Agenda item

5.1

It was moved by Councillor Jack Scott, and seconded by Councillor Michelle Cook, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the recent innovations and changes in how people are able to travel throughout Sheffield and believes that, under this Administration, travelling in the city is becoming more integrated and greener;

(b)       notes the recent success of the Ofo bikes, which are proving so popular that the innovative bike sharing scheme is now the country’s second largest outside of London;

(c)        notes that this Administration is investing £1.9 million to provide cleaner buses and bring them up to the E6 standard, which will in turn be one of the best standards set outside of London;

(d)       further notes that record investment in tackling air pollution in Sheffield is now underway with the beginnings of £1.3m investment from the “Early Measures Fund” to help transform the City’s air;

(e)       notes that the funding secured from the Early Measures Fund is a direct result of this Administration’s successful lobbying in order to meet the ambitious standards set out in its Air Quality Strategy;

(f)        notes that under this Administration, the Council will be making Sheffield’s largest ever investment in specific Air Quality Measures;

(g)       recalls the miserly £5,000 of investment for electric taxis proposed by the Green Group in its budget amendments for 2017/18, and that this is in the sharpest possible contrast to the actions from this Administration who have secured around £500,000 to electrify and revolutionise Sheffield’s taxi fleet for the year ahead;

(h)       notes under this Administration we have seen the opening of the first new park and ride of recent years through IKEA and celebrates its popularity, convenience and environmental impact;

(i)         believes that the Better Bus funding agreement will make journeys quicker and more reliable and prioritise public transport;

(j)         notes that this Administration’s Clean Air strategy commits the Council to working alongside the city’s bus companies to improve the bus fleet and reduce emissions through replacement low-emission buses or re-powering vehicles with cleaner engine technology;

(k)        further notes that as part of the Clean Air Strategy the Administration is rolling out anti-idling zones outside schools, and other targeted locations, and is establishing 20mph speed limits across the city centre to make roads safer and to encourage more sustainable modes of travel such as cycling and walking;

(l)         notes the decisions last month by the Council’s Cabinet to invest £2.5m in cycle infrastructure and invest in new schemes for pedestrians;

(m)      highlights that the new Parking Strategy has put environment issues at its core, encouraging active modes of transport and, in addition, that attention should be drawn to the highly successful first ever “+1” scheme which encouraged public transport use in to the city centre in the weeks running up to Christmas;

(n)       believes that the new transport vision and strategy is likely to further revolutionise travel in the city, and is encouraged that this strategy will be going to Cabinet in the near future;

(o)       notes that a future Labour government would bring the railways back into public ownership and believes that it is becoming increasingly clear that rail privatisation has been a terrible deal for passengers and UK taxpayers, as further demonstrated recently with rail services on the East Coast Mainline needing to be brought under government control following the abject failure of the current franchise;

(p)       welcomes that the East Coast Mainline rail service will once again be ran publically, and hopes that the line is not returned to another private provider to once again provide a failed service;

(q)       notes that this Administration has called for greater powers for local authorities to determine the type of bus services that should be delivered locally, including the possibility of running bus services “in-house”; and

(r)        expresses its warm congratulations to the first directly elected mayor for the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis M.P., and welcomes the opportunities that this may provide for bus re-regulation and greater regional transport integration.

5.1.1

(NOTE: With the agreement of the Council and at the request of the mover of the Motion (Councillor Jack Scott), the Motion as published on the agenda was altered by the substitution, in paragraph (g), of the words “electric taxis” for the words “electric taxi leasing”.)

5.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Ian Auckland, seconded by Councillor Richard Shaw, 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)       welcomes the apparent conversion by the Administration to the Liberal Democrat “prochoice” transport policy, but regrets this is rather late in the day;

(b)       is concerned that the reality remains that the present Administration  is “anti-car”;

(c)        welcomes the success of this and previous administrations in obtaining, usually through competitive bids, central government time-limited funding for Sheffield and South Yorkshire, but notes that such funding does nothing to address the long term funding injustice between London and the South East, and the “North”;

(d)       notes the value that trees play in tackling air quality and is dismayed by the current Administration’s policy, which this Council believes to be reckless, of felling healthy street trees despite recommendations by the Independent Tree Panel that these much valued trees can be saved via accepted engineering solutions;

(e)       remains concerned at the failure of the Labour Party in South Yorkshire and the Labour administration of this Council to unlock long-term funding of £30 million per annum over 30 years (£900 million in total), by means of the City Region Devolution deal and notes that, so far, £2.3 million of Sheffield City Region funding is unspent;

(f)        is concerned that the opportunities for holding the Administration to account and to hear from and influence officers with respect to transport policies and plans has been reduced by centralising their decision making after abolishing Community Assemblies, and notes that a Liberal Democrat administration would reverse this situation in order to demonstrate truth, trust and transparency in decision making that our city badly needs;

(g)       emphasises the value and importance of small local transport schemes with the object of removing short local journeys by car, particularly the school run, and accordingly is very concerned that a policy for the use of community infrastructure levy monies, amounting to £494,532 as of 31st December 2017, has still not been approved;

(h)       expresses surprise at the investment of £694,000 in the City Centre 20mph zone as a priority, when so many other local roads in all wards in the City are more suitable for such schemes - average speed in the city centre is less than 20mph, and roads which are more prone to accidents are not included;

(i)         is concerned that plans on paper don’t equal real action on the ground and calls for a complete review of transport and parking services in order to ensure that the services are “fit for purpose”;

(j)         agrees with targeted road capacity improvements which are necessary to ensure economic and productivity growth, but believes these will only succeed if private car users make a positive choice to use alternative modes of transport, otherwise congestion will continue to increase in the long run;

(k)        is very concerned, therefore, at the failure of the Sheffield Bus Partnership to increase bus passenger numbers and believes that any “reasons” advanced for this are no more than excuses, and no amount of “innovation and investment” will succeed without a regular, reliable, affordable, integrated, stable, environmentally-friendly and expanding bus network, and that, sadly, such a service appears to be increasingly absent from all areas of Sheffield; and

(l)         believes that the Labour Party are rather late converts to the cause of bus reregulation, in recent years having done nothing in office locally, and little nationally, to make reregulation a realistic possibility.

5.3

It was then moved by Councillor Robert Murphy, seconded by Councillor Douglas Johnson, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the addition of the following words at the end of paragraph (r):-

            “and will hold the Mayor to account for his manifesto promises to ‘use regulatory powers, and eventually franchising, to improve bus services’ and ‘work with all transport operators to introduce an integrated ticketing system across all public transport’; and

2.         the addition of new paragraphs (s) to (v) as follows:-

(s)        congratulates this Administration and the Labour Party on their new-found support for the long standing local and national Green Party transport policies such as a 20 mph limit for the city centre; support for low emission taxis; investment in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure; public ownership of the rail network and re-regulation of bus services;

(t)         is disappointed by Council plans to invest in the widening of roads in Kelham Island and Heeley using the 'predict and provide' principle which was discredited in the 1998 White Paper: A New Deal for Transport as being likely to lead to worse traffic congestion and air quality in the long term;

(u)       hopes that unlike the Council's two previous Air Quality Action Plans, the vision and strategies in this Motion are followed through effectively and the people of Sheffield feel the benefits of less congestion, cleaner air and better accessibility; and

(v)        looks forward to more green transport policies being taken up by this Council, such as the opening and re-opening of railway stations and lines, the introduction of more segregated cycle routes and the return of the Freebee city-centre bus service.

5.4

After contributions from five other Members, and following a right of reply from Councillor Jack Scott, the amendment moved by Councillor Ian Auckland was put to the vote and was negatived.

5.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Robert Murphy was then put to the vote and was also negatived.

5.5.1

(NOTE: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Bob Pullin, Richard Shaw, Adam Hanrahan, Mohammed Mahroof, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Paul Scriven, Sue Alston, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Gail Smith, David Baker, Penny Baker and Mike Levery voted for part 1 and against part 2 of the amendment, and asked for this to be recorded.)

5.6

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

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)       notes the recent innovations and changes in how people are able to travel throughout Sheffield and believes that, under this Administration, travelling in the city is becoming more integrated and greener;

(b)       notes the recent success of the Ofo bikes, which are proving so popular that the innovative bike sharing scheme is now the country’s second largest outside of London;

(c)        notes that this Administration is investing £1.9 million to provide cleaner buses and bring them up to the E6 standard, which will in turn be one of the best standards set outside of London;

(d)       further notes that record investment in tackling air pollution in Sheffield is now underway with the beginnings of £1.3m investment from the “Early Measures Fund” to help transform the City’s air;

(e)       notes that the funding secured from the Early Measures Fund is a direct result of this Administration’s successful lobbying in order to meet the ambitious standards set out in its Air Quality Strategy;

(f)        notes that under this Administration, the Council will be making Sheffield’s largest ever investment in specific Air Quality Measures;

(g)       recalls the miserly £5,000 of investment for electric taxis proposed by the Green Group in its budget amendments for 2017/18, and that this is in the sharpest possible contrast to the actions from this Administration who have secured around £500,000 to electrify and revolutionise Sheffield’s taxi fleet for the year ahead;

(h)       notes under this Administration we have seen the opening of the first new park and ride of recent years through IKEA and celebrates its popularity, convenience and environmental impact;

(i)         believes that the Better Bus funding agreement will make journeys quicker and more reliable and prioritise public transport;

(j)         notes that this Administration’s Clean Air strategy commits the Council to working alongside the city’s bus companies to improve the bus fleet and reduce emissions through replacement low-emission buses or re-powering vehicles with cleaner engine technology;

(k)        further notes that as part of the Clean Air Strategy the Administration is rolling out anti-idling zones outside schools, and other targeted locations, and is establishing 20mph speed limits across the city centre to make roads safer and to encourage more sustainable modes of travel such as cycling and walking;

(l)         notes the decisions last month by the Council’s Cabinet to invest £2.5m in cycle infrastructure and invest in new schemes for pedestrians;

(m)      highlights that the new Parking Strategy has put environment issues at its core, encouraging active modes of transport and, in addition, that attention should be drawn to the highly successful first ever “+1” scheme which encouraged public transport use in to the city centre in the weeks running up to Christmas;

(n)       believes that the new transport vision and strategy is likely to further revolutionise travel in the city, and is encouraged that this strategy will be going to Cabinet in the near future;

(o)       notes that a future Labour government would bring the railways back into public ownership and believes that it is becoming increasingly clear that rail privatisation has been a terrible deal for passengers and UK taxpayers, as further demonstrated recently with rail services on the East Coast Mainline needing to be brought under government control following the abject failure of the current franchise;

(p)       welcomes that the East Coast Mainline rail service will once again be ran publically, and hopes that the line is not returned to another private provider to once again provide a failed service;

(q)       notes that this Administration has called for greater powers for local authorities to determine the type of bus services that should be delivered locally, including the possibility of running bus services “in-house”; and

(r)        expresses its warm congratulations to the first directly elected mayor for the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis M.P., and welcomes the opportunities that this may provide for bus re-regulation and greater regional transport integration.

5.6.1

(NOTE: 1. Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Bob Pullin, Richard Shaw, Adam Hanrahan, Mohammed Mahroof, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Roger Davison, Shaffaq Mohammed, Paul Scriven, Sue Alston, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Gail Smith, David Baker, Penny Baker and Mike Levery voted for paragraph (b) and against paragraphs (a) and (c) to (r) of the Substantive Motion, and asked for this to be recorded;

2. Councillors Kaltum Rivers, Douglas Johnson, Robert Murphy, Martin Phipps and Alison Teal voted for paragraphs (a) to (f), (i) to (n) and (p) to (r), and abstained from voting on paragraphs (g), (h) and (o) of the Substantive Motion, and asked for this to be recorded; and

3. Councillors Jack Clarkson, Keith Davis and John Booker voted for paragraphs (a) to (f) and (h) to (r), and abstained from voting on paragraph (g) of the Substantive Motion, and asked for this to be recorded.)