Committee Details

Full Council is a meeting of all 84 Councillors and is chaired by the Lord Mayor.

Some important decisions can only be taken at Full Council, such as setting the Council's budget and deciding the Council's overall policies.

The Council appoints the Leader and at its Annual Meeting will appoint Councillors to serve on its Committees. It also appoints representatives to serve on joint bodies and external organisations.

Attending Meetings

Meetings of the Council have to be held as in-person meetings and are open to the public.  Meetings are normally held at Sheffield Town Hall and are webcast.

If you would like to attend the meeting, please report to an Attendant in the Foyer at the Town Hall where you will be directed to the meeting room.  However, it would be appreciated if you could register to attend, in advance of the meeting, by emailing committee@sheffield.gov.uk, as this will assist with the management of attendance at the meeting.  

Please do not attend the meeting if you have COVID-19 symptoms. It is also recommended that you undertake a Covid-19 Rapid Lateral Flow Test within two days of the meeting.  To aid safe access and protect all attendees, you are welcome to wear a face covering within the venue.

PLEASE NOTE: The Public Gallery in the Town Hall Council Chamber can accommodate 50 persons.  Social distancing may not be possible in the Gallery depending on the numbers of members of the public in attendance at the meeting.  An overspill area will be provided in the event that more than 50 members of the public attend - the webcast of the meeting will be live streamed to that room.

We are unable to guarantee entrance to the Public Gallery for observers, as priority will be given to registered speakers and those that have registered to attend.

Alternatively, you can observe the meeting remotely by clicking on the ‘view the webcast’ link provided on the meeting page of the website.

Public Questions and Petitions

At every Full Council meeting (except at the Annual Meeting and at Extraordinary Meetings) there is an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions about Council business and submit a petition under the agenda item ‘Public Questions and Petitions’.

The arrangements for dealing with questions and petitions at meetings of the Council are as follows:-

If you wish to attend a meeting and ask a question or present a petition, you must submit the question/petition in writing by 9.00 a.m. at least 2 clear working days in advance of the date of the meeting, by email to the following address: committee@sheffield.gov.uk.  E.g. for meetings held on a Wednesday, questions/petitions will need to be received by 9.00 a.m. on the Monday of that week. Questions/petitions submitted after the deadline will be asked at the meeting subject to the discretion of the Chair. You will also be asked to provide a contact email and/or telephone number. (Details of how we will use and keep your information can be found here).

The Lord Mayor (as Chair of the meeting) has discretion as to how questions and petitions are presented at the meeting and as to whether you are invited to ask your question or present a petition at the meeting, or they are read out at the meeting. A response to the question or petition will be given by the Leader of the Council or the appropriate Committee Chair.  If you are not able to attend the meeting, your question/petition may be referred to the appropriate Member, and an answer/response will be provided to you.

Where a submitted question or petition cannot be answered because time does not allow, or where a Member undertakes to provide a written answer/response, the written answer/response will be provided to you within ten working days of the meeting and will be published on the Council’s website.

Please note that the Chair of the meeting may not accept petitions or questions which relate to:-

(i) matters not being within the responsibility of the Local Authority or which affects the City or its inhabitants;

(ii) judicial or quasi-judicial matters;

(iii) individual planning/licence/grant applications or appeals;

(iv) named officers or Members of the Council;

(v) confidential matters of the type referred to in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972; or

(vi) matters of an irrelevant, repetitious, defamatory, frivolous or offensive nature or a general misuse of the opportunity.

Further information is available on submitting petitions.

Recording of Meetings

Recording is allowed at Council meetings under the direction of the Chair of the meeting. The protocol on audio/visual recording and photography provides further information.

Please note that meetings will be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s website. See the Council’s Webcasting Notice for more details.