employment and/or training;

(d)       believes that despite these setbacks, Sheffield has a lot of potential to be a great city with great opportunities - in particular:-

(i)         two world class universities and one of the highest graduate retention rates in the country;

(ii)        a fantastic location close to other northern cities and 25 minutes’ drive to a world class airport; and

(iii)       a worldwide reputation as a green city;

(e)       believes that this is demonstrated in the new and exciting developments in Sheffield City Region, with the proposed £300 million expansion to Meadowhall;

(f)        believes this a crucial time for Sheffield, with the recent devolution deal, which will devolve powers from Westminster to politicians in our region, giving local people more power over our own destiny;

(g)       notes the Centre for Cities report “A Century of Cities”, on the importance of knowledge based industries for improving wealth and prosperity in cities, and the Tech North report “The Digital Powerhouse”, on how the public sector can supercharge the tech economy of the north;

(h)       believes that both of these issues are vital to Sheffield’s economy due to the abundance of technology and creative companies; and

(i)         calls on the Administration to:-

(i)         work across political party and with local industry to promote Sheffield more as the place in the north to invest, grow and do business; and

(ii)        ensure one full Council meeting a year is a ‘State of Sheffield’ business event, where local business report back on what improvements have been made and what Sheffield City Council needs to do extra in the coming year to support business, enterprise and innovation in the City.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that 1 July 2016 will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Battle of the Somme – one of the bloodiest battles in World War One in which around a million men were killed or wounded;

(b)       remembers the sacrifice made by those that fell over the 141 days of fighting, and the suffering of the many who were wounded and survived;

(c)        notes the events taking place in Sheffield to commemorate the centenary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, including the Centenary Field Event at Weston Park on Friday 1 July 2016; and

(d)       further notes events taking place in France, including at Sheffield Memorial Park, Serre, where the 12th (Sheffield City) and 13th and 14th (Barnsley) Pals Battalions were decimated on 1st July 1916, at which Sheffield will have a presence with the Lord Mayor in attendance.

That this Council:-

(a)       condemns the Government’s decision to press ahead with relocating 247 jobs at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from Sheffield to London;

(b)       extends its sympathy to the workers affected;

(c)        believes this decision to relocate the department responsible for building the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ flies in the face of the Government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ rhetoric;

(d)       notes the overwhelming case to retain the jobs in Sheffield put forward by the staff affected, trade unions, councils across the city region, the Local Enterprise Partnership, wider business community and MPs, based on it saving money for the Government, its importance for our local economy and it helping to retain talent in Sheffield; and

(e)       further notes that:-

(i)         despite repeated requests, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP, refused to meet with the Leader of the Council to discuss this issue;

(ii)        the Leader of the Council has also written to the Chancellor and Commercial Secretary to the Treasury expressing her dismay at this decision; and

(iii)       the Council will do everything it can to put in place support for local people to find new employment in the city as quickly as possible.

That this Council:-

(a)       asserts that Sheffield City Centre is the preferred location for a HS2 station, over Meadowhall;

(b)       notes that HS2 Ltd's own research shows a city-centre station for Sheffield will bring much better prospects of regeneration to the City Centre; it would create 6000 more jobs and over 1000 more new homes than an out of town parkway location at Meadowhall;

(c)        notes that the Government’s plans for the Northern Powerhouse Rail are based upon city centre to city centre connectivity, and siting HS2 in Sheffield City Centre would form the Leeds to Sheffield leg of the Government's plan for Transport for the North, saving the tax payer money in the long run;

(d)       notes the report in the Sheffield Telegraph on 16th May 2016 that Business Minister, the Rt. Hon. Anna Soubry MP, said that Sheffield risks losing out on a HS2 Station altogether because the region's Labour politicians can't agree on where it should be;

(e)       therefore calls for the Council to write to all South Yorkshire Council Leaders, including the mayor of Doncaster, and South Yorkshire MPs, asking them to back HS2 in Sheffield City Centre; and

(f)        calls on the Administration to set up a cross party task force, including other council leaders, MPs and senior politicians, to work together to lobby the Government for a city centre HS2 station.

That this Council:-

(a)       regrets that the First Three Past the Post system was used to elect the members of the Council last month, believing this to be undemocratic, unfair and unrepresentative, and that its use damages the public perception of our democratic system;

(b)       believes that the use of a Proportional Representation system would have resulted in a council more representative of the way that the people of Sheffield voted, and would have ensured that every voter feels they have a voice to represent them on the Council;

(c)        further believes that by electing the council through Proportional Representation, there would be more co-operation and consensus in decision making, and that the people of Sheffield would benefit from a more efficient and transparent council;

(d)       notes that the Labour Group’s majority on this Council is more disproportional than the Conservative Party’s majority in Parliament, with a Gallagher disproportionality index of 16.8, compared to 9.8 for the Conservatives in Westminster;

(e)       notes that Proportional Representation is used to elect local councillors in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as members of the London Assembly, Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament;

(f)        believes that there is no convincing argument against the use of Proportional Representation, except that it preserves the dominance of the one party that benefits from it most; and

(g)       furthermore, calls on the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, requesting that Sheffield City Council be allowed to trial a Proportional Representation system for electing councillors.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes the increased amount of graffiti in Sheffield in recent years;

(b)       believes that this graffiti reflects badly on our city and would give a bad impression to visitors of a city that does not care about its image;

(c)        notes that this has been noticed by many people, including the local press, resulting in a campaign by The Star newspaper;

(d)       thanks the recent investment by the Sheffield Business Improvement District into removing graffiti from commercial properties in the City Centre; and

(e)       calls on the Administration to devolve centrally held monies for graffiti removal to local Ward pots, so local councillors and communities can take targeted and effective action.