Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HH

Contact: Paul Robinson, Democratic Services  Email: paul.robinson@sheffield.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

2.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 88 KB

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

 

 

Minutes:

3.

Public Questions and Petitions and Other Communications

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.

 

 

Minutes:

4.

Members' Questions pdf icon PDF 409 KB

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)

 

 

Minutes:

5.

Notice of Motion Regarding "NHS Urgent Primary Care in Sheffield" - Given By Councillor Francyne Johnson and To Be Seconded By Councillor Pat Midgley

That this Council:-

 

(a)       welcomes the recent decision by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to put on hold their proposals to change urgent primary care services in Sheffield;

 

(b)       notes that, as such, the walk-in centre on Broad Lane and the minor injuries unit at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital will now be secured until at least September 2020 – and that any decisions on the future of these sites will not be made prior to another public consultation, expected to begin in summer 2019;

 

(c)        notes that the CCG’s original proposals were heavily criticised and that a petition to save these services was signed by more than 10,000 people;

 

(d)       further notes the Healthier Communities and Adult Social Care Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee’s submission detailed many concerns with the plans and concluded that “we do not feel that we have seen sufficient evidence to assure us that the proposals are in the best interests of Sheffield people”;

 

(e)       praises the co-ordinated efforts of local MPs, councillors across the city, political activists, Sheffield Save Our NHS, Healthwatch, and all the campaign groups and individuals who responded to the consultation in opposing the CCG’s original plans - and hopes that together we can reach a suitable solution for maintaining easy access to urgent health care for everyone in Sheffield;

 

(f)        believes that the combined campaign shows that Sheffield fights austerity at its best when working in partnership, and that this victory should be shared by all and it is wrong for any one group to try to take ownership of this issue; and

 

(g)       reaffirms that this Administration is committed to reducing health inequalities and that ensuring easily accessible urgent health care for everyone in Sheffield is of paramount importance.

 

 

Minutes:

6.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Tackling Modern Day Slavery - Committing the Council to the Co-operative Party's Charter Against Modern Slavery" - Given By Councillor Ben Curran and To Be Seconded By Councillor Abtisam Mohamed

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes with immense sadness that the injustice of slavery still persists in the modern world, with an estimated 13,000 victims of slavery in the UK today – with sexual exploitation, trafficking or domestic servitude, and forced labour, just some of the horrific forms it can take;

 

(b)       believes that modern slavery can often operate in plain sight and that everything possible must be done to eradicate the scourge of slavery;

 

(c)        contends that Labour and Labour & Co-operative councils across England are leading the way with a new Charter to ensure exploitation has no place in council supply chains;

 

(d)       notes that the Co-operative Party's Charter against Modern Slavery goes further than existing law and guidance, committing councils to proactively vetting their own supply chain to ensure no instances of modern slavery are taking place;

 

(e)       welcomes the commitment from the present Administration to fully adopt the Co-operative Party’s Charter against Modern Slavery;

 

(f)        notes that, by doing so, the Council is pledging to guarantee that modern slavery is cut from the supply chain by committing to 10 measures, including: challenging abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely on potential contractors practising modern slavery; ensuring workers throughout the supply-line are free to join a trade union and are not treated unfairly for belonging to one; and that the Council will report publicly on the implementation of the policy every year;

 

(g)       contends that the Government’s hostile environment on immigration since 2010 demonstrates their lack of authenticity in dealing with modern day slavery and, as such, it is even more essential that leadership in tackling this is provided by local government; and

 

(h)       believes that tackling modern slavery and focusing on ethical trade is essential and support is given to the Administration for ensuring high standards of ethical practice in the way the Council works through the Ethical Procurement Policy.

 

 

Minutes:

7.

Notice of Motion Regarding "People's Vote - Supporting the call for the people to be given the final say over Brexit" - Given By Councillor Joe Otten and To Be Seconded By Councillor Mohammed Mahroof

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes the ongoing impasse in Brexit negotiations, and the increasing risk of a "no deal" Brexit;

 

(b)       notes the opposition to the Chequers Plan in Parliament and among EU Heads of Government;

 

(c)        notes that agreement has not yet been reached on many of the issues arising from the Brexit referendum, including Government red lines, and both sides have stated that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”;

 

(d)       notes that whilst the principle of a Northern Ireland backstop has been agreed, the UK’s plan to temporarily avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland has not been agreed and there is still no agreement on a long-term solution;

 

(e)       notes that HM Treasury has stated that a no-deal Brexit could require the UK to borrow £80 billion more by 2033, the Government have begun releasing the 84 no-deal technical notes, and the UK health sector is stockpiling medicines in case of a no-deal;

 

(f)        notes that the 2016 EU referendum gave no clear destination for Brexit, as the terms of any deal were not yet known, but that many options were said to be possible including staying in the Single Market (the Norway model);

 

(g)       notes the resolution put to the Labour Party conference calling for a People's Vote to be considered, and strong support for a People's Vote among Labour Party members;

 

(h)       believes that there is no deal that could be negotiated through the Article 50 process that could be more beneficial than continued membership of the EU, and that leaving the EU would therefore be damaging to the UK's fundamental national interests, and the interests of Sheffield in particular, as a university and manufacturing city in a region which has received significant investment from the European Union;

 

(i)         believes that the recent shifts in global affairs, including the USA withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, re-emphasise the vital importance of UK membership of the EU and the values upon which the EU was formed;

 

(j)         believes that promises of a stronger trading position in the world have been seen to be empty, as illustrated by the policy of Donald Trump’s USA Administration relating to air travel, which seeks to take advantage of the UK's weakened position as a non-EU member;

 

(k)        condemns the Government’s approach to Brexit negotiations, which this Council regards as disastrous, and urges MPs to work across parties in the national interest and allow the people to have the final say on the Brexit deal with the option to remain in the European Union and a chance to exit from Brexit;

 

(l)         supports the principle of extending the franchise to 16-17 year olds for the People's Vote and all other elections and referendums;

 

(m)      resolves to seek access to Government impact assessments of all Brexit options for all sectors that are significant to Sheffield, prior to any "meaningful vote" in Parliament; and

 

(n)       resolves to send a copy of this  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

8.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Union Safety Representatives" - Given By Councillor John Booker and To Be Seconded By Councillor Keith Davis

That this Council:-

 

(a)       contends that councillors exist to serve their communities, and believes that one of the best ways to do this is by offering them a say in what happens on their doorstep, and that Localism puts real power in the hands of the people;

 

(b)       further contends (i)  that the Grenfell Tower disaster sadly showed the total lack of local government run housing and relevant safety checks, (ii) notes that the TUC and its affiliated Trades Unions have a large amount of Accredited Union Health and Safety Representatives (USR's), whose primary role is accident prevention and risk assessment, in the three categories – generic, local and on-site, (iii) further notes that building safety inspections is part of what these individuals sign up for when they do their training, (iv) believes that local councils who look to outsource this work are perpetrating a great injustice on the local communities they represent and (v) further believes that the resources they need are right under their feet, and that the USR's could be transferred from their normal work on a rota basis to facilitate building safety inspections;

 

(c)        believes it is all about sharing responsibility for public safety, noting that council rent payers pay rent to the council, the council pays wages to its employees, and some employees live in council housing; and

 

(d)       (i) contends that most social housing is a direct extension of many local government employees’ workplace; for many, this is at the end of a keyboard (e.g. customer accounts), for others its hands on, such as plumbing, wiring, painting and property repairs, but that, directly or indirectly, as local government employees, social housing is inevitably part of their workplace and (ii) as such, believes that safety checks should be carried out by USR's from construction stage to periodical safety checks; the purpose, to preserve life and prevent accidents.

 

 

Minutes:

9.

Changes to the Constitution pdf icon PDF 201 KB

Report of the Chief Executive.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

10.

Minutes Of Previous Council Meeting pdf icon PDF 362 KB

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 5th September 2018, and to approve the accuracy thereof.

 

 

Minutes:

11.

Representation, Delegated Authority and Related Issues pdf icon PDF 57 KB

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.

 

 

Minutes: