Agenda and minutes

To identify items where resolutions may be moved to exclude the press and public.

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

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.

(NOTE: There is a time limit of one hour for the above item of business.  In accordance with the arrangements published on the Council’s website, questions/petitions are required to be submitted in writing, to committee@sheffield.gov.uk, by 9.00 a.m. on Monday 4th September. Questions/petitions submitted after the deadline will be asked at the meeting subject to the discretion of the Chair.)

To approve, with or without amendment, the recommendations in the report of the Executive Director, City Futures, published with this agenda, seeking approval of responses to representations received on the Publication Draft Sheffield Local Plan (‘The Draft Sheffield Plan’) and approval to submit the Plan and associated ‘submission documents’ to the Government for public examination.

To approve, with or without amendment, the recommendations in the report of the General Counsel (and Monitoring Officer), published with this agenda, regarding changes proposed to be made to the Council’s Constitution.

8.1      Questions relating to urgent business – Council Procedure Rule 16.6(ii).

8.2      Questions relating to the discharge of the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities (under the provisions of Section 41 of the Local Government Act 1985) and of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority – Council Procedure Rule 16.6(i).

8.3      Supplementary questions on written questions submitted at this meeting – Council Procedure Rule 16.4.

That this Council:-

(a)      notes with concern that:-

(i)       the child poverty rate in Sheffield is around 37%, the highest in South Yorkshire and 10% above the national average, with an estimated 7,096 children living in poverty;

(ii)       families on Universal Credit earning above £7.4k are not eligible for Free School Meals in England, meaning that 30% of all school-aged children living in poverty in Yorkshire miss out on a free hot meal every day; and

(iii)      4,200 families in Sheffield do not receive support for one or more children due to the two-child benefit cap, with the average family losing out on £3,235 per year on average, with a corresponding serious impact on children’s material wellbeing, nutrition, and mental health;

(b)      notes the positive work that the Council has undertaken on the Cost of Living crisis, including the recent allocation of £600,000 in additional funding to Local Area Committee (LAC) projects and citizens advice services to maximise benefits, however, believes that there is only so much that Local Authorities can do in the absence of Government support;

(c)      believes that several simple, relatively low-cost interventions are available to Government which would alleviate child poverty substantially, such as removing the two-child benefit cap (cost of £1.4bn), and universalising free school meals in primary schools (cost of £1bn);

(d)      notes that, disappointingly, the leadership of the two largest Westminster parties have refused to adopt these two policies; and

(e)      therefore, requests the Chief Executive to write to the Government stressing the importance of alleviating child poverty and requesting it commits to:-

(i)       abolishing the two-child cap on benefits;

(ii)       expanding free school meals to every child in primary school, and every secondary school child whose family receives Universal Credit; and

(iii)      raising funding for Free School Meals in line with inflation, backdated to match the real terms level of funding provided in 2014-15.

That this Council:-

(a)      welcomes the move to develop a new Sheffield Transport Strategy;

(b)      believes that the people of Sheffield need a transport system that gets them from A-to-B quickly, safely and affordably;

(c)      believes that upgrading our transport infrastructure is essential to grow Sheffield’s economy, tackle congestion, reduce emissions, improve air quality and improve physical health;

(d)      believes that upgrading our transport infrastructure will provide people with greater choice about how to make journeys;

(e)      believes that Sheffield and South Yorkshire have been badly let down by 13 years of government underinvestment in transport infrastructure, and further notes the Government’s track record of broken promises from cancelling the eastern leg of HS2, to scrapping the electrification of Midland Mainline, and chronically underfunding our buses;

(f)       supports bus franchising and welcomes the work by South Yorkshire’s Mayor to accelerate the franchising process;

(g)      believes that congestion can be reduced through active travel schemes, improving public transport and upgrading key road junctions, and believes that sustainable development must be supported by sufficient transport infrastructure;

(h)      believes that an ambitious transport strategy will help to attract investment from the private sector and national government;

(i)       calls on the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee to ensure the public has a say in designing the new strategy; and

(j)       believes that, from listening to residents throughout the city, it is clear that the prioritisation of the below in the strategy would be hugely welcome:-

(i)       a plan to tackle congestion across the city, with a focus on hotspots, such as in parts of south-east Sheffield;

(ii)       an ambitious vision to expand the tram network;

(iii)      re-opening rail lines for tram-train and rail services including to Stocksbridge, along the Sheaf Valley and the Barrow Hill line through south-east Sheffield, with the potential for new stations, including at Beighton;

(iv)      a plan to realise the benefits of bringing buses and trams under public control, such as shared ticketing arrangements and designing bus services that link with tram stops;

(v)      a plan to ensure all parts of Sheffield from Stocksbridge to Mosborough have frequent, reliable buses;

(vi)      a plan to upgrade cycling infrastructure, particularly with segregated cycle routes;

(vii)     a clear focus on improving the pedestrian experience, recognising the enormous health benefits of walking;

(viii)    accelerating the rollout of 20mph zones and school streets so that families have safe journeys to and from school; and

(ix)      restoring the direct rail link between Sheffield and Manchester airport.

That this Council:-

(a)           believes that the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme has been detrimental to Sheffield, as:-

(i)       Sheffield is suffering from an annual affordable accommodation shortfall of 902 units;

(ii)       in 2021-22, this Council lost 408 units of housing stock to RTB sales, representing a net loss of 277 units of affordable housing in Sheffield;

(iii)      despite positive work being done to increase Sheffield’s social rented stock through the Stock Improvement Programme, Sheffield has suffered a net loss of affordable housing since 2015-16 due to the RTB;

(iv)      due to this long-term reduction in social housing stock, on average only 54 council properties are advertised each week in Sheffield, with 22,338 households on the housing register;

(v)      of these, 639 are in priority bands A and B, representing the highest housing need, including people who are homeless and people suffering from domestic abuse; and

(vi)      this Council has recently begun a review of planned new build housing, as due to construction inflation, a new build property being purchased under RTB after 10 years would represent a significant financial loss to the Council;

(b)           notes that a shortage of social housing impacts renters widely, as:-

(i)             tenants requiring extensive repairs can wait for months to be moved into a temporary property while repairs are carried out;

(ii)            the 881 households with a priority rehousing award will wait longer for rehousing, residing meanwhile in abusive relationships, homeless accommodation, and unsuitable properties;

(iii)          a 2015 evidence review found that the RTB intensified problems of housing affordability and increased Housing Benefit expenditure; and

(iv)          nationally over 40% of homes bought under RTB are now let privately, and that 1 in 3 private renters borrowed money to pay their rent in June 2023;

(c)      notes with concern that this Government has proposed to extend RTB to Housing Associations, and believes this is likely to exacerbate negative trends in affordable housing provision;

(d)      believes that, in addition to increasing housing stock, the Council must work more closely with private developers to prioritise affordable housing completions; and

(e)      therefore resolves to write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, requesting the Government grant local councils the power to set the RTB discount locally (including the power to discontinue the scheme), and to make permanent the 100% retention of RTB receipts, in line with the Local Government Association’s position.

That this Council:-

(a)      notes that:-

(i)       through its Decarbonisation Routemaps, the Council is setting out plans to minimise, mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency;

(ii)       small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 50% of UK business emissions, yet currently 76% of SMEs do not have a decarbonisation strategy;

(iii)      as well as residents, SMEs are struggling with record energy costs; and

(iv)      Sheffield’s businesses want to be leaders on climate but need a willing partner in Government that is prepared to invest in low-carbon energy and provide energy support for businesses;

(b)      welcomes:-

(i)       that South Yorkshire is the UK’s first Investment Zone which will create new opportunities for jobs and investment in Sheffield;

(ii)       the new £80m investment for a Boeing-led research project at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) into manufacturing lightweight structures for aeroplanes which is a key part of making global aviation more sustainable;

(iii)      that Sheffield has been announced as a heat network zoning pioneer, opening a route to cheaper and cleaner energy for our city’s businesses and public services; and

(iv)      the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee’s recent approval of £3.4m Shared Prosperity Funding to support SMEs become more energy efficient;

(c)      believes that:-

(i)       the development of home-grown British renewables and nuclear power will make us less dependent on energy imports;

(ii)       we must address climate change in a way that creates good green jobs;

(iii)      trade unions must be partners in any industrial transition;

(iv)      Sheffield’s advancing manufacturing and research expertise provides enormous potential to create new jobs in the nuclear and low-carbon energy sectors;

(v)      pursuing a decarbonisation agenda will unlock social, economic and climate opportunities and deliver sustainable economic growth;

(vi)      Sheffield’s draft Local Plan sets out an ambitious vision for advanced manufacturing and green industries and will deliver high-skilled, high-wage jobs; and

(vii)     the Labour Party’s commitment to invest £3 billion in green steel production will support steel jobs in Stocksbridge and lead to more steel jobs in the future; and

(d)      resolves to:-

(i)       ask the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee to consider working with partners, including its Diverse Business Advisory Board and the Chamber of Commerce, on how to further support small businesses to address climate impacts; and

(ii)       establish a cross-committee working group, drawing on Members from the Governance Committee, the Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee, and the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, to investigate how the Authority’s Decarbonisation Routemaps can be embedded into our decision-making structures.

To receive the record of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 5th July 2023, and to approve the accuracy thereof.

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.