Agenda and minutes

1.1

At the recommencement of the meeting following the lunch break, apologies for absence were reported to the meeting from Councillors Terry Fox, Mark Jones, Toby Mallinson, Garry Weatherall and Paul Wood.

2.1

Former Councillor Colin Ross, the retiring Lord Mayor, took the Chair and the Chief Executive announced that the first business to be transacted was the appointment of a Lord Mayor for the ensuing year.

2.2

Whereupon it was:-

2.3

RESOLVED:  On the motion of Councillor Nabeela Mowlana, seconded by Councillor Penny Baker, that Councillor Jayne Dunn be appointed Lord Mayor of the City of Sheffield for the Municipal Year 2024-25.

2.4

The Council adjourned briefly whilst the Lord Mayor Elect was robed and, together with Lord Mayor’s Consort (Mr. Thomas Dunn), invested with their Chains of Office.

2.5

On resuming, Councillor Jayne Dunn, the Lord Mayor Elect, then made and subscribed to the declaration required by law to qualify her to act as Lord Mayor.

2.6

Whereupon the retiring Lord Mayor vacated the Chair, which was then taken by Councillor Jayne Dunn, the Lord Mayor.  The Lord Mayor addressed the Council.

2.7

Later in the meeting, after the appointment of the Deputy Lord Mayor, the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain, Reverend Joy French, was invested with her Badge of Office and Rev. French then addressed the Council.

3.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion of Councillor Martin Smith, seconded by Councillor David Barker, and further endorsed by Councillor Angela Argenzio, that the best of thanks of this Council under the Common Seal be presented to former Councillor Colin Ross and Mrs. Susan Ross, for the able and very satisfactory manner in which they have performed their various official duties as Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of this City during the past year.

3.2

The Lord Mayor then presented an ex-Lord Mayor’s Badge to the retiring Lord Mayor, former Councillor Colin Ross, who then addressed the Council.

3.3

The Lord Mayor also presented an ex-Lady Mayoress’ Badge to the retiring Lady Mayoress, Mrs. Susan Ross, who then addressed the Council.

4.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:  On the motion formally moved by Councillor Zahira Naz, and formally seconded by Councillor Ann Woolhouse, that Councillor Safiya Saeed be appointed Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sheffield for the Municipal Year 2024-25.

4.2

Councillor Safiya Saeed (the Deputy Lord Mayor Elect) was invested with her Badge of Office and then made and subscribed to the declaration required by law to qualify her to act as Deputy Lord Mayor.

At this point in the proceedings, the meeting was adjourned to provide a lunch break.  The meeting reconvened at approximately 2.40 p.m.

5.1

The 12 new Members of the Council elected in the recent Municipal elections (Councillors Matthew Dwyer, Qais Al-Ahdal, Rebecca Atkinson, Peter Gilbert, Nikki Belfield, Rob Bannister, Elle Dodd, Mia Drazaic, Mark Rusling, Gareth Slater, Mark Whittaker and John Wright) were introduced to the Council.

6.1

There were no declarations of interest made by Members of the Council.

7.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion moved by Councillor Fran Belbin and seconded by Councillor Sue Alston, that this Council:-

(a)     approves the changes to the various Parts of the Constitution, as outlined in sections 3.2 to 3.5 of the report of the General Counsel (and Monitoring Officer) now submitted, and as set out in appendices 1 to 10 of that report; and

(b)     approves the wording of the Scheme for Public Involvement in Council Meetings, as set out in Appendix 11 of the report, for publication on the Council’s website and authorises the Governance Committee to review and approve changes to the Scheme save that the Monitoring Officer is authorised to make minor or consequential changes to the Scheme for reasons of clarification or efficacy.

8.1

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jayne Dunn) sought nominations for the position of Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024-25.

8.2

Councillor Mary Lea nominated Councillor Tom Hunt to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Ruth Milsom.  Councillor Hunt was deemed to be Candidate 1.

8.3

Councillor Joe Otten nominated Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Sue Alston.  Councillor Mohammed was deemed to be Candidate 2.

8.4

Councillor Martin Phipps nominated Councillor Douglas Johnson to serve as Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Angela Argenzio.  Councillor Johnson was deemed to be Candidate 3.

8.5

A vote was held, with Members of the Council choosing to vote for either Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) or Candidate 2 (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) or Candidate 3 (Councillor Douglas Johnson).  Any Member present at the meeting who did not vote for one of the three Candidates was deemed to have abstained from voting.  On being put to the vote, the result was that Candidate 1 received 35 votes; Candidate 2 received 30 votes; and Candidate 3 received 14 votes.  There were no abstentions.

8.6

The Lord Mayor reported that, as there was not a majority of votes in favour of one candidate, a Leader of the Council had not been appointed during that stage of voting.  Accordingly, she would now move to the next stage of the voting process, whereby the candidate who received the lowest number of votes ‘for’ would be eliminated and one final vote would be held where Members of the Council would choose between the remaining two candidates and the candidate that receives the higher number of votes will be appointed to the position of Leader of the Council.

8.7

The Lord Mayor confirmed that Candidate 3 (Councillor Douglas Johnson) had received the lowest number of votes ‘for’ and was therefore eliminated.  Members of the Council would now vote to choose between Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) and Candidate 2 (Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed) and any Member present at the meeting who did not vote for one of the two Candidates was deemed to have abstained from voting.

8.8

On being put to the vote, the result was that Candidate 1 received 35 votes; Candidate 2 received 30 votes; and 14 Members abstained from voting.

8.9

The Lord Mayor stated that Candidate 1 (Councillor Tom Hunt) had received the most votes and therefore, it was:-

RESOLVED: That Councillor Tom Hunt be appointed Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024-25, serving until the date of the next Annual Meeting of the Council in 2025.

9.1

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jayne Dunn) sought nominations for the position of Deputy Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024-25.

9.2

Councillor Mary Lea nominated Councillor Fran Belbin to serve as Deputy Leader of the Council.  That nomination was seconded by Councillor Ruth Milsom.

9.3

No further nominations for the position of Deputy Leader were received.

9.4

Accordingly, the Lord Mayor put the nomination of Councillor Fran Belbin to the vote, whereupon it was:-

9.5

RESOLVED: That Councillor Fran Belbin be appointed Deputy Leader of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024-25, serving until the date of the next Annual Meeting of the Council in 2025.

9.5.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote on the Motion was FOR - 62 Members; AGAINST - 3 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 14 Members.)

10.1

Leader of the Council

The newly appointed Leader of the Council (Councillor Tom Hunt) addressed the Council and stated that he was honoured to be re-elected as Leader of the Council. He commented that this was a tough time for lots of people in the city and it was the duty for all 84 City Councillors to do all they could to make life better for people and he believed that there was a shared commitment to do this.

He reported that he was pleased that agreement had been reached to continue the collaborative arrangements that would enable the Administration to continue to provide stable, competent governance for the Council and strong leadership for the city.

He stated that it was clear that there were many things that Members have in common.  These included a shared commitment to serving the electorate and to always act in the best interests of residents and the city.

He added that the Council Administration would continue the work it had started over the past 12 months, acting on the priorities of Sheffield’s residents.  This will include helping people with the cost of living crisis; improving public transport and making it easier and safer to get around the city; to build the new homes that are needed; to continue to regenerate parts of the city and oversee the transformation of the city centre; to bring in investment and to create new jobs; to continue the work to make Sheffield cleaner, greener and safer; and to improve the Council’s services and ensure that every pound of public money is spent wisely and that politics in the Council is conducted in an open, transparent and competent manner.

Councillor Hunt believed that, for too long, Sheffield has been lacking in confidence and has been too modest, but that this was changing.  He commented that the city was becoming increasingly confident and should be shouting about its strengths.  It was time to go for growth, and therefore, economic growth and social injustice would be priorities for the Council’s Administration, as progress on tackling the inequalities that scar people’s lives in the city, could not be made without sustained economic growth.

He concluded by stating that Sheffield was a city on the up and that he looked forward to working with all Members of the Council to make sure that we have a better, brighter future for all residents in the city.

10.2

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Jayne Dunn) announced that a civic reception would be held later that day for the 12 community champions who she had appointed to assist her to raise awareness on issues that are important to the people of Sheffield.  She added that, as she had mentioned in her speech upon being appointed as Lord Mayor earlier in the meeting, each month of her mayoral year would be dedicated to a particular issue with each issue having a dedicated community champion.

11.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion formally moved by Councillor Mary Lea, and formally seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that:-

(a)      the information contained in the report of the Director of Policy and Democratic Engagement, outlining the legal requirements to allocate seats on Council Committees to political groups on a politically proportionate basis, be noted;

(b)      the terms of reference of the Council’s Committees for 2024-25 be as currently set out in the Council’s Constitution, but with the incorporation of the changes to be made to the terms of reference of the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee, the Charity Trustee Sub-Committee, the Finance Committee, the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee and the Audit and Standards Committee, as well as to the delegations relating to Contracts which are reserved to all Policy Committees (which changes have been approved under item of business number 7 on the agenda for this annual meeting of the Council);

(c)      the sizes of individual committees to be subject to proportional balance (which retains the changes approved by the Council at its meeting on 1st November 2023 to increase the size of the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee from 11 seats to 13 seats, and to decrease the size of the Governance Committee from 11 seats to 9 seats), and the proportional allocation of seats on those committees (including final adjustments of seats to ensure that the total number of seats on the ordinary committees of the Council are allocated to each political group in the same proportion as the group’s membership of the Council), as set out in the schedule circulated at the meeting, be approved;

(d)      approval be given to the appointment of Members to Council Committees in the Municipal Year 2024-25 to reflect the arrangements now agreed and the wishes of the political groups, in accordance with the schedule circulated at the meeting (and including substitutes where appropriate), and, for the purposes of Council Procedure Rule 25.6, the consent of the Council be given in any case where a Member chooses not to be appointed to serve on any Policy or Regulatory Committee;

(e)      as respects the appointment of Members to serve on Council Committees, where vacancies exist or in cases of urgency to ensure quoracy or representation, the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the relevant political group whip, be authorised to appoint Members to serve on such Committees, as necessary, on the understanding that details of such appointments will be reported to the next or subsequent meetings of the Council;

(f)       approval be given to continue to disapply proportionality to the Senior Officer Employment Sub-Committees and the Appeals and Collective Disputes Sub-Committees for the reasons set out in paragraph 5.2.3 of the report; and

(g)      it be noted that in the event of any changes to the political composition of the Council occurring during the Municipal Year, political proportionality will be reviewed by the Council as soon as practicable thereafter.

MEMBERSHIP OF COUNCIL COMMITTEES 2024/25

POLICY COMMITTEES

Title/Post

Labour

Liberal Democrat

Green

Sheffield Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.1

RESOLVED: On the motion formally moved by Councillor Mary Lea, and formally seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that:-

(a)      each Councillor named in the schedule circulated at the meeting be elected Chair or Deputy Chair of the Policy Committee, Regulatory Committee or other Council Committee indicated by that schedule, for the Municipal Year 2024-25;

(b)      the Groups’ Spokespersons on each Policy Committee and on the Finance Committee, as set out in the schedule circulated at the meeting, be noted; and

(c)      it be noted that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 31, in any cases where the Full Council has not made an appointment to the position of Chair or Deputy Chair before the first scheduled meeting of a Committee, that Committee shall, at its first meeting, commence its proceedings by electing the Chair or Deputy Chair, as appropriate.

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRS & DEPUTY CHAIRS OF CERTAIN COMMITTEES FOR 2024-25

POLICY COMMITTEES

Committee

Chair

Deputy Chair

Group Spokespersons

Strategy and Resources Policy Committee

Leader of the Council

Deputy Leader of the Council

Cllr Douglas Johnson

Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed

Finance Committee

Cllr Zahira Naz

Cllr Mike Levery

Cllr Martin Phipps

Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee

Cllr Angela Argenzio

Cllr Sophie Thornton

Cllr Laura McClean

Education, Children and Families Policy Committee

Cllr Dawn Dale

Cllr Toby Mallinson

Cllr Mohammed Mahroof

Housing Policy Committee

Cllr Douglas Johnson

Cllr Penny Baker

Cllr Alison Norris

Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee

Cllr Ben Miskell

Cllr Alexi Dimond

Cllr Andrew Sangar

Economic Development and Skills Policy Committee

Cllr Martin Smith

Cllr Ibby Ullah

Cllr Henry Nottage

Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee

Cllr Joe Otten

Cllr Minesh Parekh

Cllr Christine Gilligan Kubo

Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee

Cllr Kurtis Crossland

Cllr Laura Moynahan

Cllr Marieanne Elliot

STATUTORY/REGULATORY COMMITTEES

Committee

Joint Chair

Joint Chair

Planning and Highways Committee

Cllr Mike Chaplin

Cllr Alan Woodcock

Licensing Committee

Cllr David Barker

Cllr Abdul Khayum

OTHER COUNCIL COMMITTEES

Committee

Chair

Deputy Chair

Governance Committee

Cllr Fran Belbin

Cllr Sue Alston

Audit and Standards Committee

Cllr Mohammed Mahroof

Cllr Fran Belbin

Admissions Committee

Cllr Maleiki Haybe

Vacancy

Senior Officer Employment Committee

Cllr Tom Hunt

Vacancy

Appeals and Collective Disputes Committee

Vacancy

Vacancy

12.2

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 74 Members; AGAINST - 0 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 4 Members.  Although Green Group Members voted for, they voted against the proposed appointment of Councillor Joe Otten as Chair of the Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee.)

13.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion formally moved by Councillor Mary Lea, and formally seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that:-

(a)      approval be given to the establishment, with the suggested memberships shown, of the Council panels, working groups etc for the Municipal Year 2024-25, set out in the schedule circulated at the meeting;

(b)      approval be given to the appointment of Members to serve on external bodies in the Municipal Year 2024-25, also as set out in the schedule now circulated;

(c)      as respects the appointment of Members to its various bodies, where vacancies exist or in cases of urgency to ensure representation, the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the relevant political group whip, be authorised to appoint Members to serve on such bodies, as necessary, on the understanding that details of such appointments will be reported to the next or subsequent meetings of the Council; and

(d)      as respects the appointment of representatives to serve on outside bodies, where vacancies exist or in cases of urgency to ensure representation, the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the relevant political group whip, be authorised to nominate representatives to serve on such bodies, as necessary, on the understanding that details of such nominations will be reported to the next or subsequent meetings of the Council.

APPOINTMENTS TO OTHER COUNCIL BODIES AND EXTERNAL BODIES 2024/25

OTHER COUNCIL BODIES

Title/Post

Labour

Liberal Democrat

Green

Sheffield Community Cllrs/Other

Access Liaison Group (x5)

Cllr Mick Rooney

Cllr Gareth Slater

Cllr Mark Whittaker

Cllr Gail Smith

Cllr Cliff Woodcraft

Allotments and Leisure Gardens Advisory Group (x5)

Cllr Mark Whittaker

Cllr Barbara Masters

Cllr Cliff Woodcraft

Cllr Marieanne Elliot

Cllr Brian Holmshaw

Champions:

Armed Forces (x1)

Cllr Denise Fox

Heritage (x1)

(Vacancy)

Migration (x1)

Cllr Nabeela Mowlana

Complaints Review Panel

1 Independent Chair and 2 further Independent Members

Corporate Joint Committee with Trade Unions

·       Leader

·       Deputy Leader

·       Policy Committee Chairs

Cllr Denise Fox

Corporate Members Group

·       Leader of each Group

·       Deputy Leader of each Group

·       Whip of each Group

Cllr Fran Belbin

Cllr Tom Hunt

Cllr Mary Lea

Cllr Penny Baker

Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed

Cllr Joe Otten

Cllr Douglas Johnson

Cllr Angela Argenzio

Cllr Martin Phipps

Cllr Dianne Hurst

Cllr Denise Fox

Cllr Garry Weatherall

Community Parenting Board (x10)

Cllr Rob Bannister

Cllr Dawn Dale

Cllr Mia Drazaic

Cllr Karen McGowan

Cllr Sue Alston

Cllr Penny Baker

Cllr Ann Whitaker

Cllr Toby Mallinson

(Vacancy)

Cllr Garry Weatherall

Cycle Forum (x3)

Cllr Mark Jones

Cllr Richard Shaw

Cllr Ruth Mersereau

Housing and Neighbourhoods Advisory Panel (x2)

·       Chair of Housing Policy Committee

·       Deputy Chair of Housing Policy Committee

Local Area Committee Chairs Group (x9)

·       7 Local Area Committee Chairs (Deputy Chairs to act as substitutes as necessary)

·       Chair of Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee

·       Chair of Governance Committee

Monitoring and Advisory Board (Adult Services) (x4)

Cllr Laura McClean

Cllr Sophie Thornton

Policy Working Group (Labour)

All Members of the Labour Group

Policy Working Group (Liberal Democrat)

All Members of the Liberal Democrat Group

Policy Working Group (Green)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion formally moved by Councillor Mary Lea, and formally seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that:-

(a)      it be agreed that the six ordinary meetings of Full Council in the Municipal Year 2024-25 be held at 2.00 p.m. on the following Wednesdays:-

          5^th June 2024; 4^th September 2024; 2^nd October 2024; 6^th November 2024; 4^th December 2024; and 5^th February 2025;

(b)      the special meeting of the Council for the purposes of approving a Revenue Budget and Capital Programme and setting the Council Tax for the Financial Year 2025-26 be held on Wednesday, 5th March 2025 at 2.00 p.m;

(c)      the annual meeting of the Council in 2025 be held on Wednesday, 21st May 2025 at 11.30 a.m.;

(d)      an ordinary meeting of the Council be held, provisionally, on Wednesday 2nd July 2025 (to be confirmed at the annual meeting in May 2025); and

(e)      approval be given to the schedule of Council and Committee meetings for the Municipal Year 2024-25, as set out in the schedule circulated at the meeting.

15.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the motion formally moved by Councillor Mary Lea, and formally seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that, further to Council Procedure Rule 10.2, the order in which Notices of Motion shall be listed on the Summons for the ordinary meeting of the Council on 5^th June 2024 shall be Labour / Lib Dem / Green / Sheffield Community Councillors, and the order for the remaining five ordinary meetings of the Council in the Municipal Year 2024-25 shall be agreed at the meeting on 5^th June.

16.1

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: On the Motion of the Lord Mayor (Councillor Jayne Dunn), seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Safiya Saeed), that this Council places on record its thanks and appreciation to former Councillors Ian Auckland, Lewis Chinchen, Tony Damms, Roger Davison, Mazher Iqbal, Bernard Little, Bryan Lodge, Peter Price, Sioned-Mair Richards, Colin Ross and Sophie Wilson, who had either retired or had not been re-elected at the municipal elections held in May 2024, and to former Councillor Abtisam Mohamed, who had resigned from membership of the Council on 19^th March 2024, for their hard work and service to the City of Sheffield.

16.2

It was noted that, together with the Chief Executive, the Lord Mayor would write to each of those former Councillors to thank them for their service.