Agenda item

Liberal Democrats’ Record in Government

It was moved by Councillor Collin Ross, seconded by Councillor Joe Otten, that this Council:-

(a)       would like to thank the Liberal Democrats in government and The Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, for their good work in government, creating a stronger economy and fairer society in the UK by:

(i)         creating 1.8 million more jobs, of which ¾ are full time jobs;

(ii)        cutting income tax by £800 for 25 million low and middle income earners;

(iii)       protecting the schools budget and providing an extra £2.5 billion for disadvantaged kids;

(iv)       providing free child care to all 3 and 4 year olds and 40% of 2 year olds from the most deprived backgrounds;

(v)        investing in work and training through two million apprenticeships;

(vi)       introducing shared parental leave, allowing fathers to spend more time with their children and helping women back into work;

(vii)      improving services across the NHS, with 6,000 more doctors and increasing the availability of specialist cancer drugs through the Cancer Drugs Fund; and

(viii)     taking mental health seriously, putting £400m extra into early intervention;

(b)       would also like to thank the MP for Sheffield Hallam for using his position to get the best for Sheffield and would like to highlight the following Government investments  in our area:

(i)         £1.2 billion for the Streets Ahead programme, which will see every road, pavement and streetlight in the City repaired;

(ii)        £5.4 million to provide Free Early Learning for disadvantaged two-year-olds, £25 million for Sheffield schools through the Pupil Premium and £5 million for Sheffield City Region to support young people into jobs;

(iii)       millions of pounds invested in Sheffield’s trams, trains and buses, alongside commitments to electrify the Midland Mainline and a new High Speed Rail station in Sheffield; 

(iv)       bringing the British Business Bank to Sheffield;

(v)        the latest growth deal, delivered by Liberal Democrats in Government, which has secured a £320 million cash boost for Sheffield City Region and will create over 28,000 jobs and training for 40,000 people;

(vi)       notes that the Sheffield City Region Growth Deal is the fifth largest in the country and will specifically deliver:

(A)       infrastructure investment, including improvements to Sheffield city-centre and an extended airport link road to Doncaster-Sheffield Airport;

(B)       £130 million Skills Bank, which will provide training for 40,000 people in the Sheffield City Region, including between 5,000 and 7,500 apprentices; and

(C)       upgrades to Further Education facilities and a brand new academy run by British Glass to be based in Sheffield; and

(c)        notes that a future Liberal Democrat Government would:

(i)         balance the cyclically-adjusted current budget by 2017/18, on time and fairly, protecting the economic recovery, and bring down Britain’s debt as a share of national income;

(ii)        cut Income Tax by £400 for low and middle earners, easing the squeeze on household budgets;

(iii)       invest to make the UK a world leader in green and hi-tech manufacturing, continuing the Regional Growth Fund and expanding apprenticeships;

(iv)       cut energy bills and create jobs through a national programme to insulate homes, with a Council Tax cut if people take part;

(v)        pass ‘Five Green Laws’ to protect green spaces, trees and wildlife, improve energy efficiency and resource efficiency, reduce waste, promote clean green transport and ensure Britain leads the fight against climate change;

(vi)       ensure every child is taught by a qualified teacher, raising educational standards to world class levels and protecting spending on nurseries, schools and colleges;

(vii)      give 16-21 year olds two-thirds off their bus fares so they can afford to travel to college or work;

(viii)     guarantee pensioners the best ever system for increasing the state pension by legislating for the Liberal Democrats’ ‘triple lock’ of uprating by the higher of earnings growth, prices growth or 2.5%; and

(ix)       introduce a new Carer’s Bonus so carers can take a proper break every year.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Leigh Bramall, seconded by Councillor Ray Satur, 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)       believes that the Liberal Democrats have a disastrous record in Government and that the Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg MP has betrayed Sheffield;

(b)       regrets the following actions which have been taken by the Liberal Democrats in Government and Nick Clegg MP and believes this demonstrates that they have neither created a stronger economy or fairer society:-

(i)         cut 50% of Sheffield City Council’s main government grant, resulting in unprecedented levels of cuts to Council services;

(ii)        at the same time, overseeing increasing spending power to some of the wealthiest areas of the country, and recalls that the Government’s own figures show that 63 councils are receiving an increase of spending power in the local government finance settlement; 47 Conservative-controlled, 13 recognised Conservative targets, 1 Labour-controlled, 1 Independent-controlled and the Isle of Scilly; and at the same time, the Government’s own figures show that Sheffield has had a reduction double the national average;

(iii)       introduced schemes such as the New Homes Bonus to redistribute money towards some of the wealthiest councils in the country, and notes that to pay for this year’s round of New Homes Bonus, Sheffield had £12 million taken from its core funding but only received just over £7.3 million back, meaning the Council lost nearly £4.7 million, whilst on the other hand, Surrey had £11.3 million taken away from them and received £24.3 million, meaning they gained £13 million;

(iv)       abolishing the loan to Sheffield Forgemasters as one of their first acts in government;

(v)        trebling university tuition fees despite promising to abolish them;

(vi)       increasing VAT to 20%, despite campaigning against potential VAT increases;

(vii)      undertaking what this Council believes was a disastrous re-organisation of the NHS, wasting £3 billion on a top down vanity project which would have been better spent on front line services;

(viii)     overseeing the recent crisis in A&E, with the worst waiting times for over 10 years;

(ix)       abolishing the previous Government’s Future Jobs Fund;

(x)        wrecking the economic recovery in 2010, which was caused by the Government’s economic policies, recalling that the economy was growing when this Government came to power;

(xi)       overseeing a cost of living crisis, with people worse off under this Government;

(xii)      refusing to take action to force energy companies to give customers a fair deal, through voting against Labour’s proposed energy price freeze;

(xiii)     overseeing a growth in the number of food banks across the country, including in Sheffield;

(xiv)     making cuts to Sure Start Centres; 

(xv)      cutting police numbers, despite promising to increase them in their manifesto, and wasting money on the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners;

(xvi)     taking court action to defend higher levels of bankers’ bonuses;

(xvii)    lowering the top rate of income tax, providing a tax cut for millionaires;

(xviii)   introducing the “Bedroom Tax” and then cynically feigning opposition to it months before the election;

(xix)     proposing to locate Sheffield’s HS2 station at Meadowhall, whilst giving other cities, such as Manchester and Leeds, city centre stations;

(xx)      changing the NHS funding formula, redistributing NHS funding away from areas with the highest levels of health inequalities to some of the healthiest and wealthiest areas of the country;

(xxi)     targeting welfare cuts on the most vulnerable in society, noting that just under half of the financial loss from welfare reform will fall on working households; couples with children are losing an average of nearly £1,700 a year in Sheffield; lone parents are losing over £2,000 a year; and men and women with health problems or disabilities are significantly disadvantaged;

(xxii)    drastically reducing Sheffield’s EU funding, to redistribute the funding to wealthier parts of the country;

(xxiii)   abolishing Education Maintenance Allowance;

(xxiv)   cutting funding for regional economic development by two thirds through the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies;

(xxv)    overseeing a shortfall in funding for school places, at the same time as spending money on opening new Free Schools in areas where there is no shortfall of places;

(xxiv)   making unfunded promises by the Deputy Prime Minister on free school meals, where the Council has had to pick up the bill for a Government policy where, after promising free school meals for primary school children, the Government has not given the Council and local schools enough funding to deliver this, leaving a £400,000 shortfall;

(xxvii)  overseeing unacceptably low levels of house building, which has been lower every year than under the previous Government and the lowest in peacetime since the 1920s; and

(xxviii)cutting Housing Market Renewal Funding, which has taken away funding from many housing and regeneration projects in Sheffield; and

(c)        believes that Sheffield can’t afford another five years of the Liberal Democrats in Government, and regrets that instead of standing up for Sheffield against some of these unfair policies, the local Lib Dems have consistently backed the Government’s attack on Sheffield.

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

Following a Right of Reply by Councillor Colin Ross, the original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-