Agenda and minutes

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement in the 2012 Budget, in which he announced a series of ill thought through measures such as pasty tax, caravan tax and the charities tax which have now resulted in a series of embarrassing u-turns, also included the Government’s desire to introduce ‘more market facing’ public sector pay which could mean regional or local public sector pay;

(b)       further notes this recommendation has come in advance of the Pay Review Bodies reporting on the issue in July and September 2012;

(c)        further notes there has been no independent assessment of the impact and consequences this policy could have for public services or the economies of low pay regions;

(d)       believes that the Government’s claim that public sector pay is ‘crowding out’ the private sector is not supported by evidence, particularly at a time of high unemployment, when there are currently 7.5 Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants for every job vacancy across Sheffield;

(e)       believes public sector employers already have some flexibility to adjust pay in response to local conditions, and higher rates are paid in London and the South East;

(f)         acknowledges that workers in Sheffield are paid £28 less per week than the British average;

(g)       notes that this will have a disproportionate impact on women, as 65% of public sector workers are female;

(h)        believes that this is yet another Government proposal which will have a harmful effect on Sheffield’s economy;

(i)         fears that lower pay in Sheffield could lead to many public sector workers moving to other areas where they could earn more for doing the same job;

(j)         is concerned reducing the pay of the 82,900 public sector workers in Sheffield  will dramatically reduce spending power and have a negative impact on the private sector;

(k)        believes this policy will not improve the pay of private sector workers but instead could encourage further depression of wages in all sectors;

(l)         is further concerned that if the Beecroft report, commissioned by the Department of Business Innovation & Skills and prepared by venture capitalist and millionaire donor to the Conservative Party, Sir Adrian Beecroft, was implemented in full we would see the biggest ever attack on the rights of people at work;

(m)      notes that Beecroft proposes scrapping Unfair Dismissal, and in his original report, which was leaked to the national media, states that this would allow employers to sack employees “simply because they did not like them”;

(n)        further notes that there is no evidence to support the recommendations of the Beecroft report and believes that Britain is not in recession because of employment regulations but because of the Government’s economic policies;

(o)       supports Early Day Motion (EDM) 132 which calls on the Government not to proceed with the Report’s recommendation for no fault dismissal; and

(p)       resolves that the Chief Executive writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chief Secretary to the Treasury stating this Council’s opposition to plans for regional  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

That this Council:-

(a)       recalls Sheffield City Council’s Revenue Budget 2012/13 which states “it is proposed therefore to decommission the existing resource centre provision” for dementia sufferers;

(b)       expresses disappointment that the budget amendment proposed by the main opposition group, which would have reversed this decision by saving £300,000 on full time trade union officials, was rejected;

(c)        notes the Dementia Strategy agreed by the Council’s Cabinet on 23^rd May 2012, which failed to give any guarantee about the future of the centres;

(d)       further notes with disappointment that the Cabinet of the same date agreed the closure of Sevenfields and Hazlehurst Intermediate Care Centres, despite the complete lack of progress in finding a site for the proposed 120-bed replacement facility; 

(e)       believes that this represents a complete mishandling of the closure by the present Administration and offers little support to users of dementia centres currently threatened with closure;

(f)         understands that more than 500 local residents have signed a petition against the closure of these three dementia care centres and that the number of signatures continues to grow; and

(g)       calls upon the Administration to offer peace of mind to users, families and staff of Bolehill View, Hurfield View, and Norbury by reversing their budget decision and ruling out closure as an option.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that in a speech on 24^th April, 2012, the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, M.P. argued that funding allocated to Clinical Commissioning Groups should be based on the age of their patient population instead of levels of deprivation;

(b)       further notes research by Durham University public health professor Clare Bambra, that these proposed funding formula changes would see a major transfer of NHS funds from the North to the healthier and more affluent South;

(c)        agrees with comments by Professor Bambra that severing the link with deprivation “will lead to a considerable shift of healthcare funding away from the neediest, poorer areas of the North and the inner cities towards the least needy, most affluent, and most elderly areas of the South.”

(d)       opposes these changes to NHS funding which according to Professor Bambra’s figures could see Sheffield lose over £70 million per year at the same time as the NHS in Surrey would gain over £400 million;

(e)       believes that this is the latest example of the Government taking funding away from areas with the highest levels of deprivation to the benefit of the wealthiest areas in the country; and

(f)         believes this is part of a cynical political move to take money from areas with the most need and divert it to Conservative heartlands and calls on all Sheffield MPs to stand up for Sheffield and oppose changes to funding formulas that would disadvantage areas with the greatest need.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes early years are the most important in a child’s development and that children’s centres across Sheffield provide a vital service to the communities they serve;

(b)       thanks the Liberal Democrats’ initiative for this Government to expand the entitlement to free childcare to 1,900 disadvantaged two-year-olds in Sheffield;

(c)        notes the Review of Early Years agreed by the Council’s Cabinet on 21^st March 2012, which states ‘there will be a rationalisation of buildings and as a result children’s centres may reduce’;

(d)       notes with distress reports in The Sheffield Star on 29^th May 2012, that three local centres could face closure and regrets that the families and staff were informed through the media rather than by the Council;

(e)       believes that the Leader of the Council should apologise to affected families and live up to her pledge to be transparent by being open and honest with families and staff about her plan to close children’s centres; and

(f)         calls upon the Administration to release details to families and staff, of which children’s centres in Sheffield are earmarked for closure.

That this Council:-

(a)       congratulates Sheffield Wednesday FC and their supporters for winning promotion to the Championship;

(b)       thanks all supporters who attended the civic reception held on Wednesday, 9^th March, 2012 and notes that event was attended by thousands of Sheffield Wednesday fans;

(c)        notes that Sheffield United FC were extremely unfortunate not to secure promotion as well and hopes that they will secure promotion to the Championship next season; and

(d)       believes that it is good for the City to have both football teams playing football at the highest levels and hopes that both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United will return to the Premier League in the future.

That this Council:-

(a)       recalls the motion tabled to this Council on 4^th April, 2012, which highlighted the millions of pounds the Coalition Government is investing in Sheffield’s roads, buses, trams and trains;

(b)       welcomes the announcement since that meeting of a Government investment of £58 million into a Tram/Train pilot for Sheffield and Rotherham;

(c)        notes that this investment will provide dozens of new jobs, boost the local economy, and put South Yorkshire on the cutting edge of green transport;

(d)       understands that the results of this pilot may open the opportunity to expand the Tram/Train down similar routes to other communities, such as Stocksbridge, Woodhouse or Dore and Totley; and

(e)       notes with pleasure the support for Tram/Train of the Council Leader and the Cabinet Member for Transport and praises Liberal Democrats in Government, in particular the MP for Sheffield Hallam, for securing this investment for Sheffield.

That this Council:-

(a)       recognises that the introduction of fortnightly black bin collections will increase the pressure for householders to recycle their waste;

(b)       recognises the valuable service provided by the 5 recycling centres across the City which allow members of the public and small businesses to dispose of waste in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and that a reduction in this service may lead to more fly-tipping;

(c)        recognises that, due to global resource depletion, the value of materials is increasing and the profit to be made from re-using and recycling is rising;

(d)       would prefer any such profit to be used to maintain and improve the service to the public and the business community and to create local job opportunities rather than boost the income of profit-making national or multinational companies and their share-holders;

(e)       recognises that the front line workers and their union representatives can provide inside knowledge about services and make useful suggestions about more efficient and innovative ways of running services;

(f)         is therefore disappointed that the recent retendering of the recycling centre service is based on reduced opening hours and loss of jobs and believes that there has been a failure to set up sustainable and future-proof  arrangements; and

(g)       notes that similar mistakes are being made across the whole field of waste management and urges the new Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste and Streetscene to undertake meaningful discussions with the GMB Union and to visit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in waste management and recycling in the City.

That this Council:-

(a)       celebrates the passing of the Olympic Torch through Sheffield on Monday 25^th and Tuesday, 26^th June, 2012;

(b)       notes that the route will include a community event at Hillsborough Park, running past the Sheffield Children’s Hospital and the Crucible and Lyceum Theatres;

(c)        further notes that when the Olympic Torch Relay comes through Sheffield, 48 people will carry the Flame on its journey through the City and congratulates all torchbearers for being selected;

(d)       encourages as many local people as possible to welcome the torch to Sheffield by attending one of the events in Hillsborough or the city centre, as well as cheering it from the road side and attending the evening celebration to be held in Barkers Pool; and

(e)       welcomes the beginning of the London 2012 Olympics on 27^th July, 2012 and hopes that local people enjoy the three day event to be held at Don Valley Stadium between 3^rd - 5^th August where they can watch Sheffield heptathlete, Jessica Ennis, compete in the Olympics on the giant screen.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes the low turnout at the recent local elections for Sheffield City Council with just 32.77%, less than 1 in 3 of those registered, actually voting;

(b)       believes that inaccessibility and lack of transparency in Council matters is partly responsible for this apathy;

(c)        believes that the timing of meetings such as Full Council and Scrutiny Committees during normal working hours makes it difficult for many members of the public to attend;

(d)       believes that every effort should be made to increase access to and transparency of the decision making processes of Sheffield City Council;

(e)       believes that the audio of the debates and decision making parts of Full Council meetings should be made available through electronic media;

(f)         believes that the Council should be open to allowing recordings of such proceedings by members of the general public;

(g)       believes that after an initial evaluation, further council meetings that are open to the public should be made similarly accessible; and

(h)        therefore instructs the Chief Executive to bring forward plans to enable audio of Full Council meetings to be made available through electronic media, including the Council's website.