Agenda item

Notice of Motion given by Councillor Joe Otten

That this Council:-

 

(a)       notes the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt. Hon. Ed Balls MP’s admission, in The Telegraph newspaper on 5th January 2015, that he would, given the chance, cut another £3.3bn from local government;

 

(b)       notes that Labour Councillors noted the Shadow Chancellor’s previous comments about having to "keep all these cuts" in passing an amendment to a motion on public spending reductions at the Council meeting in February 2012;

 

(c)        notes a number of  resolutions passed by this Council blaming the Coalition Government for the response to the fiscal consequences of the record deficit of 2008 that was created under the Labour Government;

 

(d)       notes the frequent grandstanding on the subject of cuts to local government by members of the Administration, and fears that some people may be misled into thinking that the Labour Party would not make further cuts to local government; and

 

(e)       believes that, in spite of the rhetoric in this chamber, it is clear that any statements made that give the impression that the cuts would disappear if there was a change to a Labour Government, are unlikely to be true.

Minutes:

 

Local Government Funding

 

 

 

It was moved by Councillor Joe Otten, seconded by Councillor Roger Davison, that this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)         notes the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt. Hon. Ed Balls MP’s admission, in The Telegraph newspaper on 5th January 2015, that he would, given the chance, cut another £3.3bn from local government;

 

(b)         notes that Labour Councillors noted the Shadow Chancellor’s previous comments about having to "keep all these cuts" in passing an amendment to a motion on public spending reductions at the Council meeting in February 2012;

 

(c)         notes a number of  resolutions passed by this Council blaming the Coalition Government for the response to the fiscal consequences of the record deficit of 2008 that was created under the Labour Government;

 

(d)         notes the frequent grandstanding on the subject of cuts to local government by members of the Administration, and fears that some people may be misled into thinking that the Labour Party would not make further cuts to local government; and

 

(e)         believes that, in spite of the rhetoric in this chamber, it is clear that any statements made that give the impression that the cuts would disappear if there was a change to a Labour Government, are unlikely to be true.

 

 

 

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Ben Curran, seconded by Councillor Cate McDonald, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the addition of the following words:-

 

 

 

(a)         regrets that the present Government have made unfair cuts to local government funding, targeting cuts at Sheffield, and is appalled that the Liberal Democrats have allowed the Government to cut parts of the country with the highest levels of deprivation the most;

 

(b)         notes that this Government have comprehensively failed to eliminate the deficit and regrets that a future Labour Government would have to deal with the position it inherits from this Government;

 

(c)         regrets that the cuts of this Government have been overwhelmingly targeted at northern cities such as Sheffield at the same time as some of the wealthiest parts of the country have received a fraction of the cuts;

 

(d)         regrets that the Liberal Democrats have stood up for the Deputy Prime Minister at the expense of standing up for Sheffield and refused to back the Fair Deal for Sheffield Campaign calling for a fairer funding distribution, which has been supported by over 10,000 Sheffield people; and

 

(e)         welcomes the Labour Party’s announcement that they will scrap the New Homes Bonus, to provide a fairer funding formula and notes that the New Homes Bonus is another Government policy that takes money away from Sheffield to redistribute it to some of the wealthiest areas of the country and believes that this is already a demonstration of intent for how Labour would give Sheffield a fairer deal.

 

 

 

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

 

 

 

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

 

 

 

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)       regrets that the present Government have made unfair cuts to local government funding, targeting cuts at Sheffield, and is appalled that the Liberal Democrats have allowed the Government to cut parts of the country with the highest levels of deprivation the most;

 

 

 

(b)       notes that this Government have comprehensively failed to eliminate the deficit and regrets that a future Labour Government would have to deal with the position it inherits from this Government;

 

 

 

(c)        regrets that the cuts of this Government have been overwhelmingly targeted at northern cities such as Sheffield at the same time as some of the wealthiest parts of the country have received a fraction of the cuts;

 

 

 

(d)       regrets that the Liberal Democrats have stood up for the Deputy Prime Minister at the expense of standing up for Sheffield and refused to back the Fair Deal for Sheffield Campaign calling for a fairer funding distribution, which has been supported by over 10,000 Sheffield people; and

 

 

 

(e)       welcomes the Labour Party’s announcement that they will scrap the New Homes Bonus, to provide a fairer funding formula and notes that the New Homes Bonus is another Government policy that takes money away from Sheffield to redistribute it to some of the wealthiest areas of the country and believes that this is already a demonstration of intent for how Labour would give Sheffield a fairer deal.

 

 

 

(Note: Councillors Jillian Creasy, Robert Murphy, Sarah Jane Smalley and Brian Webster voted for paragraph (c) and abstained on paragraphs (a), (b), (d) and (e) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)