Agenda and minutes

Members to declare any interests they have in the business to be considered at the meeting.

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 7^th October 2015 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

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.

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 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://sheffielddemocracy.moderngov.co.uk/ecCatDisplay.aspx?sch=doc&cat=13165&path=0)

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.

To receive a presentation by Stephen Horsley, Interim Director of Public Health, on his annual report for 2015 on the health of the people of Sheffield.

A background report is attached. An electronic version of the Interim Director’s Annual Report has been published with this agenda, and a copy of the Report will be provided to all Members of the Council prior to the meeting.

That this Council:-

(a)       is appalled by the Government’s decision to cut tax credits which will reduce the incomes of over 3 million working families, including 27,000 in Sheffield, by an average of £1,300 a year from April 2016;

(b)       believes the Government’s decision to cut tax credits clearly shows that the Conservatives are not on the side of working people, and that attempts to rebrand themselves as the ‘workers’ party’ are nothing more than empty rhetoric;

(c)        notes that there was no mention of cutting tax credits in the Conservative Party manifesto and recalls that the Prime Minister explicitly ruled out cuts to tax credits in the run up to the General Election on BBC Question Time on 30th April 2015;

(d)       notes research from the Resolution Foundation which found that the proposed cuts to tax credits will immediately push a further 200,000 children into poverty;

(e)       further notes comments made by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who said it was “arithmetically impossible” for the increase in the minimum wage to compensate for the loss in tax credits;

(f)        believes that these cuts to the income of working families on low wages are unjustifiable, particularly given cuts to inheritance tax and to the top rate of income tax; and

(g)       calls on the Government to heed the House of Lords’ opposition to these cuts and to reverse in full the proposed reductions to tax credits.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes with sadness the announcement of the closure of the Redcar blast furnace and the news that Tata Steel is to cut 1,200 jobs across the UK, including many within Sheffield City Region;

(b)       further notes:

(i)        the huge contribution the steel industry makes to the UK economy, employing 34,500 people across the sector and countless more in supply chains, and achieving exports worth £6bn in 2014;

(ii)       the challenging global steel market, in particular an over-supply of steel on the international market, which has pushed prices down; and

(iii)      that UK Steel, trade unions and Members of Parliament have been calling for months for the Government to act to protect the industry;

(c)        condemns the Government for their inaction and their willingness to let British industry bear the brunt of global economic headwinds without protection;

(d)       believes the Government’s inaction shows they lack an industrial strategy and have no interest in supporting strategic national industries like steel; and

(e)       calls on the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to intervene directly to save steel plants at risk of closure in the short term, and to develop an active industrial strategy to support the UK steel industry over the long term.

That this Council:-

(a)       regrets the Government’s plan to slash Tax Credits from 1st April 2016;

(b)       notes that despite massive public opposition, and opposition from Conservative backbenchers, the Government attempted to press ahead with these unnecessary ideological cuts that will hit the working poor hardest;

(c)        notes that if the proposed changes to Tax Credits were implemented:-

(i)         25,000 families in Sheffield are set to lose out an average £750 a year in Tax Credits; and

(ii)        40,000 children in our area would be forced to live in poorer households, reducing their life chances and making it harder for their parents to make ends meet;

(d)       notes that cutting Tax Credits was not in the Conservative Party manifesto, and the Prime Minister explicitly ruled them out during the General Election campaign, meaning the Government does not have a mandate to carry this out;

(e)       regrets that these Government proposals have got to this stage after the Welfare Reform and Work Bill passed through the House of Commons, which 184 Labour MPs failed to oppose, including 4 of the 5 Sheffield Labour MPs;

(f)        notes that the Labour Party has repeatedly wavered on their position on tax credit cuts and two Shadow Cabinet Ministers, MPs Diane Abbott and Seema Malhotra, have been unable to say that the Labour Party would reverse the cuts;

(g)       believes the Labour Lords amendment which was passed on Monday 26th October 2015 to delay the cuts by three years and implement ‘transitional measures’ is a step in the right direction but it does not go far enough and will be of little solace to hardworking people on low incomes when the Government’s proposals are implemented in three years’ time;

(h)       notes that the Liberal Democrat peers tabled a ‘fatal motion’ to kill off Tax Credit changes for good but this was defeated because Labour members in the House of Lords did not support it; and

(i)         therefore, calls on the Council to write to The Baroness Smith of Basildon, Shadow Leader in the House of Lords, regretting the decision of Labour peers to only delay Tax Credit cuts.

That this Council:-

(a)       welcomes this Administration’s efforts to develop Sheffield’s outdoor economy, including The Outdoor City Strategy currently out for public consultation;

(b)       is proud that Sheffield hosted the European Outdoor Summit at the City Hall between 13^th to 15th October 2015, attended by more than 300 delegates from across the globe;

(c)        recognises the potential of the outdoor economy  to help to attract and retain people with the knowledge and skills to drive our key industries, including advanced manufacturing;

(d)       believes that:

(i)         Sheffield has the potential to establish itself as a leader in outdoor recreation, given its unique natural assets, high rate of participation in outdoor activities, and high number of outdoor businesses; and

(ii)        developing the ‘Outdoor City’ brand will help to boost tourism and attract people to the city; and

(e)       notes research carried out last year by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University which found that outdoor recreation in Sheffield generates more than £53m in economic output a year, in addition to engaging people in outdoor activity and generating significant health benefits.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes with regret that the Government has cut adult education spending by 24% this year, and that this is on top of a £1bn reduction in real terms between 2013/14 and 2009/10 under the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which resulted in 17% fewer adult learners;

(b)       believes that:

(i)         adult education and skills is life-changing for many people; as well as helping people into employment, it improves health and wellbeing, contributes to social inclusion, and helps to build more resilient communities;

(ii)        strategic, long-term investment in adult education and skills is needed to improve the skills base to drive productivity growth;

(iii)       by making further cuts to adult education and skills, the Government would be closing the door in the face of people trying to improve their prospects; and

(iv)       further cuts in post-16 education will have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged groups, which will increase disadvantage and undermine equality of opportunity;

(c)        is concerned that the cuts suggested for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills of between 25-40% as part of the Government’s upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review will have a serious impact on the sustainability of adult education in Sheffield and across the UK; and

(d)       calls on the Government to protect the adult education budget, in particular Adult and Community Learning, from further cuts.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes the loss of over 4,000 jobs in the steel industry during this year, most recently due to cuts from Tata Steel, which axed 1,200 jobs last week, including 550 in South Yorkshire, and the closure of the SSI plant in Redcar which meant 1,700 job losses;

(b)       notes the UK steel industry is in crisis due to a number of factors, including the influx of cheap steel from China, rising energy costs, and a strong pound;

(c)        notes the British steel industry’s close relationship with Sheffield, renowned as the ‘Steel City’ due to its historic role in the development of the manufacturing of steel, and that jobs in the steel industry are still important to the City Region;

(d)       notes that during the Coalition, the Government got permission from the European Commission to compensate steel companies for high energy costs, and further notes the comments of the former Business Secretary, Vince Cable, on 21st October 2015 that ‘The Treasury is sitting on [this] money.’;

(e)       believes that if the UK is to maintain its strategic capacity to manufacture steel, the Government must act fast;

(f)        regrets the lack of action by the Government in recent months and believes that the recent announcement of a £3 million contribution towards re-training workers laid off by Tata Steel in Scunthorpe and £80 million towards redundancy and re-training for steel workers in Redcar is tokenistic and will do nothing to prevent further closures;

(g)       believes that Labour Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP’s proposal to nationalise the steel industry is ideological, irresponsible and unnecessary, and that efforts to help the steel industry should be focussed on levelling the playing field for the UK steel industry to compete internationally;

(h)       calls on the Government to:-

(i)         use the UK’s diplomatic relationship with China to address the issue of over production of steel; and

(ii)        pass on the money agreed with the European Commission to compensate steel companies for high energy costs to alleviate some of the pressure on the industry; and

(i)         requests that a copy of this motion be forwarded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes that on 2nd October, 2015 the Leader of the Council joined other local authority leaders from South Yorkshire, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in signing a ‘devolution deal’ for the Sheffield City Region;

(b)       notes that among the reported benefits of this deal is a pledge of an extra £900m over 30 years from central government for the Sheffield City Region, equating to £30m per year, but notes that this amount is not nearly enough to offset the substantial cuts that central government has imposed on Sheffield and other local authorities in the SCR over the past five years;

(c)        notes that as part of the ‘devolution deal’, it is proposed that there will be an elected Mayor for the Sheffield City Region from 2017, and believes that this is regrettable and a backwards step for local democracy;

(d)       recalls that in a 2012 referendum the people of Sheffield voted decisively against having an elected Mayor for Sheffield City Council, and believes that this demonstrates strong public feeling in this city against the centralisation of executive powers in the hands of a single individual;

(e)       notes comments by the Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (reported in the Yorkshire Post on 13^th October 2015) that the imposition of a Mayor on the Sheffield City Region and other areas is “what you would imagine in a dictatorship, not a democracy”, and agrees with the sentiment that elected Mayors should not be imposed on either local authorities or cross-authority areas without clear public support, for example via referenda;

(f)        therefore considers it disappointing that local authorities across the Sheffield City Region, including those that are Labour-led, are failing to stand up to what this Council believes to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s unreasonable demands with respect to the imposition of a City Region Mayor;

(g)       believes that while radical devolution of power to local authorities and cross-authority areas is necessary to counter the traditional concentration of power at Westminster, the current proposals for Sheffield City Region represent a step in the wrong direction both for the future of the local area and for local democracy;

(h)       welcomes the ‘Democracy Matters’ initiative of the Electoral Reform Society and a number of UK universities, including the University of Sheffield, which will see two pilot ‘Citizens’ Assemblies’ “[debating] a range of options for Britain’s constitutional future”, is proud that Sheffield has been chosen to host one of these two pilot Assemblies, and believes that these provide a far more positive model for future discussions over devolution than the negotiations that the Administration conducted behind closed doors in agreeing the Sheffield City Region devolution deal with central government; and

(i)         therefore:

(i)         calls upon the Administration to rethink its plans to accept the imposition of a City Region Mayor without a further referendum having established this as the will of the people of Sheffield;

(ii)        calls upon central government  ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

That this Council:-

(a)      regrets that, over the last two decades, consecutive governments have seemingly conspired to support failing energy policies that do nothing to reduce global emissions, but bring hardship to British families, and that their "green" agenda does not make them friends of the earth, but enemies of the people;

(b)      further regrets Britain’s major global competitors - USA, China, India - are switching to low-cost fossil fuels, while we are forced to close perfectly good coal-fired power stations to meet unattainable targets for renewable capacity;

(c)      notes the 2008 Climate Change Act drives up costs, undermines competitiveness, hits jobs and growth, and that this is the most expensive piece of legislation in British history, with the Government’s own figures putting the cost of the Act at £18 billion a year over 40 years, or £720 billion between 2010 and 2050;

(d)      further notes the European Union's Large Combustion Plant Directive and the planned Medium Combustion Plant Directive both have the effect of closing down secure, reliable and economical electricity generation;

(e)      also notes that the British coal industry once employed one million miners, yet now all three remaining deep coal mines are set to close by 2016, at a cost of 2,000 jobs, despite having many years of productive life left and regardless of Britain’s continuing need for coal, and further notes that 30 per cent of our electricity is still produced from coal and we will be dependent on fossil fuels for many more years to come;

(f)       believes a commission should be set up to investigate ways to assist and rejuvenate the coal industry and seek to secure the survival and expansion of Britain’s indigenous coal industry in the form of deep, opencast, and drift mining, and that the carbon floor tax should be abolished on the basis that production for coal-fired power stations is combined with carbon capture and storage;

(g)      recalls that in 2014, the Government forced energy companies to add nearly £3.2 billion onto energy bills to finance their energy and climate change policies, and notes that these costs are expected to increase to a staggering £9.8 billion by 2020, amounting to an extra £197 going onto our average domestic fuel bills;

(h)      demands that the Government finds a fairer way of paying our bills, by stopping energy companies charging extra for customers who use prepayment meters; and

(i)       further believes Britain is sleepwalking into an energy crisis, that political doctrines, ideologies and party before the people policies will not keep the lights on, and that we all have a duty to avert this real problem and work towards a sustainable solution to our country’s energy needs.

That this Council:-

(a)       notes the enormous contribution that local, small independent businesses make to our economy and understands that small businesses are at the heart of local communities;

(b)       welcomes the steps the current Administration is taking to support small businesses in Sheffield, including the Re:New scheme, and investment to revamp and improve the London Road area;

(c)        believes that in the critical Christmas period, small businesses will benefit from the support  of Small Business Saturday - a national campaign to encourage people to buy local and support small and independent businesses; and

(d)       encourages Elected Members to support Small Business Saturday on 5th December 2015, which is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year, by attending a celebratory event in the Sheffield Moor Market at 2.30pm on that day.

That this Council:-

(a)       celebrates the 10th anniversary of the City of Sanctuary movement, which was founded in Sheffield in October 2005;

(b)       is proud that Sheffield became the UK’s first ‘City of Sanctuary’ for asylum-seekers and refugees in September 2007 with the support of the City Council and over 70 local community organisations;

(c)        believes we are a city that takes pride in welcoming people in need of safety; and

(d)       is committed to improving the experiences and opportunities of refugees and asylum seekers living in Sheffield, and enabling them to make a positive contribution to their local neighbourhoods and the city.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes thriving high streets across Sheffield’s communities are vital to both the City’s economy and its wellbeing;

(b)       welcomes the actions taken by the previous Administration to support local high streets through the Thriving Local and District Centres programme;

(c)        recognises the vital importance to local retail business in the City Centre and District Shopping Centres, of the Christmas Trading period;

(d)       notes nearby competing shopping centres such as Rotherham and Chesterfield are offering free car parking incentives in the run up to Christmas;

(e)       recalls the main opposition group’s 2015/16 budget amendment, which, if passed, would have provided funding for reduced parking charges and investment in district centres; and

(f)        therefore calls on the Administration to offer free Christmas Parking incentives applicable to the City Centre and district centres, during the forthcoming Festive Season.

That this Council:-

(a)       believes that the Freedom of Information Act is an essential part of our democracy and enables citizens to hold local and national government to account;

(b)       agrees that Freedom of Information laws should be extended to cover private companies delivering public services and major contracts;

(c)        believes that the Freedom of Information Act is under threat from the Government, with proposals to:-

(i)         introduce charges for requests;

(ii)        make it easier to refuse requests on cost grounds; and

(iii)       strengthen Ministers’ powers to veto disclosures;

(d)       notes that Sheffield City Council issued refusals, either wholly or partially, on 22% of FOI requests in 2014/15, compared to 11% by Bristol City Council and 18% by both Leeds City Council and Manchester City Council;

(e)       notes Sheffield City Council’s refusal to answer its own Opposition Councillors’ Freedom of Information requests and reveal the 117 sites either wholly or partially in the Green Belt that were submitted as part of the Call for Housing Sites;

(f)        notes that unlike other Councils, such as Leeds, Sheffield City Council does not publish FOI data on a regular basis including the number of requests received and refused;

(g)       regrets that Sheffield City Council has been refusing to answer tree-related FOI requests, many from people who have never previously made a request under the Freedom of Information Act, instead branding the topic as ‘vexatious’; and

(h)       therefore calls on the Council to:-

(i)         publish data on FOI requests on a monthly basis;

(ii)        answer tree-related FOI requests; and

(iii)       write to the six Sheffield MPs requesting that they resist any attempt by the Government to water-down the provisions within the Freedom of Information Act.