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 July 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)       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)       acknowledges the recent report by Sheffield University and Sheffield City Region “A snapshot of the beer industry in the Sheffield City Region” reaffirmed that Sheffield is the real ale capital of the world - and can also stake a claim to being the birthplace of the UK craft beer revolution;

(c)        finds it troubling that despite Sheffield’s claims to excellence in the brewing industry, many of our city’s community pubs are under threat from closure and notes that an alarming 68 pubs in Sheffield have closed since 2011, with many turning into convenience stores under permitted development rights;

(d)       notes the recent decision by Wandsworth Council in south London which has told the owners of 120 select bars and pubs that they have to seek councillors’ approval before changing the building’s use or knocking it down;

(e)       calls on this Authority to explore adopting a similar policy and protect a number of our city’s pubs from development due to their historic or architectural value or because they make a positive contribution to their community; and

(f)        also calls on this Authority to take into account Asset of Community Value status as a material consideration when applications for change of use are made in respect of pubs with such status.

That this Council:-

(a)       welcomes the historic 60 year partnership between Sheffield City Council and Sichuan Guodong Construction Group;

(b)       believes that this is the biggest Chinese investment deal of its kind to be made by a UK city outside of London and is the first deal of its kind to be made by a UK city;

(c)        notes that the 60 year commitment secures a stream of investment into the city for the next generation, and is likely to mean a whole range of projects become viable because of the long-term nature of the relationship;

(d)       believes that the deal will be important in helping to grow the city’s economy and could create thousands of jobs for the people of Sheffield;

(e)       notes that the agreement between Sheffield City Council and Sichuan Guodong Construction Group has been over 18 months in the making and thanks all involved for their hard work in bringing the agreement forward;

(f)        welcomes the commitment of Mr Wang, Chairman of the Board and President of Sichuan Guodong Construction Group, to Sheffield and welcomes these comments he has made about the city - “Sheffield really does stand out amongst all UK cities as an outstanding business investment. This agreement illustrates our confidence in Sheffield as a city going from strength to strength, with real growth potential. We are looking forward to being a part of this over the coming decades.”;

(g)       welcomes that the agreement with Sichuan Guodong Construction Group is running parallel to increasing civic and cultural ties between Sheffield and the city of Chengdu and welcomes the prospect of further mutually beneficial collaboration between the two cities; and

(h)       will write to Mr Wang to demonstrate the Council’s full support for the partnership and looks forward to growing the working relationship between the city and Sichuan Guodong Construction Group to support many positive developments in the City.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes that central government is responsible for ensuring that a national system of social care is in place that provides care for people who need it, and reiterates concerns that the well documented national crisis in social care highlights their failure to do this;

(b)       regrets that the Government has failed to act to address this crisis and despite numerous warnings, the situation is getting worse not better;

(c)        is concerned by the findings of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services’ Budget Survey Report 2016, which show that funding for social care is failing to match increased needs for, and costs of, care for older and disabled people;

(d)       agrees with the ADASS that “we are at the tipping point where social care is in real jeopardy and this impacts on the millions of people needing care and support”;

(e)       also notes a recent report by the Health Select Committee showing that increasing numbers of people with social care needs are no longer receiving the care they need because of a lack of funding, causing considerable distress to the individuals and families concerned and resulting in additional costs to the NHS;

(f)        believes that one of the primary causes of the crisis is the devastating cuts made to local government over the past six years and recalls comments by former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Sir Danny Alexander, that local government had 'borne the brunt' of deficit reduction under the previous coalition government;

(g)       is therefore extremely concerned that the Government’s plans to abolish Revenue Support Grant, in the misguided belief that local services can be adequately funded by Council Tax and Business Rates alone, will inevitably lead to more cuts to care and putting many councils at breaking point;

(h)       notes that there are many complex challenges facing social care, such as the impact of an ageing population and the recent increase in the national minimum wage;

(i)         wholeheartedly supports measures to increase wages for carers, however, believes the Government has completely failed to address the impact that its changes to the minimum wage will have on care services;

(j)         welcomes the commitment of the present Administration and councils across the country to protect services for the most vulnerable, noting that Sheffield has proportionally given greater protection to care than most services, however, due to the level of cuts imposed by Government, it has not been possible to protect services completely and therefore believes a change of approach nationally is needed;

(k)        believes that whilst they are welcome, the Government’s initiatives to tackle the care crisis, such as the Better Care Fund and social care levy, merely tinker around the edges and do not address its failure to adequately fund the social care system; and

(l)         urges the Government to increase investment in social care as a matter of urgency, which as a start could be achieved through front loading the Better Care Fund, in line with the Local Government Association’s  ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes there are around 36,000 privately rented properties in Sheffield;

(b)       further notes that the number of people living in private rented accommodation in Sheffield has doubled over the last 10 years and continues to be on the rise;

(c)        notes that a lack of social housing properties, rising house prices and the difficulty in accessing mortgages, mean that many people, particularly the young or vulnerable, have no choice but to live in private sector rental accommodation;

(d)       believes that the rising demand for rented homes is pushing up costs and allowing some landlords and letting agents to take advantage of tenants who have relatively little power to object to high prices or poor conditions, or to make choices about which letting agent to use;

(e)       notes the Private Member’s Bill, proposed by Liberal Democrat Lord Baroness Olly Grender, the ‘Renter’s Rights Bill’ which proposes the Government adopt a number of measures to address that current imbalance of power between renter and landlord by:-

(i)         banning letting fees for renters;

            (ii)        giving renters access to an open register of rogue landlords;

            (iii)       bringing in compulsory electrical safety checks in rented homes;                 and

            (iv)       preventing rogue landlords from obtaining an HMO licence; and

(f)        therefore, calls on the Administration to write to the Government to support the ‘Renter’s Rights Bill’.

That this Council:-

(a)       celebrates the success of Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics achieving second place in the medal table and notes that the Paralympic Games are currently underway;

(b)       takes particular pride in the success of Sheffield’s Jessica Ennis-Hill and Bryony Page for winning silver in the Heptathlon and Trampoline respectively;

(c)        notes that many athletes from across the country have trained at Sheffield’s world class English Institute for Sport and believes that this is testament to Sheffield as a city of sport; and

(d)       believes that the people of Sheffield are extremely proud of all of our athletes who have represented both the city and the country and congratulates the athletes, and all who have supported them, for their success.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes the success of Tramlines festival which took place across the city between 22-24 July 2016;

(b)       thanks all staff and volunteers who worked incredibly hard to make the festival a great success;

(c)        thanks the residents of Upperthorpe and Netherthorpe for their support and understanding, and helping make the event such a success; and

(d)       welcomes the increased city centre footfall that such events provide, and the positive impacts for the local economy.

That this Council:-

(a)       requests that officers collate a detailed inventory of European Union (EU) funded ongoing and pending projects benefiting Sheffield, with the overview for post-“Brexit” continuity;

(b)       calls on the Government to ensure that the stated payment to the EU (of £350m before rebate/£240m after rebate, per week, of which £165m per week is returned "re-packaged" as EU funding to the UK), must be redistributed, post-“Brexit”, to demonstrably benefit every community within the UK, and believes that, in simple terms, the amount of money available to invest in the UK could increase significantly after “Brexit” in comparison to the current level of “so called EU funding";

(c)        calls on the Administration to work cross party to plan ahead for the city’s future regional needs, with close co-operation with Sheffield City Region, and make any new investment asset work;

(d)       further believes the £240m payment to the EU per week should, post-“Brexit”, be used to benefit all our ailing and failing industries, including agriculture and fisheries, the rusting steel industry, and a patched up NHS, as well as to help with social care, the overloaded and underfunded education system and maybe even a fresh review of "Clean Coal" in the UK, plus assist local projects such as the extension of Sheffield's Supertram network to Doncaster/Sheffield Airport, as well as the north of the city, including links to Deepcar, Stocksbridge, Grenoside and Chapeltown;

(e)       believes that it is grossly unfair that a few multi-national corporations have been able to access all the benefits of our thriving British consumer market without making a proper contribution to the cost of British society, and that the public has every right to be angry about this;

(f)        believes that, if the Labour Party’s ideology of nationalising some of these ailing industries has any credibility, the time is approaching for serious consideration on these issues, but that a more realistic regeneration measure would be low interest business loans, especially to a revived fishing fleet; and

(g)       wishes to see the restoration of full British tax sovereignty, which we lost when we signed up to the EU, and see a Treasury Commission set up to monitor the effectiveness of the new Diverted Profits Tax and to bring in any further measures necessary to prevent large multinational corporations using aggressive tax avoidance schemes.