Agenda item

Notice of Motion Given by Councillor Julie Dore

That this Council:-

 

(a)       recalls that central government has taken away around a half of its funding to the Council, resulting in the current Administration having to make savings of over £300m since the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition came to power in 2010;

 

(b)       further recalls  comments by the former Liberal Democrat MP and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Rt. Hon. Sir Danny Alexander, that local government has “borne the brunt of deficit reduction” under the coalition government;

 

(c)        regrets that the current government are continuing the approach to local government that was established by the coalition, decimating funding for local government, making significant cuts to provision in many services inevitable;

 

(d)       understands that these government cuts have made it impossible for the Council to continue to provide the same level of services, which has meant tough decisions have had to be taken about which services to protect and which ones have had to be cut; and

 

(e)       notes that despite these challenges the current Administration has balanced the books each year it has controlled the Council, and believes that the current Administration has retained its ambition for the city in these difficult times and has got significant achievements, including:

 

(i)         protected child safeguarding from budget cuts;

 

(ii)        achieved the best record for apprenticeships among the Core Cities;

 

(iii)       helped to deliver Europe’s first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District;

 

(iv)       established Sheffield Money as an alternative to exploitative payday lenders; and

 

(v)        delivered the Streets Ahead project, which has resurfaced 350 miles of road and 600 miles of pavement.

 

 

Minutes:

a

UK Steel Industry

 

 

6.1

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Talib Hussain) announced the proposal that an urgent item of business be considered at this point in the proceedings. Council Procedure Rule 26 states that “An item of business may be considered at a meeting of the Council, a Committee or Sub-Committee as a matter of urgency, where it has not been possible to give five clear working days’ notice, on the recommendation of the Chair, but the reason for such urgency must be recorded in the minutes. Any non-confidential or non-exempt report relating to such item must be made available for public inspection once it has been issued.

 

 

6.2

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Julie Dore) had requested that the Council considers an additional Notice of Motion concerning the UK Steel Industry, following the news after the Council agenda had been published, of risks to TATA Steel plants across the UK.  In view of the nature of the issue and its relevance to Sheffield, plus the timing of the developments, the Lord Mayor stated that he was satisfied that there were clear reasons for taking the Notice of Motion as an urgent item of business.

 

 

6.3

The proposed Motion was circulated to all Members of the Council on 5 April 2016 and was published on the Council’s website. Copies of the Motion were made available in the Council Chamber and Public Gallery.

 

 

6.4

It was moved by Councillor Julie Dore, seconded by Councillor Richard Crowther, that this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)       is deeply concerned at the prospect of major job losses at Stocksbridge, Rotherham and other locations, following Tata Steel’s decision to pull out of its UK steel operations;

 

(b)       reiterates the sentiments passed in previous Council motions, and once again urges the Government to:-

 

(i)      provide support for a business rate cut for the steel industry;

 

(ii)     give the steel industry a break from green taxes and high energy bills;

 

(iii)    take urgent action to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel;

 

(iv)    make a commitment to use British steel for all major infrastructure and construction projects; and

 

(v)     look to use British-made steel in all government backed contracts;

 

(c)        deplores the Government’s efforts to overhaul anti-dumping rules that would have helped the EU to raise retaliatory tariffs against Chinese steel similar to the level of those adopted by the US;

 

(d)       believes the Government’s inaction shows they lack an industrial strategy and have no interest in supporting strategic national industries like steel;

 

(e)       believes the Government’s unwillingness to save the steel industry adds weight to former Work and Pensions Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan-Smith MP’s comments that the Conservative Party do not care for people who do not vote for them;

 

(f)        recalls the decision made by the Coalition Government to cancel an £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters which would have allowed the Company to be one of only two in the world able to make forgings large enough for the nuclear industry;

 

(g)       also believes that the Coalition Government did nothing to promote an industrial strategy;

 

(h)       believes that steel is an industry of huge strategic importance, and demands that the Government acts now to do whatever it takes to protect the steel industry, including considering nationalisation; and

 

(i)         recalls the successful temporary nationalisations that took place under the last Labour Government, including when it stepped in to save organisations of vital importance, including British Energy.

 

 

6.5

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, 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)         notes with regret the decision of TATA steel to sell their UK operations including their Steelworks in Stocksbridge and Rotherham;

 

(b)         notes that steel is an important national industry with particular relevance to Sheffield and the wider Sheffield City Region;

 

(c)         believes it is vitally important for the UK’s long term prospects and our long term industrial strategy that the UK retains its capacity to produce steel;

 

(d)         calls on the Government, in the event that a buyer can't be found to take over TATA steel immediately, to step in and take over until a buyer can be found so the plants can remain open in the short term and to take on pensions liabilities to encourage a buyer to take over TATA;

 

(e)         also calls on the Government to mandate that the new infrastructure commission led by Lord Adonis ensures that British produced steel should be given every opportunity and where appropriate, priority, in procurement for new infrastructure that Lord Adonis and the Government will be signing off;

 

(f)          believes that the Government is being half hearted about its intentions;

 

(g)         therefore calls on Sheffield City Region and Sheffield City Council to set up a task force with other local councils, trade unions, community and individuals to work on an urgent action plan on mitigating the issues that will arise if TATA were to close, including skills, enterprise opportunities, debt, Job Match and community building; and

 

(h)        calls on the Administration to bring a report to the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on this issue and to include consideration of appropriate funding from itself and partners.

 

 

6.6

Following a right of reply from Councillor Julie Dore, the amendment was put to the vote and negatived.

 

 

6.7

The votes on the amendment were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

 

 

 

For the amendment (21)

-

Councillors Richard Shaw, Rob Frost, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Pauline Andrews, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Denise Reaney, David Baker, Katie Condliffe, Vickie Priestley, Jack Clarkson, Keith Davis and John Booker

 

 

 

 

 

Against the amendment (53)

-

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Talib Hussain), the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Denise Fox) and Councillors Julie Dore, Mike Drabble, Jack Scott, Julie Gledhill, Roy Munn, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Ian Saunders, Bryan Lodge, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Lewis Dagnall, Anne Murphy, Geoff Smith, Dianne Hurst, Mazher Iqbal, Mary Lea, Steve Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Steve Jones, Cate McDonald, Chris Peace, Bob Johnson, George Lindars-Hammond, Josie Paszek, Jenny Armstrong, Terry Fox, Pat Midgley, David Barker, Tony Downing, Nasima Akther, Nikki Bond, Mohammad Maroof, Paul Wood, Peter Price, Sioned-Mair Richards, Peter Rippon, Leigh Bramall, Tony Damms, Gill Furniss, Richard Crowther, Olivia Blake, Ben Curran, Neale Gibson, Adam Hurst, Zoe Sykes, Mick Rooney, Jackie Satur and Ray Satur

 

 

 

 

 

Abstained on the amendment (3)

-

Councillors Aodan Marken, Brian Webster and Robert Murphy

 

 

 

 

6.8

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried as follows:-

 

 

 

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

 

(a)         is deeply concerned at the prospect of major job losses at Stocksbridge, Rotherham and other locations, following Tata Steel’s decision to pull out of its UK steel operations;

 

(b)         reiterates the sentiments passed in previous Council motions, and once again urges the Government to:-

 

(i)       provide support for a business rate cut for the steel industry;

 

(ii)      give the steel industry a break from green taxes and high energy bills;

 

(iii)     take urgent action to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel;

 

(iv)     make a commitment to use British steel for all major infrastructure and construction projects; and

 

(v)      look to use British-made steel in all government backed contracts;

 

(c)         deplores the Government’s efforts to overhaul anti-dumping rules that would have helped the EU to raise retaliatory tariffs against Chinese steel similar to the level of those adopted by the US;

 

(d)         believes the Government’s inaction shows they lack an industrial strategy and have no interest in supporting strategic national industries like steel;

 

(e)         believes the Government’s unwillingness to save the steel industry adds weight to former Work and Pensions Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan-Smith MP’s comments that the Conservative Party do not care for people who do not vote for them;

 

(f)          recalls the decision made by the Coalition Government to cancel an £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters which would have allowed the Company to be one of only two in the world able to make forgings large enough for the nuclear industry;

 

(g)         also believes that the Coalition Government did nothing to promote an industrial strategy;

 

(h)        believes that steel is an industry of huge strategic importance, and demands that the Government acts now to do whatever it takes to protect the steel industry, including considering nationalisation; and

 

(i)          recalls the successful temporary nationalisations that took place under the last Labour Government, including when it stepped in to save organisations of vital importance, including British Energy.

 

 

 

6.8.1

The votes on the Substantive Motion were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

 

 

 

For paragraphs (a) – (e), (h) and (i) of the Motion (75)

-

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Talib Hussain), The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Denise Fox) and Councillors Julie Dore, Mike Drabble, Jack Scott, Julie Gledhill, Roy Munn, Richard Shaw, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Ian Saunders, Bryan Lodge, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Aodan Marken, Brian Webster, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Lewis Dagnall, Robert Murphy, Rob Frost, Anne Murphy, Geoff Smith, Dianne Hurst, Mazher Iqbal, Mary Lea, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Pauline Andrews, Steve Wilson, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Garry Weatherall, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Steve Jones, Cate McDonald, Chris Peace, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Denise Reaney, Bob Johnson, George Lindars-Hammond, Josie Paszek, Jenny Armstrong, Terry Fox, Pat Midgley, David Barker, Tony Downing, Nasima Akther, Nikki Bond, Mohammad Maroof, Paul Wood, Peter Price, Sioned-Mair Richards, Peter Rippon, Leigh Bramall, Tony Damms, Gill Furniss, David Baker, Jack Clarkson, Richard Crowther, Keith Davis, Olivia Blake, Ben Curran, Neale Gibson, John Booker, Adam Hurst, Zoe Sykes, Mick Rooney, Jackie Satur and Ray Satur

 

 

 

 

 

Against paragraphs (a) – (e), (h) and (i) of the Motion (0)

-

Nil

 

 

 

 

 

Abstained on paragraphs (a) – (e), (h) and (i) of the Motion (0)

-

Nil

 

 

 

 

 

For paragraphs (f) and (g) of the Motion (60)

-

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Talib Hussain), The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Denise Fox) and Councillors Julie Dore, Mike Drabble, Jack Scott, Julie Gledhill, Roy Munn, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Ian Saunders, Bryan Lodge, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Aodan Marken, Brian Webster, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Lewis Dagnall, Robert Murphy, Anne Murphy, Geoff Smith, Dianne Hurst, Mazher Iqbal, Mary Lea, Pauline Andrews, Steve Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Steve Jones, Cate McDonald, Chris Peace, Bob Johnson, George Lindars-Hammond, Josie Paszek, Jenny Armstrong, Terry Fox, Pat Midgley, David Barker, Tony Downing, Nasima Akther, Nikki Bond, Mohammad Maroof, Paul Wood, Peter Price, Sioned-Mair Richards, Peter Rippon, Leigh Bramall, Tony Damms, Gill Furniss, Jack Clarkson, Richard Crowther, Keith Davis, Olivia Blake, Ben Curran, Neale Gibson, John Booker, Adam Hurst, Zoe Sykes, Mick Rooney, Jackie Satur and Ray Satur

 

 

 

 

 

Against paragraphs (f) and (g) of the Motion (15)

-

Councillors Richard Shaw, Rob Frost, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Denise Reaney and David Baker

 

 

 

 

 

Abstained on paragraphs (f) and (g) of the Motion (0)

-

Nil