Agenda and minutes

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

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

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

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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.

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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.

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4.

Urgent Item of Business - Notice of Motion Regarding "Proroguing of Parliament"

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5.

Members' Questions pdf icon PDF 392 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)

 

 

 

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6.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Recognising Palestine as a Full State" - Given By Councillor Julie Dore And To Be Seconded By Councillor Neale Gibson

That this Council:-

 

(a)       believes that there must be recognition of the rights of Palestinians to their own state, and thanks the petitioners for bringing this important issue to Full Council in July;

 

(b)       notes that 138 nations of the UN, out of 193 (71.5%), recognise Palestine as a state and in 2012 the UN General Assembly moved to do so - though this was blocked from full UN membership by the Security Council;

 

(c)        notes that the current UK Government appears to have no intention of recognising Palestine, and notes that this is in contrast to the Labour Party’s commitment to recognise Palestine as a full state as part of the United Nations and under UK law;

 

(d)       believes that the recognition of Palestine as a state is one step towards a genuine two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict;

 

(e)       believes there has to be a peace process and there has to be a right of the Palestinian people to live in peace and security as well as the right of Israel;

 

(f)        believes that whilst Sheffield is just one city, it is important to make this symbolic gesture to formally recognise Palestine as a full state, and hope that this will increase pressure on the UK Government to do likewise; and

 

(g)       requests that this Motion is submitted to the Foreign Office, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

 

 

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7.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Consulting the Public " - Given By Councillor Ian Auckland And To Be Seconded By Councillor Mohammed Mahroof

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes the request of the Economic and Environmental Wellbeing Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee that the consultation period in respect of proposals for a clean air zone be extended beyond August, was declined by the Cabinet Member;

 

(b)       in contrast, welcomes the decision of Mayor Dan Jarvis to extend the period for consultation in respect of Bus Services, particularly noting yet another round of damaging service reductions taking place with effect from 1st September, and would urge especially passengers finding their service have disappeared, to make their opinions plain;

 

(c)        repeats the call (last made by the Liberal Democrat Group at the Council meeting in February 2019) for the Council to give notice to terminate the Sheffield Bus Partnership Agreement, as improved bus services will be an essential requirement if the Council is to secure cleaner, greener, safer travel, reducing the number of cars on the road and encouraging cycling and walking;

 

(d)       deplores the fact that the opportunities for involvement in decision making by citizens and Members have been much reduced by the current Administration;

 

(e)       accepts that it is not possible to be exactly prescriptive with regard to the time period for consultation exercises, but agrees that major consultations require a minimum period of 8 weeks and that 12 weeks should be considered desirable, in the interest of Truth, Trust, and Transparency;

 

(f)        declares that for the purposes of calculating the desired period for public consultation, the month(s) of August and the Christmas and New Year period, be disregarded;

 

(g)       further notes that Part 2 Article 3 of the Constitution of the Council "Citizens and the Council" makes no reference to the Right of Citizens to be consulted, and the Council duty to consult;

 

(h)       notes that the duty to consult may be prescribed by legislation specifically, or generally under Section 149 of the Equalities Act 2010, or from the common law duty of a public authority to act fairly, and the public law principle of legitimate expectation; and

 

(i)         calls on the Director of Legal and Governance to bring forward proposals to incorporate a "Citizens Right to be consulted" in Article 3, and address the other provisions in this Motion.

 

 

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8.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Children's Services in Sheffield Improving and Rated Good by Ofsted" - Given By Councillor Jackie Drayton And To Be Seconded By Councillor Dawn Dale

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes that following three weeks of inspection by Ofsted, they have noted that ‘Children’s Services in Sheffield are good’;

 

(b)       notes that the report detailed that, despite 10 years of austerity, Sheffield had made steady progress since the last inspection in 2013, by working through our comprehensive improvement plan, that has children and young people at the heart of it:-

 

(i)         securing significant additional corporate investment;

 

(ii)        support from Senior Management and Leaders across all areas of the Council and Partner Organisations; and

 

(iii)       as noted in the report, ‘Corporate parenting is ‘highly effective and emulates what a good parent should be’ and that ‘the local authority sense of corporate responsibility for children in care and care leavers is unambiguous’ and senior leaders provide proactive and committed corporate parenting; the report also highlights examples of practice that ‘exemplifies excellence in corporate parenting’;

 

(c)        notes that, in addition, the Council was commended for putting children at the centre of practice, with children and young people across the city benefiting from child focused staff and services and that the views of children and young people are valued at all levels, and the Local Authority has created an environment in which good social work is nurtured and celebrated, with a skilled and confident workforce;

 

(d)       notes that, although Ofsted highlighted many positive areas of practice, they also highlighted some areas that ‘requires improvement to be good’, which we identified in our self-assessment form sent to the Inspectors prior to their visit, but that the report also acknowledged in all those areas of concern senior management and leaders were aware of those weaknesses, had effective plans in place to mitigate risk and were taking action to improve each area of practice;

 

(e)       believes that this is a fantastic achievement, and all the more remarkable given increasing financial difficulties and increasing demand as more children and young people are coming into care with more complex needs, and thanks must go to the dedicated staff in children’s services, all council staff, foster carers, adopters, our agency partners, the community sector, Councillors, and all corporate parents who work so hard to ensure our children and young people and their families are safe, happy, secure, and achieve their full potential; and

 

(f)        notes that under this Administration the aim is to continue to improve the service the Council provides and reach ‘outstanding’, and believes that by working together we will achieve this in the future.

 

 

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9.

Notice of Motion Regarding "Value for Money" - Given By Councillor Douglas Johnson And To Be Seconded By Councillor Ruth Mersereau

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes that, despite the destructive cuts inflicted by the policy of austerity, this Administration is still responsible for spending hundreds of millions of pounds each year;

 

(b)       believes this Administration should get the best value for money it can because, if money is wasted, this means cuts to other areas of spending, especially at a time when budgets are under pressure;

 

(c)        also believes that a failure to do routine work quickly and cheaply leads to inertia and a lack of action;

 

(d)       notes the following examples of work that this Council believes is over-priced:-

 

(i)         £1m to install 500m of cycle lane on Trippet Lane;

 

(ii)        a further £700,000 to install a crossing on West Street;

 

(iii)       £3,500 to install just two cycle parking hoops;

 

(iv)       £20,000 to clear graffiti at Porter Brook Pocket Park; and

 

(v)        installation of park benches at £1100 each; and

 

(e)       therefore calls on the Administration to examine areas of spending where more might be obtained for the Council’s resources.

 

 

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10.

Changes To The Constitution pdf icon PDF 200 KB

Report of the Chief Executive on proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution, primarily to bring the Officer Code of Conduct up to date.

 

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11.

Minutes Of Previous Council Meeting pdf icon PDF 326 KB

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 3rd July 2019 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

 

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12.

Representation, Delegated Authority and Related Issues pdf icon PDF 129 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.

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