Agenda and minutes

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

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.

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

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

4.3       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://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ecCatDisplay.aspx?sch=doc&cat=13165&path=0)

That this Council:

(a)       contends that due to eight years of prolonged and unnecessary austerity, funding for the education system is no longer sufficient and Sheffield schools are disproportionality bearing the brunt of this;

(b)       notes that whilst the Government are finally providing an increase in much needed funding, the combination of eight years of standstill budgets and decisions around national insurance, funding of pay increases, etc. mean that schools have seen their budgets cut by an incredible 30% or more in real terms over this period;

(c)        notes that the Government have implemented a national funding formula in an attempt to readdress the balance, but in actuality the funding changes will mean that Sheffield schools will be worse off by £12.1m this year and £5.7m next year – a cut equivalent to £170 per pupil in 2018/19 and £80 per pupil in 2019/20;

(d)       contends that despite the Government’s rhetoric of “fairness”, regional imbalances remain in the current system, for instance, an average sized secondary school in Sheffield would receive £822,000 more each year if it was situated in Manchester;

(e)       believes there is insufficient funding nationally in the school system and, despite the best efforts of teachers and parents, such inadequate funding will inevitably see the continued depletion of resources from our schools, and shows that not enough is being done to address the historical imbalance in the funding allocation for Sheffield schools;

(f)        believes that school funding does not need to be like this and notes that a Labour government would give our schools the resources they need; by reversing funding cuts and increasing the schools budget in real terms, to build a National Education Service that allows every child to fulfil their potential;

(g)       contends further that it is possible to stop the cuts and ensure all schools have the funding they need, and that to do so it would cost an estimated £5.66 billion across the UK by 2022 and the Labour Party’s fully costed 2017 General Election manifesto demonstrated how this could be paid for;

(h)       notes that the Administration is working closely with representatives, parents, teachers and unions from across Sheffield’s schools and together a united and strong opposition to the changes has emerged;

(i)         highlights that this Administration has written to the Secretary of State for Education demanding a fair settlement for Sheffield schools, and further notes that Labour councillors will continue to campaign and challenge the Government for a fair funding settlement for the city’s schools;

(j)         notes the wide-ranging campaign demanding better for Sheffield schools, including the recently launched public petition, co-authored by Learn Sheffield and this Administration, to put pressure on the Government; and

(k)        believes that schools are proud of Sheffield’s education community and the collaborative way it is approaching this, when the Government is doing everything to encourage division and set schools against each other.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes that the NHS is in crisis after eight years of government underfunding and privatisation from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, and notes that patients are waiting longer hours in overcrowded A&Es, waiting lists are rising and hospitals are facing huge financial problems;

(b)       notes that 70 years ago, the Labour Party created the National Health Service (NHS), despite opposition from the Conservatives;

(c)        contends that the NHS is one of the crowning achievements of the post-war Labour government, and that the ideal that healthcare should be free to all is as important today as it was 70 years ago;

(d)       praises the commitment and compassion of staff working in the NHS and in social care throughout the last seventy years and to those currently employed who are having to work under ever increasing pressures;

(e)       believes that the NHS has helped transform British society for the better and its positive impact on the health of the UK population over the last seventy years is immeasurable;

(f)        believes that for all the public goodwill towards the NHS, recent governments have failed to support this precious institution sufficiently and despite the Rt. Hon Theresa May MP’s rhetoric of providing a “70th birthday present for the NHS”, the recent announcement of additional funding for the NHS confirmed that this Government has failed to give the NHS the funding it needs;

(g)       notes that patients are facing record waiting times for treatment, A&Es have had their worst performance figures on record this year, social care has been pushed into a state of emergency, the NHS currently has nearly 100,000 staff vacancies and NHS Trusts are almost £1billion in deficit;

(h)       contends that the Government’s pledge to increase spending by 3.4% has been widely criticised for not going far enough to rectify eight years of austerity;

(i)         notes that the Government’s announcement excludes public health budgets, training and capital – meaning it’s an increase of around 3% for health services, when we have a childhood obesity crisis, cuts to sexual health and addiction services, workforce shortages and a backlog of £5 billion repairs;

(j)         further notes that the Labour Party’s 2017 General Election manifesto pledged to invest an extra 5%, with nearly £9 billion extra going into the NHS and social care for this year alone;

(k)        notes that Labour’s spending commitment was fully costed, and would have seen the big corporations and the very wealthy being required to pay their fair share of tax to fund it;

(l)         notes that the 3.4% funding for NHS services (excluding the aforementioned funding for preventive, training and capital budgets) is still below the 3.7%  average increase the NHS has seen over the last 70 years;

(m)      further notes that the Labour government of 1997 - 2010 funded the NHS an extra 6% each year – which transformed and revitalised health services in the UK following years of neglect from Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major -  ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes (i) the use of civil injunctions by the Council against those campaigning against the felling of Sheffield's street trees;

(ii) the very clear acknowledgement of the Leader of the Council that she “positively agreed” to the use of such injunctions and was supportive of the recent High Court proceedings; and

(iii) that elected politicians have the right to set policy that decide if the Council does or does not use civil injunctions as a way of dealing with the street tree felling situation;

(b)       therefore, is both surprised and dismayed that the Administration is seeking to extend the time period of the injunctions for another three years and also extend the remit of the injunctions,

(c)        believes that this is all contrary to the spirit of compromise and working with campaigners to find solutions to the tree felling issue which the new Cabinet Member for Environment and Streetscene has publically stated; and

(d)       calls upon the Administration to use the current pause in tree felling to live up to the Cabinet Member’s promises of compromise and change to the way street trees are dealt with in our city.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that more than 17 million voters voted 'Leave', giving the Government the largest democratic mandate in the history of British politics and believes (i) there should be no question of turning back, (ii) Article 50 is a trap designed to obstruct countries from leaving the EU and (iii) there was no legal or moral obligation to use Article 50, the UK has the legal right to withdraw from the EU unilaterally;

(b)       expresses the view that Parliament must resume its supremacy of law-making without restriction, and that Britain must be completely free from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, and must be free to relinquish its membership of the European Court of Human Rights, if we wish to do so;

(c)        believes that Britain must have full control of immigration and asylum policies, and border control, and must not be bound by any freedom of movement obligation;

(d)       also believes that the UK must take its seat in its own right on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and resume its sovereign right to sign trade agreements with other entities or supra-national bodies; must have full rights to set its own tariff and non-tariff barriers consistent with WTO rules; and must leave both the EU single market and the customs union;

(e)       further believes that the UK's full maritime sovereignty must be restored and we must have control of our maritime exclusive economic zone, which stretches 200 miles off the coast, or to the half-way point between the UK and neighbouring countries, and that there must be no constraints on our fishing fleet, other than those decided upon by the UK Parliament;

(f)        expresses the view that the UK must not pay any 'divorce' payments to the EU, nor contribute to the EU budget, and must be paid back its share of financial assets from entities such as the European Investment Bank, in which £9 billion of UK money is vested; and

(g)       is concerned at the possibility of a withdrawal agreement being signed which means the UK leaves the EU in name but not in substance, and believes that if the Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP signs such an agreement she will have betrayed Britain to the EU, just as every Prime Minister has done since 1972.

To receive the annual report providing an overview of scrutiny activity undertaken by each of the Scrutiny and Policy Development Committees during the 2017/18 Municipal Year, and proposed activity for 2018/19.

Councillor Denise Fox, Lead Member for Scrutiny, will introduce the report, to be followed by an opportunity for Members of the Council to ask questions or make observations on the contents of the report.

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 6^th June 2018 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

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.