Meeting documents

Council
Wednesday 1 June 2011

Council Agenda 1st June 2011

Meeting to be held at 2.00 p.m. in the Town Hall

Order of Business

1. Apologies For Absence

2. Declarations Of Interest

3. Minutes Of Previous Council Meeting

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 6th April, 2011 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

4. Public Questions And Petitions

To receive any questions or communications 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.

5. Members' Questions

5.1 Questions relating to urgent business - Council Procedure Rule 16.6(ii).

5.2 Supplementary questions on written questions submitted at this meeting - Council Procedure Rule 16.4.

5.3 Questions on the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and Rescue, Integrated Transport, Pensions and Police - Section 41 of the Local Government Act, 1985 - Council Procedure Rule 16.6(i).

6. Representation, Delegated Authority And Related Issues

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.

7. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Julie Dore

That this Council:-

(a) thanks the people of Sheffield for voting for a new Administration at the local elections on 5th May, 2011;

(b) notes that Labour Party councillors were elected to represent 21 of the 28 City Council seats contested, giving the Labour Group a sizeable majority and sending a clear message to the Liberal Democrat Party nationally and locally that Sheffielders will not put up with political leaders who will not stand up for Sheffield;

(c) confirms that it is a great honour and privilege to lead Sheffield City Council and thanks local people for putting their faith in the Labour Party and for giving the Labour Party the opportunity to take Sheffield forward;

(d) further confirms that the new Administration have hit the ground running and are getting straight to work delivering on their pledges;

(e) welcomes the new Administration's fresh vision for the City and their focus on the following 4 key priorities:

(i) standing up for Sheffield;

(ii) being a Business Friendly Council;

(iii) focusing on Jobs;

(iv) supporting our Communities;

(f) furthermore welcomes the new Administration's plans to create employment opportunities for young people with the introduction of an apprenticeship programme and keeping our communities safe by reinstating 10 Police Community Support Officer posts which were axed by the major opposition Group in their recent budget cuts;

(g) confirms that the new Administration will also be protecting vital activities at the heart of Sheffield's communities provided by Sheffield's much valued Voluntary, Community Faith sector and supporting families to give children the best start in life by focussing on improving attainment and protecting the vital services provided by Sheffield's Children's Centres;

(h) also welcomes the new Administration's plans to immediately arrange a Business Summit to ask businesses what the Council can do better to support them and how the Council can be more business friendly;

(i) is concerned to learn that there is a £7.5m funding risk associated with achieving this year's budget savings and is very disappointed that it appears that the outgoing Administration sought to pull the wool over local people's eyes regarding the Council's finances;

(j) is also extremely concerned that due to the ill-advised policies of the coalition Government, the Council faces a potential funding shortfall of £56m for the next financial year;

(k) is disappointed that the previous Administration failed to reveal that the Council had been planning for a 4% Council Tax increase in 2012 and is concerned that this provides further evidence of their lack of openness with the electorate;

(l) confirms that the new Administration have made it clear to officers that they will not support a hike in Council Tax and will not support dramatic cuts in front line services;

(m) also confirms that the Leader of the Council has given a clear message to the Chief Executive that the new Administration want to take a fresh approach to the budget, reducing waste and finding innovative ways of delivering services for local people that enable front line service to be protected;

(n) expresses disappointment with the three wasted years of the previous Administration, and in particular regrets that there are a whole host of projects started under the previous Labour Administration that have been held back under Liberal Democrat control of the Council, including the Sevenstone project, the new Markets and the Highways PFI;

(o) also regrets that there are other projects that have become under funded during the Liberal Democrat Group's stewardship of the City, including the Decent Homes programme and the Building Schools for the Future programme, thanks to the Liberal Democrat Party's unwillingness to stand up for Sheffield; and

(p) confirms that, unlike the previous Administration, the current Administration will always be honest with local people, and will always act in the best interests of local people, standing up for Sheffield at every opportunity.

8. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed

That this Council:-

(a) notes that no party included moving to a fortnightly black bin collection as part of their local election manifesto, therefore there is no mandate to introduce the policy; and

(b) is opposed to fortnightly bin collections and intends to keep the weekly collection of black bins in Sheffield.

9. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Pat Midgley

That this Council:-

(a) notes with great sadness that it is approaching the first anniversary of the death of former Sheffield Labour Leader of the Council, Councillor Jan Wilson;

(b) notes that Cllr Wilson was a councillor from 1992-2010, and was Leader of the Labour Group for 12 years, from 1998-2010, working tirelessly for the City to improve the lives of Sheffielders;

(c) confirms that Cllr Wilson was a huge inspiration to us all and was wholeheartedly committed to working for the City of Sheffield, for which she was awarded a CBE in 2006;

(d) confirms that Jan's achievements were abundant, but notes that she was particularly proud of the following:

• helping to secure £1 billion investment in the City's housing stock via the Decent Homes Programme;

• securing Sheffield's Building Schools for the Future programme one of the biggest school building programmes in the country;

• securing the Highways PFI to repair and improve Sheffield's entire highways network; and

• the regeneration and transformation of Sheffield City centre, through the Heart of the City programme, which led to the creation of the Peace Gardens, Winter Garden, Millennium Galleries, and a revamped station square;

(e) confirms that the Council will be installing a plaque in the Winter Gardens - one of Cllr Wilson's most beloved places - in her memory, following consultation with Cllr Wilson's family; and

(f) instructs the Chief Executive to identify the resources and make the necessary arrangements to carry this out as soon as possible.

10. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Ian Auckland

That this Council:-

(a) welcomes the news that the Department for Transport is consulting about an alternative to installing barriers that would cut off through access at Sheffield Station;

(b) pays tribute to the Residents Against Station Closure and other local people who have campaigned tirelessly against cutting off through access at Sheffield Station;

(d) urges all members of this Council to continue to lobby the Government and East Midlands Trains to ensure that access through Sheffield Station is not cut off.

11. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Mary Lea

That this Council:-

(a) notes the growing concerns over the Government's handling of the NHS and the effect its policies are having on hospitals and patient care;

(b) expresses disappointment that the Deputy Prime Minister signed the 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS' White Paper that presaged the Health and Social Care Bill, and also expresses regret that on 31st January, 2011, when the Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons, not one Liberal Democrat MP voted against;

(c) hopes that the Government's “listening exercise” will produce fundamental changes to the current proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill;

(d) proposes the following suggestions to the Government:

(i) keep NHS protections against the full force of UK and competition law and drop the plan for a free market NHS;

(ii) maintain waiting time guarantees for patients, so they're seen and treated quickly;

(iii) abandon the proposals to break up commissioning into so many small GP consortia, make them involve wider expertise and require them to be open and accountable to local patients and the public;

(iv) ban GP bonuses, stop conflicts of interest where they can commission from themselves and close the loophole that lets them outsource the commissioning job to the private sector; and

(v) keep the cap on NHS hospitals treating private patients, so they don't jump the queue on NHS patients and strengthen the safeguards on closing down hospital services; and

(e) resolves to write to the Secretary of State to ensure that the above suggestions are formally fed into the “listening exercise”.

12. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Paul Scriven

That this Council:-

(a) would welcome a major international brand such as IKEA locating in Sheffield, subject to normal planning rules and conditions;

(b) remembers the disappointment in 2004 when IKEA ditched plans to locate in Sheffield after becoming frustrated with an obstructive council;

(c) welcomes the fact that the previous Administration was instrumental in ensuring discussions with IKEA started again, through making it clear that Sheffield was business friendly and keen for IKEA to locate here;

(d) urges the new Administration to continue to work with IKEA to ensure if they do open a store in South Yorkshire they choose Sheffield, so that local people benefit from new jobs and having a new local flagship IKEA store.

13. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Jillian Creasy

That this Council:-

(a) notes the assurances given at the pre-budget Cabinet meeting on 23rd February 2011 that a proposed cut to the Access Officer post from 1.5 fte to 0.5 fte would be partially reversed to 1 fte;

(b) notes also that the then Cabinet Member responsible for Planning subsequently wrote to a member of the public, stating; "I would like to clarify that the proposal being considered by the Council is to reduce the number of access officers from 1.5 (full time equivalent) to 1 post. We will retain a dedicated officer to support colleagues and provide a level of specialist capacity similar to other local authorities";

(c) necognises that a full-time Access Officer and fully operational Access Liaison Group is necessary to assist the Council to avoid potentially expensive mistakes and meet its statutory and moral duties towards its disabled citizens;

(d) understands that, as the financial arrangements were not amended to reflect the assurances outlined in (a) and (b) above, the Planning Service did not have the funds for a dedicated full time Access Officer and proposed to distribute 0.5fte of the post across other officers;

(e) recognises that up-skilling other officers to cover not only 0.5 fte but 1.0 fte of Access Officer work, constitutes a staff cut which was not approved in the budget process;

(f) notes that the smallest opposition group, in its budget amendment, did find the money to continue not only 1.0 fte but 1.5 fte Access Officers; and

(g) will do everything possible to retain at least a 1.0 fte dedicated Access Officer.

14. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Julie Dore

That this Council:-

(a) notes provisions in the Localism Bill to introduce a Directly Elected Mayor in Sheffield subject to a confirmatory referendum;

(b) further notes the plans to appoint the Leader of the Council to the position of 'Shadow Mayor' in the City without any consultation or consent with the electorate;

(c) believes that the people of Sheffield should be able to decide whether or not they want to adopt the Mayoral System and this should not be introduced by any means without approval from local people;

(d) reaffirms its opposition to appointing the Leader of the Council to the position of 'Shadow Mayor' prior to a referendum;

(e) calls upon the Government to demonstrate a commitment to localism and permit individual local authorities to determine how they will be governed; and

(f) resolves to write to Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Rt. Hon. Eric Pickles MP, requesting that a 'Shadow Mayor' will not be adopted in Sheffield and the Mayoral System will not be introduced without the assent of a prior referendum.

15. Notice Of Motion Given By Councillor Roger Davison

That this Council:-

(a) believes Sheffield has the best ever Summer programme of events and festivals lined up for this year;

(b) particularly welcomes the newer events such as the Food Festival and Tramlines, along with other more established events such as DocFest and Cliffhanger;

(c) notes that these events attract thousands of new visitors to Sheffield, provide an invaluable boost to our local economy and demonstrate that Sheffield is a vibrant city with lots to offer; and

(d) resolves to support and help grow these events going into the future, and furthermore invites Sheffielders and visitors alike to take full advantage of Sheffield's outstanding Summer programme.

Access To The Meeting

The Council is composed of 84 Councillors with one-third elected three years in four. Councillors are democratically accountable to the residents of their Ward. The overriding duty of Councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them

All Councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are normally open to the public. Here Councillors decide the Council's overall policies and set the budget each year. 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.

If you would like to attend the meeting, please report to the First Point Reception desk at the Town Hall, Pinstone Street entrance, where you will be directed to the meeting room.

You can see the reports to be discussed in public at the meeting if you call at the First Point Reception, Town Hall, Pinstone Street entrance. The Reception is open between 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., Monday to Thursday and between 9.00 a.m. and 4.45 p.m. on Friday, or you can ring on telephone no. 2734552. You may not be allowed to see some reports because they contain confidential information. These items are usually marked * on the agenda.

A copy of the agenda and reports is also available on the Council's website:

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/council-meetings/full-council

Council meetings are normally open to the public but sometimes the Council may have to discuss an item in private. If this happens, you will be asked to leave. Any private items are normally left until last.

If you require any further information please contact:

Paul Robinson, Democratic Services

Tel: 0114 2734029

paul.robinson@sheffield.gov.uk

Jason Dietsch, Democratic Services

Telephone no. 273 4117

jason.dietsch@sheffield.gov.uk