Agenda item

5.1

Public Question in respect of Covert Communications

5.1.1

Nigel Slack commented that it appeared from a South Yorkshire Police budget report that the force was using covert technology to capture data from the public’s mobile phones without their consent:-

South Yorkshire Police Report – ‘A 2015/16 budget item called “IMSI Covert Communications” was earmarked £144,000. A separate line in the same budget  - again called “CCDC” (covert communications data capture) – was allocated an identical amount - £144,000. South Yorkshire Police confirmed that “CCDC” and “IMSI Covert Communications” were the same budget item.

Mr Slack therefore asked were the Council aware of this system and its use? Were the Council’s representatives on the Police and Crime Panel aware of this system and its use?

5.1.2

As a Member of the Police and Crime Panel, Councillor Jackie Drayton, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, commented that she had not seen a budget at any of the meetings which she had attended but would investigate further.

5.1.3

Councillor Jayne Dunn, Cabinet Member for Housing, added that she oversaw the Communities aspect of the budget but did not see the whole budget.

5.2

Public Question in respect of Council Development Policy

5.2.1

Nigel Slack commented that the Development Manager of the Moor redevelopment by Aberdeen Assets had commented on the failure of some of the tenants (Debenhams) to maintain their buildings, thereby detracting from the planned new builds in the area. As the owners of the land, Mr Slack was surprised that the best they could do was ‘hope’ this will change with the new developments. How could the Council assist in enforcing some form of refurbishment for these deteriorating buildings? Whether paid for by the tenants or the owners was immaterial.

5.2.2

Councillor Leigh Bramall, Cabinet Member for Business and Economy, responded that there were some powers in respect of enforcing building repairs but they had to be in a particular condition where they were a danger to the public and there was no evidence that the Debenhams building was in that state. However, Debenhams had stated that if the New Retail Quarter was completed in full they would refurbish their building.

5.3

Public Question in respect of European Union Development Funding

5.3.1

Nigel Slack commented that recent reports suggested that Sheffield had received less than 3% of potential £97m ERDF funding. Were the Council planning to apply for any of the remaining funding before the Autumn Statement? If not, how will they ensure the reported conditions of meeting UK priorities and value for money were met?

5.3.2

Councillor Leigh Bramall responded that he had asked officers for specific details on this. Current EU funding was from 2015 so this was very early on in the process as it was usually spent at the back end of the project. The Council would spend as much as it could do for particular projects but it needed to have appropriate projects to fund and there were many conditions which needed to be met before funding was granted.

5.3.3

It was important to utilise funding as much as possible and the Council would continue to press the Government to get the full allocation that should have been received, which was being undertaken through various channels.

5.4

Public Question in respect of Housing Development

5.4.1

Nigel Slack stated that he was interested to hear at Monday’s SheffEx Conference that developers were planning considerable numbers of new housing for ‘East Sheffield’, better known to many as Attercliffe. With the already serious air quality problems in that area affecting health, was this really an advisable solution to the housing issues the City faced, introducing family homes into overly polluted areas of the City?

5.4.2

Perhaps, Mr Slack added, the Council would make it a condition of such planning that ‘Smog Towers’ of the kind currently under evaluation in Beijing, China will be located to scrub the air in these locales?

5.4.3

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, commented that he was not at the Conference referred to by Mr Slack, so could not comment on what was said, but he welcomed housing development in the City as there was currently a shortage.

5.4.4

In respect of pollution, each planning application would be judged on its own merits and have the relevant checks and balances. Councillor Iqbal was aware that there was an issue in respect of air quality near to junction 31 of the M1 motorway but there was good public transport available in the area and the Bus Rapid Transit scheme had been introduced. There had also recently been a new fleet of hydrogen vapour buses announced.

5.4.5

Councillor Leigh Bramall added that he had read the article referred to by Mr Slack about the “Smog Towers” and believed that this was new technology which had not been tested and he was therefore not sure if this would make a material difference to air quality in the area. The key was introducing the appropriate measures which would work in the long term.

5.5

Public Question in respect of Procurement of Healthwatch Sheffield Service

5.5.1

Nigel Slack referred to the report in respect of the procurement of the Healthwatch Sheffield service, on the agenda for today’s meeting, and asked if the Council would stop using the word ‘consumer’ in such reports. In Mr Slack’s opinion, the use of this word indicated, intentionally or otherwise, a propensity to see Council and Health Services as naturally outsourced services. This was unhelpful for the public’s perception, even if that contract was likely to be outsourced to the third sector.

5.5.2

Councillor Cate McDonald, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, commented that she had a lot of sympathy for the comments in Mr Slack’s question. However, the contract was set within a national context and consumerism did not necessarily mean outsourcing, it was about the language of choice. The Council would continue to use a range of terms as appropriate but Councillor McDonald wanted to stress that this was not simply about outsourcing.

5.6

Public Question in respect of Health and Safety for Volunteers

5.6.1

Martin Brighton asked did the Council agree that volunteers who did work that would otherwise be Council work, such as tree-felling, be expected to take the same statutory health and safety measures (or, for that matter, any other statutory requirement – it was the principle involved) as Council employees?

5.6.2

Councillor Jack Scott, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Libraries, stated that he did agree with this.

5.7

Public Question in respect of Health and Safety

5.7.1

Martin Brighton asked did the Council consider it acceptable that managers allowed, condoned and even encouraged, such activities, as highlighted in the previous question, in the knowledge that health and safety measures (or for that matter any other statutory requirement – it was the principle involved) were not engaged?

5.7.2

Councillor Jack Scott commented that he would not find this appropriate and would expect that reasonable safeguards and supervision were in place. If Mr Brighton wished to provide specific examples where he believed that this was not happening, he was at liberty to do so.

5.8

Public Question in respect of Voluntary Work

5.8.1

Martin Brighton asked was the financial value of the work that volunteers did, that would normally be carried out by the Council, recorded anywhere as an off-set against Council costs for the afforded budget e.g. wages saved by not having to pay Council workers, Contract fee savings, etc.?

5.8.2

Councillor Jack Scott commented that this was not recorded and he would expect voluntary groups to undertake their own assessment and report back to the Council.

5.9

Public Question in respect of Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations (TARAs)

5.9.1

Martin Brighton asked, for TARAs, although applicable ubiquitously to any allegedly independent voluntary community groups, was it reasonably expected that the TARA volunteers will run their own public TARA meetings, or alternatively, and over a considerable period, did the Council run such meetings, along with the associated TARA administration?

5.9.2

Councillor Jayne Dunn responded that the Council provided support where appropriate and she would expect TARAs to follow the TARA Recognition Policy.

5.10

Public Question in respect of Feedback to Volunteers

5.10.1

Martin Brighton asked where volunteers (or respective groups) give up their time to provide the Council with both ideas and requests for ostensibly mutually advantageous projects, was it reasonable to expect that the Council will provide feedback of how these ideas were incorporated into the Council’s final plans and how the requests from those volunteers were met, with reasons if not met?

5.10.2

Councillor Jack Scott commented that he was aware of a large number of examples where the Council had utilised volunteers’ input and if Mr Brighton was aware of any instances where this was not the case, he was at liberty to provide these examples if he wished.

5.11

Public Question in respect of Citizen Engagement

5.11.1

Martin Brighton asked at what point should citizen engagement commence for a consultation exercise: when a Council decides a policy review was desirable, when the policy review commenced or after the Council had completed its policy review?

5.11.2

Councillor Leigh Bramall responded that the Council had to meet its lawful requirements in respect of consultation. It was difficult to say when consultation should take place as it differed on a case by case basic depending on the topic.