Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1

RESOLVED: That Councillor Fran Belbin be elected as Chair of the North East Area Committee for the municipal year 2022/23.

2.1

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tony Damms and Garry Weatherall.

3.1

There were no items that excluded the public and press.

4.1

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

5.1

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the previous meeting, held on the 22 March, 2022 and 18 May, 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

6.1

Sarah Stevens and Emma Hinchliffe from Youth Services were in attendance to give a presentation on what the youth cabinet was and their areas of priority across the city.

6.2

It was explained that youth voice and participation was about listening to young people and acting upon what they had to say.

6.3

Sheffield Youth Cabinet was made up of elected youth councillors, UK youth parliament members and various special interest/link seats which enabled as many young people as possible to have a voice and influence change.

6.4

Youth Cabinet members were elected by their peers once every two years to represent them at a local level. It meets monthly as a Full Cabinet and in between those meetings there was action groups to work on various city-wide/national key priorities.

6.5

The presentation showed the Youth Cabinet structure which highlighted how many youth members represented each local area.

6.6

Marnay Locke from the Youth Cabinet explained that health & wellbeing was a national priority area for the year. City-wide priorities were to look at being able to vote at the age of 16, reforming the curriculum and greater wellbeing. The priority area which the youth cabinet was looking into specifically for the North East area was places to go and things to do for young people.

6.7

The presentation showed contact details for Sarah Stevens, Emma Hinchcliffe and the Youth Cabinet.

6.8

The Chair thanked officers and the Youth Cabinet for attending the meeting and speaking on this item.

7.1

The North East Community Services Manager, Lindsey Hill gave an overview of how the LACs budget was intended to be distributed across 8 themed priorities. 

7.2

It was mentioned that from the LACs £100,000 budget, there had been £80,000 allocated to the priority themes. The remaining £20,000 would be reserved for additional schemes that may arise throughout the year.

7.3

Each of the 8 priority themes had a proportion of the £80,000 and their proportion depended on how much was estimated to deliver their plan.

7.4

A Member of the Public asked if the LAC budget of £100,000 had to be spent before the end of March 2023. They added that consultation needed to happen to best decide what the priorities were.

The Chair (Councillor Fran Belbin) explained that consultation had occurred in previous LAC meetings therefore the proposed spend was based on those discussions.

7.5

A member of the public referred to priority 3 in the proposed spend 2022/23 report. They asked how they would be able to tell if the clean-up and regenerate of hot spot areas had been a success. They added that litter in the community had been an ongoing issue that never seemed to be dealt with.

The Chair stated that residents would be able see visible improvements at the hot spot areas.

Councillor Peter Price mentioned the issue was with educating the communities residents to prevent people littering. Councillor Price stated he had been involved in litter picking before although the problem always returned.

7.6

A member of the public raised concerns around the amount of vehicles parking on grass verges.

The Chair stated that Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee was looking at this issue.

7.7

A member of the public asked where the funding of £100,000 for the LAC budget came from.

The Chair confirmed that this was council funding, generated by Council tax.

7.8

A member of the public asked why there was not an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) had not been undertaken.

The Community Services manager explained that the council process around proposed spend did not require an EIA. This process could be shared with members of the public if they requested sight of it. It was added that specific projects within the priorities will have an EIA.

7.9

A member of the public asked how much of the LAC budget would be used to fund administrative work.

The Chair confirmed that none of the £100,000 will be used to fund administrative work. The proposed spend for the LAC was highlighted in the report. The budget for the LAC teams could be found in the full council budget which was agreed in May.

7.10

A member of the public asked what percentage of residents in the north east were part of a Tenants and Residents Association (TARA).

Councillor Safiya Saeed was unable to confirm the figure although mentioned it was low. Councillor Saeed raised the importance of needing more people to come forward for TARA and that this needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.1

The LAC and members of the public were then asked to go into breakout sessions and discuss the priorities which were displayed around the meeting room. This lasted approximately 45 minutes.

8.2

Following the breakout session, the Committee reconvened to ask members of the public if they had any suggestions on public meetings going forward.

8.3

A member of the public asked what had happened to ward meetings as these used to meet on a regular basis but had not for some time.

The Chair explained that LACs had been put in place to bring councillors closer to members of public, just like ward meetings did. The Chair added that if members of the public wished to talk within a smaller setting than the LAC, then to contact their ward councillor.

Councillor Dawn Dale explained that the LACs were part of new Committee System structure of the Council. Therefore, they could also refer issues to relevant policy committees. Councillor Dale mentioned that she had attempted to hold ward meetings in Brightside although these were poorly attended.

8.4

The Chair asked members of the public if they felt like online meetings were also a good way to engage with members of the public.

There was a general show of consent from members of the public.

The Chair also raised the importance of asking the same questions to members of the public who were unable to attend the meeting.

8.5

A member of the public asked where they could watch live or recorded streams of the LAC meetings.

The Chair explained that these meeting were been recorded and live streamed on the Council’s webpage. It was added that the LAC would look to publish a link on the LACs social media pages after the meeting.

8.6

Councillor Jayne Dunn mentioned why it was just as important to receive comments and views after the meeting. Members of the public were encouraged to submit feedback to either their ward councillors or the LAC team, these would be equally valued. – any comments after meeting are just as relevant.

8.7

A member of the public raised concerns around the time it took to contact the Council through the Council’s Contact Centre.

The Chair apologised for the delays and advised that members of the public contacted their ward councillor if they needed to address an issue urgently and had been unsuccessful with the Council’s Contact Centre.

9.1

The Committee received the following questions and petitions from members of the public, in attendance at the meeting.

9.2

Petitions

9.2.1

Petition requesting the number 5 bus service not be terminated.

Fatima Own raised the importance of the bus service on the difficulty it would cause to local residents if the service was to be terminated.

The Chair explained that bus operators had informed the Council that they were terminating the service as they were unable to make enough money from this service. It was added that that the responsibility for bus services lied with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and The Mayor, Oliver Coppard, is working to urgently address these issues, with a view to improved public control of transport.

9.2.2

Petition requesting the Council protected residents from anti-social behaviour

Ahmed Dualeh informed the Committee of the anti-social behaviour that had been occurring in the Carbrook area.

The Chair apologised for the horrendous experience that this family had to endure. The Chair added that she was aware that this situation was currently been investigated by the Police. The Chair advised that the petitioner discussed the issue privately with local councillors and the relevant services in attendance after the closure of the meeting.

9.3

Questions

9.3.1

Mike Barnfield

It was mentioned that the North East Community Plan had little mention of how private landlords had a devastating effect on the community. It was added that Selective Licensing was also a total failure. Therefore, what strategic actions does the LAC intend to take.

The Chair explained there was a Council service which worked with private landlords although this was a city-wide issue and will be referred to the relevant Policy Committee.

Councillor Mark Jones added that part of the issue was around the lack of funding to regulate the private sector.

RESOLVED: that the issue around private landlords and selective licensing, as mentioned above, be referred to the Housing Policy Committee.

9.3.2

John Brooks

Can the LAC explain the difference between rewilding and total neglect. Especially on land that belonged to housing.

The Chair explained there was a Housing Manager present at the meeting who could advise on the policy and on what is happening on specific pieces of housing land

Claire Lane mentioned that the agreement with parks service withing the council had not changed. Therefore, the current arrangements will continue. It was explained that there does not need to be TARA in place to do something.

9.3.3

Mick Daniels

Was there anything the Council could do to ensure that children could participate in local activities even if they were not on a free school meal allowance.

The Chair agreed this was stigmatising for families. It was mentioned that some community partners that facilitate these local activities cannot afford to make all their activities open to all children. The Chair stated that the Council would continue to feedback their concerns to the Government on this.

Councillor Dawn Dale mentioned that she was involved in a piece of work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.