Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HH

Contact: Paul Robinson, Democratic Services  Email: paul.robinson@sheffield.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Mrs Betty Horton

Minutes:

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

3.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 65 KB

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

Minutes:

4.

Minutes Of Previous Council Meeting pdf icon PDF 331 KB

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 4th November 2015 and to approve the accuracy thereof.

Minutes:

5.

Public Questions and Petitions and Other Communications

(a) 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.

 

(b) Petition Requiring Debate

 

The Council’s Petitions Scheme requires that any petition containing over 5,000 signatures be the subject of debate at the Council meeting.  A qualifying petition has been received as follows:-

 

Petition to Reverse the Changes to Buses in Sheffield from November 2015

To debate an electronic petition containing over 12,000 signatures (as at 23rd November) requesting that the changes to buses in Sheffield from November 2015 be reversed.  The wording of the e-petition is as follows:-

 

“The buses in Sheffield changed on 1st of November. It has been horrendous the first week of implementation. Full buses and less services are affecting all walks of life. It appears that the congestion is worse in the first week - although this is yet to be established. Please return the services that worked and allowed everyone to get to where they are going.”

Minutes:

6.

Members' Questions pdf icon PDF 161 KB

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)

Minutes:

7.

Representation, Delegated Authority and Related Issues pdf icon PDF 41 KB

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.

Minutes:

8.

Licensing Act 2003 - Statement of Licensing Policy pdf icon PDF 40 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Place.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

9.

Gambling Act 2005 - Statement of Principles (Policy) pdf icon PDF 40 KB

Report of the Executive Director, Place.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

10.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Ian Auckland

That this Council:-

 

(a)       is committed to defending Sheffield’s reputation as the greenest city in the country – affording our green and open spaces the protection they deserve;

 

(b)       recognises the importance of demonstrating a five-year economically-deliverable supply of housing within the City’s Local Plan;

 

(c)        therefore notes with concern the current Green Belt Review taking place at the same time as the Sheffield Local Plan is being developed;

 

(d)       also notes with caution a number of urban green spaces, parks and recreation grounds that have been earmarked as an ‘identified opportunity site’ and therefore ‘suitable for housing’;

 

(e)       notes that the independent URBED report ‘Sheffield: Garden City?’ has much higher estimates for homes on brownfield and urban sites than the Council’s own projections, for example, through ‘Urban remodelling’ of the Neepsend and Attercliffe areas of the city, this could supply 8,714 homes and 14,924 respectively, but the Sheffield City Council report has only 1,900 and 2,400 homes in these areas, and believes that these higher figures would take the strain off other places and preserve our green open spaces;

 

(f)        notes that there is currently planning permission in Sheffield for 7,840 new dwellings that are currently not being developed or are incomplete;

 

(g)       notes that developers will often shun brownfield sites for development as it is often easier and more profitable to them to develop on greenfield sites;

 

(h)       however, believes that using the New Homes Bonus to invest in brownfield sites and bring more empty homes back into use, could avoid the need to concrete over greenfield and Green Belt land;

 

(i)         regrets that in the last financial year only £0.3m of the New Homes Bonus was spent on enhancing hard to develop sites and bringing long term empty houses back into use, whilst £0.8m was spent on building a cycle path from Park Square to Norfolk Park and £0.6m improving local centres in what is believed to be the Administration’s favoured areas;

 

(j)         notes that developers will often ‘sit’ on undeveloped land until its value rises and believes the Liberal Democrat policy of a Site Value Rating tax would discourage this;

 

(k)        furthermore, hopes the Administration will re-investigate density and height requirements within the inner ring-road to help protect important green spaces;

 

(l)         hopes the Administration will not use the Green Belt Review to remove any of the 125 sites either wholly or partly in the green belt, suggested by developers in the ‘Call for Housing’, from the green belt so they can be developed;

 

(m)      opposes a wholesale Green Belt review until more innovative ways of delivering Sheffield’s five-year housing supply have been exhausted;

 

(n)       calls on the Administration to do more to encourage development, such as using the New Homes Bonus to enhance hard to develop sites; and

 

(o)       calls on the Administration to commit to protecting our parks and urban green spaces, affirming that no parkland will be developed for housing in the next 5 years.

Minutes:

11.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Terry Fox

That this Council:-

 

(a)       recalls cuts made under the Coalition Government for funding bus services, including the Bus Services Operators Grant and the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, which have put pressure on bus services across the country;

 

(b)       recognises that the bus partnership, implemented in 2012, has improved the reliability of the network and reduced fares for many passengers, despite Government cuts, thereby helping to improve the sustainability of bus services;

 

(c)        however, believes that bus companies have a duty to provide an effective bus route network across the city, and notes that from 1 November, when the bus companies implemented their changes to Sheffield’s bus network, this has not been demonstrated;

 

(d)       demands that the bus companies swiftly address the problems that have occurred on several routes in recent weeks, and ensure that improvements are put in place as soon as possible; and

 

(e)       welcomes the action taken by Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport to call in the bus companies to answer for these problems.

Minutes:

12.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Leigh Bramall

That this Council:-

 

(a)       recalls the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) under the Coalition Government, which requires local authorities to have a local plan in place to meet their local housing need over the next 20 years;

 

(b)       notes that the NPPF requires local authorities to allocate a five-year supply of immediately and economically deliverable sites, which, with severe cuts made by the Coalition Government to brownfield remediation, have made it increasingly difficult to build on brownfield land;

 

(c)        notes that despite these challenges, the current Administration does not want to build on the green belt and is committed to maximizing building on brownfield land and protecting green spaces;

 

(d)       further notes that the national planning practice guidance issued by the Coalition Government, which sets out how a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) should be undertaken, states that ‘sites, which have particular policy constraints, should be included in the assessment for the sake of comprehensiveness’;

 

(e)       recalls that a SHLAA was published in March 2011, when the main opposition group was in control of the Council, and that this included a list of 17 green belt sites, including one on Baslow Road, Totley;

 

(f)        therefore believes the main opposition group is displaying breathtaking hypocrisy and a wilful intention to mislead the public on this issue;

 

(g)       notes that if a local plan isn’t in place, when a developer applies for planning permission on sensitive sites, the Council’s power to refuse is increasingly weakened;

 

(h)       understands therefore that Sheffield needs to have a local plan in place that complies with the NPPF introduced by the Coalition Government; and

 

(i)         looks forward to hearing local residents’ views on options for the nature and scale of growth in their areas over the next 20 years, following the publication of the Sheffield Plan: Citywide Options for Growth to 2034.

Minutes:

13.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes with horror recent attacks worldwide by Daesh (ISIL) terrorists, including, but not exclusive to, the murder of 130 innocent civilians in Paris, the 224 killed when a plane from Egypt to Russia was bombed, the many hundreds more murdered or injured in bombings in Beirut, Turkey, Iraq and elsewhere, and those murdered on the beach in Tunisia;

 

(b)       notes with sadness the millions of people displaced from their homelands in Daesh controlled areas;

 

(c)        believes the use of force in defeating Daesh as a territorial power to be justified under the terms of the NATO Treaty and by the recent UN Security Council resolution;

 

(d)       believes, however, that bombing alone has proven ineffective in similar scenarios, and that ground troops from allies in the region will be needed;

 

(e)       supports calls for co-operation between NATO powers, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran in taking action against Daesh;

 

(f)        recognises that while foreign policy mistakes in the past may have contributed to instability in the region, responsibility for Daesh outrages lies entirely with the perpetrators of those outrages;

 

(g)       believes that we should hold fast to the values of democracy, freedom, tolerance, inclusivity and human rights in defiance of Daesh;

 

(h)       notes that Daesh’s primary focus is the conquest and control of territory in the Middle East, to which end they have killed, raped and enslaved large numbers of Muslims and non-Muslim minorities;

 

(i)         believes Daesh to be a threat to the safety and security of peoples of all faiths and none, many of whom have lived peacefully side by side in the region for centuries, and that division between Muslims and non-Muslims is what Daesh is trying to achieve;

 

(j)         welcomes efforts of the Council to promote peace and understanding between the diverse communities in this city; and

 

(k)        resolves that a copy of this motion be sent to Sheffield’s six MPs and to the United Nations.

Minutes:

14.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Jayne Dunn

That this Council:-

 

(a)       is concerned that, if passed, the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill would threaten the provision of affordable homes through:-

 

(i)         forcing ‘high-value’ council homes to be sold;

 

(ii)        extending the right-to-buy to housing association tenants; and

 

(iii)       undermining requirements on private developers to provide affordable homes;

 

(b)       notes that there is no commitment in the Bill that affordable homes will be replaced on a like-for-like basis in the local area;

 

(c)        further notes that, whilst measures to help first-time-buyers are welcome, the ‘starter homes’ proposals in the Bill will:-

 

(i)         be unaffordable to families and young people on ordinary incomes in most parts of the country; and

 

(ii)        be built at the expense of genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy; and

 

(d)       believes that the Bill undermines localism by providing new wide and open-ended powers to the Secretary of State over councils, including the ability to mandate rents for council tenants, and, in effect, to impose a levy on stock-holding councils, violating the terms of the housing revenue account self-financing deal.

Minutes:

15.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Brian Webster

That this Council:-

 

(a)       believes in the fundamental principle of the NHS - that quality healthcare should be accessible by all, and free at the point of access - and understands that this would not be possible without the contributions made every day by the dedicated and highly skilled professionals who work in the health service;

 

(b)       notes that Sheffield is privileged to be the location of a number of world-class NHS hospitals, which not only help to keep people healthy and save lives, but are also major employers in this city;

 

(c)        believes that junior doctors are a vital part of the healthcare team that keeps hospitals in Sheffield and across the country functioning at their best, and believes that without their efforts the NHS would be unable to function;

 

(d)       believes it is only fair that those who are working hard to protect the health and wellbeing of the people of Sheffield should be fairly rewarded for their efforts, with appropriate compensation and with adequate safeguards to prevent staff being required to work excessive hours;

 

(e)       notes the nearly unanimous (98%) support from junior doctors balloted for strike action in response to the proposed new junior doctors’ contract, on a turnout of 76%;

 

(f)        respects this result, fully supports the right of junior doctors to take industrial action, and agrees with the British Medical Association’s (BMA) assessment that the proposed new contract is “unsafe for patients and unfair for doctors”;

 

(g)       welcomes the commitment of the BMA to take steps to ensure that urgent and essential care can be provided by other doctors and NHS staff in the event of a strike;

 

(h)       hopes that strike action by junior doctors can be avoided by a fair and mutually agreeable deal being reached between the BMA and the Secretary of State for Health, and therefore urges the Secretary of State to accept the BMA’s offer of going to the Acas mediation service for further negotiations to reach such a deal;

 

(i)         believes that if a fair resolution to this dispute cannot be found, the Secretary of State risks driving many junior doctors out of the profession, or even out of the country entirely, in search of fair pay and employment conditions, and believes that this would be a regrettable outcome and deeply damaging to Sheffield’s hospitals and to the NHS in general;

 

(j)         calls upon all Members to support junior doctors in their ongoing fight for a fair contract, including in the event of industrial action; and

 

(k)        requests officers to send a copy of this motion to the Secretary of State for Health, and to the Yorkshire Regional Junior Doctor Committee.

Minutes:

16.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor John Booker

That this Council:-

 

(a)       believes the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been an economic, social and environmental disaster for the UK, with the result that, we, a once great sea-faring nation with the greatest trading seaborne empire the world has ever seen, are reduced to importing two thirds of the fish we consume;

 

(b)       regrets that the British political class are seemingly unconcerned about this perceived betrayal, and that the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative parties seem to believe that the perceived vast waste of taxpayers’ money and the plundering of our waters with no thought for the future, are a price worth paying for EU membership;

 

(c)        further regrets that, when former Prime Minister, Edward Heath, two weeks after his election victory in 1970, signed the CFP deal, this led to what amounted to an invasion of British coastal waters – whilst having almost 80% of Europe’s fishing grounds, the UK has only 13% of Europe’s fishing quota;

 

(d)       agrees with the late Labour politician, Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, when he described Great Britain as an "island made of coal, surrounded by a sea of fish", and regrets that these jewels in our crown have seemingly been abandoned and surrendered;

 

(e)       places on record the facts that, in 1970, 948,000 tonnes of fish were landed from British vessels and by 2015 it was 405,000 tonnes, the reduction of fishermen over that period was from 20,751 to 12,450, and we now import £2.66 billion worth of fish annually; and

 

(f)        further, states we must put a stop to what this Council believes to be a scandal, and the only way to do so is to leave the EU and reclaim our seas.

Minutes:

17.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Roger Davison

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes the cross-party support for the Coalition Government policy to cap care costs following the Dilnot Commission, and that the Conservative Party was elected to Government with a clear and unambiguous promise in their manifesto to cap care costs from 2016 onwards;

 

(b)       notes that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP’s emergency budget in July 2015 provided no extra funding for social care;

 

(c)        notes with concern the recent Government announcement to shelve plans for a cap on care costs, with an estimated £100m of public money spent on preparation set to be wasted and uncertainty for the future of those who will be needing these care services;

 

(d)       notes that social care has suffered from chronic underfunding and, unlike the NHS, has not enjoyed any protection and that an underfunded social care system simply increases costs in the NHS;

 

(e)       therefore calls on the Government to ensure that social care is sustainably funded to ensure that people receive the right care in the right place at the right time and that no one faces catastrophic care costs;

 

(f)        calls on the Government to cancel the increase in the allowance threshold for inheritance tax and use the saving to support these reforms, thereby protecting the homes of those in need of care; and

 

(g)       requests that a copy of this motion be sent to the Secretary of State for Health.

Minutes:

18.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Richard Shaw

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes that 20th November was the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to remember transgender people who have lost their lives through hate-fuelled violence;

 

(b)       notes that transgender and intersex individuals experience similar levels and types of discrimination within society, including, but not limited to, hate crime, health discrimination, and difficulty obtaining documents in the correct gender;

 

(c)        notes that the transgender and intersex communities are too often marginalised, with little or no emphasis on their needs from government or third sector organisations;

 

(d)       notes transgender and intersex people are at a higher risk of mental health issues and suicidal ideation than the general population and the rest of the LGBT+ population, especially among BME transgender and intersex people;

 

(e)       notes current practices in data collection make it difficult for a transgender person to have their gender recorded accurately under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, and that, without a gender recognition certificate, their transgender status is not guaranteed to be treated as protected or sensitive data;

 

(f)        notes with regret the recent death of Vicky Thompson, a transgender woman who had been living as a woman for 4 years, who committed suicide after she was sent to a male prison as she did not possess a gender recognition certificate;

 

(g)       believes that variations in sex and gender, however they manifest, are a simple fact of human physiology and psychology, and neither the state nor society should pass judgement on people who deviate from what is considered the norm;

 

(h)       welcomes the Liberal Democrat campaign to introduce ‘X’ gender markers on UK passports;

 

(i)         calls on the Administration to introduce an ‘X’ gender option and 'Mx.' title option on all its forms for non-binary gendered individuals as a small move towards acceptance; and

 

(j)         calls on the Government to introduce a ‘X’ gender option for UK passports and requests that a copy of this motion be sent to the Home Secretary.

Minutes:

19.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Aodan Marken

That this Council:-

 

(a)       believes that full Council meetings are an important mechanism for demonstrating the Council’s accountability to Sheffield residents;

 

(b)       recognises that all Councillors want to represent their constituents and the city well, and that a great deal of this work inevitably takes place outside of the full Council meeting;

 

(c)        believes that full Council meetings could run better than they have done in the past, and that the best way to achieve that is via mutual respect on the part of all Members and dialogue between Council political groups;

 

(d)       notes the comments from the Leader of the Council, following the July full Council meeting, stating that ‘we can improve the way the Council meeting operates’, comments which were supported by the leaders of opposition groups;

 

(e)       believes that heckling Members from other parties is a sign of disrespect to the voters who chose their Councillor to represent them;

 

(f)        notes with disappointment the actions taken in adding to the recommendations of the Interim Director of Public Health for Sheffield’s annual 2015 report at the November full Council meeting, and believes that these additions were made with little regard for normal procedure;

 

(g)       notes that Green Councillors have previously called for audio-broadcasting of meetings, to allow wider public access;

 

(h)       is pleased that the recording of full Council meetings is being explored, and believes that this should be expedited for the purposes of local democracy and transparency;

 

(i)         calls on the leaders of all political groups on the Council to hold a publicly accessible meeting to discuss how best to improve full Council meetings; and

 

(j)         proposes that an annual survey of Council Members should be used to improve and assess progress in improving the conduct of all public Council meetings.

Minutes:

20.

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Andrew Sangar

That this Council: -

 

(a)       notes the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) is scheduled to take place in Paris, France from 30 November to 11 December 2015;

 

(b)       believes this will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels;

 

(c)        notes the achievements of Liberal Democrats in government from 2010 to 2015 in maintaining momentum towards a new global treaty on climate change, working constructively with other EU member states for more ambitious action on green growth and making progress towards decarbonising the UK economy;

 

(d)       condemns the Government for what this Council believes is an ideologically-motivated decision to end support for onshore wind power, which can only serve to increase the cost of the low-carbon transition while at the same time losing jobs and investment and harming the UK's international competitiveness;

 

(e)       therefore calls upon the Government to:-

 

(i)         play a leading political and diplomatic role as part of the EU negotiating effort to secure agreement on a fair, effective and legally binding new global climate treaty at the conference; and

 

(ii)        ensure that the UK meets its own targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and plays a leadership role within Europe and internationally on efforts to combat climate change; and

 

(f)        requests that a copy of this motion be sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Minutes: