Agenda item

Notice of Motion Regarding "Actions For The Betterment Of Sheffield And Those Who Live Here" - Given By Councillor Douglas Johnson And To Be Seconded By Councillor Paul Turpin

That this Council endorses, and requests the Administration to consider implementation of, the following policies and actions designed to make life better for the people of Sheffield:-

 

(a)          to implement a Workplace Parking Levy for Sheffield, raising funds to improve public transport, walking and cycling routes, making it easier for people to choose to leave their cars at home;

 

(b)          to consult the public on the draft local plan at the earliest opportunity, including stronger policies on building more affordable housing and tackling the climate emergency;

 

(c)          to establish a climate emergency committee to develop strategies, and implement actions to bring about the necessary changes to meet our zero carbon emissions target by at least 2030;

 

(d)          to introduce an effective climate change impact assessment for every formal decision of the Council;

 

(e)          to adopt a "Wellbeing Economy" for Sheffield: placing the health and wellbeing of the people of Sheffield at the heart of all decision-making, and measuring the success of Sheffield's economy not just by GDP, but by how the economy has improved people's quality of life, through measurements like the Happy City Index and Free Time Index;

 

(f)           to reduce inequality by introducing a maximum 10:1 pay ratio for the City Council;

 

(g)          to establish a properly resourced team of sustainability officers to work on real progress towards making Sheffield carbon-neutral;

 

(h)         to recognise the ongoing value of the city’s library service and reward the hard work of volunteers who have supported their local branch libraries by providing funding for a paid, professional librarian in every branch library; and

 

(i)               to improve democracy in Sheffield City Council by developing the long-standing Green Party campaigns of creating a modern committee system with webcasting, with further improvements including publishing in writing the public questions and answers, including those answered later in writing, and Members’ questions and answers, including supplementary answers and those answered later in writing.

 

 

Minutes:

5.1

It was moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson, and seconded by Councillor Paul Turpin, that this Council endorses, and requests the Administration to consider implementation of, the following policies and actions designed to make life better for the people of Sheffield:-

 

 

 

(a)       to implement a Workplace Parking Levy for Sheffield, raising funds to improve public transport, walking and cycling routes, making it easier for people to choose to leave their cars at home;

 

(b)       to consult the public on the draft local plan at the earliest opportunity, including stronger policies on building more affordable housing and tackling the climate emergency;

 

(c)        to establish a climate emergency committee to develop strategies, and implement actions to bring about the necessary changes to meet our zero carbon emissions target by at least 2030;

 

(d)       to introduce an effective climate change impact assessment for every formal decision of the Council;

 

(e)       to adopt a "Wellbeing Economy" for Sheffield: placing the health and wellbeing of the people of Sheffield at the heart of all decision-making, and measuring the success of Sheffield's economy not just by GDP, but by how the economy has improved people's quality of life, through measurements like the Happy City Index and Free Time Index;

 

(f)        to reduce inequality by introducing a maximum 10:1 pay ratio for the City Council;

 

(g)       to establish a properly resourced team of sustainability officers to work on real progress towards making Sheffield carbon-neutral;

 

(h)       to recognise the ongoing value of the city’s library service and reward the hard work of volunteers who have supported their local branch libraries by providing funding for a paid, professional librarian in every branch library; and

 

(i)         to improve democracy in Sheffield City Council by developing the long-standing Green Party campaigns of creating a modern committee system with webcasting, with further improvements including publishing in writing the public questions and answers, including those answered later in writing, and Members’ questions and answers, including supplementary answers and those answered later in writing.

 

 

5.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Mark Jones, seconded by Councillor Bob Johnson, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council”, and the addition of the following words:-

 

 

 

(a)       notes that this Administration brought forward the city’s carbon neutral target from 2050 to no later than 2030, following Labour’s local manifesto commitments, and that as part of this, a Citizens Assembly, drawn to represent all parts of the city including young people, will be commissioned to consider the necessary actions in the city to implement this change;

 

(b)       notes the following measures have already been enacted by this Administration to move Sheffield to carbon-neutral and improve the city’s air:-

 

 

 

(i)         anti-idling zones outside of all primary and secondary schools, and other notable places, such as hospitals and health centres, to reduce the amount of fumes breathed in by children and vulnerable adults and workers;

 

(ii)        piloting schemes to close targeted roads to traffic for set periods of time to create a better, less polluted and congested environment, targeted at benefiting children whose developing lung capacity can be significantly impacted by airborne pollution, throughout the city’s residential areas and the city centre, as seen recently with the temporary closure of Division Street; and

 

(iii)       proposals for a Clean Air Zone and charge for the most polluting vehicles – the cleanest buses, taxis and delivery vehicles will not be charged – and to support our taxi drivers and bus companies so their fleets will reach the standard where they will not be charged for entering the zone;

 

 

 

(c)        notes that this Administration is bidding for the ‘Transforming Cities Fund’ from the Department for Transport (DfT) that could see £85 million invested in sustainable travel in Sheffield over three years - paying for a mix of cycling, walking and mass transport corridors running throughout the city where we know they are most needed;

 

(d)       notes that this Administration has committed to producing a Local Plan that ensures a sustainable city centre and focusses on the protection of the green belt, and with public consultation at every stage to deliver the city that Sheffield citizens want;

 

(e)       notes that the city’s Green City Partnership Board already brings organisations across the city together to improve the city’s environment and transport, but that, as part of the climate emergency, there is a pressing need to go further;

 

(f)        believes, therefore, that the following suggestions from the original motion should be considered by the forthcoming Citizens Assembly to address the climate emergency:-

 

 

 

(i)         looking into a climate emergency committee to develop strategies, and implement actions to bring about the necessary changes to meet our zero-carbon emissions target by at least 2030;

 

(ii)        considering the introduction of climate change impact assessments for appropriate Council decisions;

 

(iii)       investigating the feasibility and desireability of establishing a properly resourced team of sustainability officers to work on real progress towards making Sheffield carbon-neutral and help develop the world leading technologies needed to supply good quality jobs;

 

 

 

(g)       notes that reducing health inequalities is a priority for this Administration and believes that Sheffield’s wellbeing should be judged by much more than GDP growth alone, and that Sheffield City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board, bringing health providers across the city together, monitors the overall health and wellbeing of Sheffield, with indicators taken from the Marmot Review and based on the wider determinants of health and wellbeing across the life course whilst providing context and direction for tackling health inequalities;

 

(h)       believes that tackling inequalities is a priority for this Administration and that it is committed to ensure fairness in the labour market, and notes that the pay ratio for the lowest to highest wage earner at the Council is a little over 11:1, with median pay at £23,958, i.e. a ratio of 8:1, well within the 20:1 guidance in the Hutton 2011 Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector and lower than other comparable local authorities such as Leeds and Manchester, and furthermore that this compares very favourably with the private sector where the ratio is as high as 1,000:1;

 

(i)         believes, seemingly unlike Sheffield Green Councillors (based on their previous budget proposals), that the best way of reducing inequality is raising pay for those on the lowest wages rather than just capping those at the top, and support is given to the campaign from GMB, Unite and Unison for pay justice and the pay claim submitted by the National Joint Council (NJC) local government unions for a £10 per hour minimum wage and a 10 per cent uplift across all other pay points in 2020/21;

 

(j)         believes, in addition, that this cost must be met entirely by central government and this demand should be made as soon as there is a new Secretary of State for local government;

 

(k)        commits to meeting with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim, and that everything possible should be done to encourage all local government workers to join a union;

 

(l)         believes that austerity has made the country deeply unequal and unjust, and that, with savings of £480 million having to be made from the Council’s budget in the last ten years, Sheffield’s public services have inevitably been damaged because of government austerity, resulting in a lost decade of investment and progression on issues that are rapidly becoming all too critical;

 

(m)      notes that the city’s library service has done outstandingly well in this context, and of course our libraries are much more than borrowing and lending books and offer much more to the public, and that this has been achieved through the hard work of volunteers, but that, with funding as it is from central government, providing a paid librarian in every branch would cost the Council in excess of £800,000 per annum, a figure which was absent in the original motion, and this also fails to take into account the change and cost this would have on the co-delivered and associate libraries;

 

(n)       notes, in addition, that despite the financial difficulties, Sheffield has kept all its libraries open over the last decade, unlike many other cities, and that this is down to the volunteers who run them, the officers who support them and previous councillors who worked hard to ensure their survival; and

 

(o)       notes that this Administration set-up webcasting for council meetings, and will always explore ways to better communicate with all our residents, and has welcomed looking at different governance systems and that the cross party review into this will report in January 2020.

 

 

5.3

It was then moved by Councillor Ian Auckland, seconded by Councillor Mike Levery, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council”, and the addition of the following words:-

 

 

 

(a)       condemns as completely unacceptable the long delay in developing the Sheffield Plan, which makes Sheffield more vulnerable to unacceptable development, which may include green fields in the green belt, and also increases the risk of yet another round of changes in national policy rendering abortive much local effort and expense;

 

(b)       welcomes the revival of interest across the political spectrum in the provision of bus services (and the encouragement of Active travel), yet is concerned that this could well be too late to arrest the spiral of decline unless long term funding is provided by central government to local authorities, under  the control of local authorities, and funding not subject to artificial short application deadlines, and equally artificial spending deadlines;

 

(c)        also recognises the importance of a local contribution which often can leverage in a significant multiplier of external funds, and therefore calls for a quick and open minded review of options for raising funds locally, to improve public transport, walking and cycling routes; and

 

(d)       reaffirms that the answer to most local transport problems is a bus, increasingly low or zero carbon at the tail pipe, running on a comprehensive, stable, reliable, fully integrated network, integrated with other modes, and with an affordable and simple range of fares, and from which flows the possibility of active travel choices for all.

 

 

5.4

After contributions from five other Members, and following a right of reply from Councillor Douglas Johnson, the amendment moved by Councillor Mark Jones was put to the vote and was carried.

 

 

5.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Ian Auckland was then put to the vote and paragraph (a) was negatived and paragraphs (b) to (d) were carried on the basis that they were to be additional paragraphs to the Substantive Motion.

 

 

5.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

 

 

 

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)       notes that this Administration brought forward the city’s carbon neutral target from 2050 to no later than 2030, following Labour’s local manifesto commitments, and that as part of this, a Citizens Assembly, drawn to represent all parts of the city including young people, will be commissioned to consider the necessary actions in the city to implement this change;

 

(b)       notes the following measures have already been enacted by this Administration to move Sheffield to carbon-neutral and improve the city’s air:-

 

 

 

(i)         anti-idling zones outside of all primary and secondary schools, and other notable places, such as hospitals and health centres, to reduce the amount of fumes breathed in by children and vulnerable adults and workers;

 

(ii)        piloting schemes to close targeted roads to traffic for set periods of time to create a better, less polluted and congested environment, targeted at benefiting children whose developing lung capacity can be significantly impacted by airborne pollution, throughout the city’s residential areas and the city centre, as seen recently with the temporary closure of Division Street; and

 

(iii)       proposals for a Clean Air Zone and charge for the most polluting vehicles – the cleanest buses, taxis and delivery vehicles will not be charged – and to support our taxi drivers and bus companies so their fleets will reach the standard where they will not be charged for entering the zone;

 

 

 

(c)        notes that this Administration is bidding for the ‘Transforming Cities Fund’ from the Department for Transport (DfT) that could see £85 million invested in sustainable travel in Sheffield over three years - paying for a mix of cycling, walking and mass transport corridors running throughout the city where we know they are most needed;

 

(d)       notes that this Administration has committed to producing a Local Plan that ensures a sustainable city centre and focusses on the protection of the green belt, and with public consultation at every stage to deliver the city that Sheffield citizens want;

 

(e)       notes that the city’s Green City Partnership Board already brings organisations across the city together to improve the city’s environment and transport, but that, as part of the climate emergency, there is a pressing need to go further;

 

(f)        believes, therefore, that the following suggestions from the original motion should be considered by the forthcoming Citizens Assembly to address the climate emergency:-

 

 

 

(i)         looking into a climate emergency committee to develop strategies, and implement actions to bring about the necessary changes to meet our zero-carbon emissions target by at least 2030;

 

(ii)        considering the introduction of climate change impact assessments for appropriate Council decisions;

 

(iii)       investigating the feasibility and desireability of establishing a properly resourced team of sustainability officers to work on real progress towards making Sheffield carbon-neutral and help develop the world leading technologies needed to supply good quality jobs;

 

 

 

(g)       notes that reducing health inequalities is a priority for this Administration and believes that Sheffield’s wellbeing should be judged by much more than GDP growth alone, and that Sheffield City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board, bringing health providers across the city together, monitors the overall health and wellbeing of Sheffield, with indicators taken from the Marmot Review and based on the wider determinants of health and wellbeing across the life course whilst providing context and direction for tackling health inequalities;

 

(h)       believes that tackling inequalities is a priority for this Administration and that it is committed to ensure fairness in the labour market, and notes that the pay ratio for the lowest to highest wage earner at the Council is a little over 11:1, with median pay at £23,958, i.e. a ratio of 8:1, well within the 20:1 guidance in the Hutton 2011 Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector and lower than other comparable local authorities such as Leeds and Manchester, and furthermore that this compares very favourably with the private sector where the ratio is as high as 1,000:1;

 

(i)         believes, seemingly unlike Sheffield Green Councillors (based on their previous budget proposals), that the best way of reducing inequality is raising pay for those on the lowest wages rather than just capping those at the top, and support is given to the campaign from GMB, Unite and Unison for pay justice and the pay claim submitted by the National Joint Council (NJC) local government unions for a £10 per hour minimum wage and a 10 per cent uplift across all other pay points in 2020/21;

 

(j)         believes, in addition, that this cost must be met entirely by central government and this demand should be made as soon as there is a new Secretary of State for local government;

 

(k)        commits to meeting with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim, and that everything possible should be done to encourage all local government workers to join a union;

 

(l)         believes that austerity has made the country deeply unequal and unjust, and that, with savings of £480 million having to be made from the Council’s budget in the last ten years, Sheffield’s public services have inevitably been damaged because of government austerity, resulting in a lost decade of investment and progression on issues that are rapidly becoming all too critical;

 

(m)      notes that the city’s library service has done outstandingly well in this context, and of course our libraries are much more than borrowing and lending books and offer much more to the public, and that this has been achieved through the hard work of volunteers, but that, with funding as it is from central government, providing a paid librarian in every branch would cost the Council in excess of £800,000 per annum, a figure which was absent in the original motion, and this also fails to take into account the change and cost this would have on the co-delivered and associate libraries;

 

(n)       notes, in addition, that despite the financial difficulties, Sheffield has kept all its libraries open over the last decade, unlike many other cities, and that this is down to the volunteers who run them, the officers who support them and previous councillors who worked hard to ensure their survival;

 

(o)       notes that this Administration set-up webcasting for council meetings, and will always explore ways to better communicate with all our residents, and has welcomed looking at different governance systems and that the cross party review into this will report in January 2020;

 

(p)       welcomes the revival of interest across the political spectrum in the provision of bus services (and the encouragement of Active travel), yet is concerned that this could well be too late to arrest the spiral of decline unless long term funding is provided by central government to local authorities, under  the control of local authorities, and funding not subject to artificial short application deadlines, and equally artificial spending deadlines;

 

(q)       also recognises the importance of a local contribution which often can leverage in a significant multiplier of external funds, and therefore calls for a quick and open minded review of options for raising funds locally, to improve public transport, walking and cycling routes; and

 

(r)        reaffirms that the answer to most local transport problems is a bus, increasingly low or zero carbon at the tail pipe, running on a comprehensive, stable, reliable, fully integrated network, integrated with other modes, and with an affordable and simple range of fares, and from which flows the possibility of active travel choices for all.

 

 

 

5.6.1

(NOTE: The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Gail Smith) and Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Bob Pullin, Richard Shaw, Bob McCann, Tim Huggan, Mohammed Mahroof, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Vic Bowden, Roger Davison, Barbara Masters, Shaffaq Mohammed, Sue Alston, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Sue Auckland, Steve Ayris, Kevin Oxley, David Baker, Penny Baker, Vickie Priestley, Alan Hooper and Mike Levery voted for paragraphs (p) to (r) and abstained from voting on paragraphs (a) to (o) of the Substantive Motion.  The request to have these votes recorded in the minutes was made to the Monitoring Officer by the Interim Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group (Councillor Simon Clement-Jones) immediately after the vote had been taken.)