Agenda item

That this Council:-

(a)       regrets that Sheffield is home to some of the worst roads in the country and rightful owner of the ‘pot-hole city’ title;

(b)       believes that the City could have had decent roads if millions of pounds had not been required each financial year to service the Council’s debt as a result of the World Student Games;

(c)        welcomes the £2bn Highways PFI project, which will see every road in Sheffield improved and thanks councillors of the current opposition and administration parties for helping to secure the project, in particular the previous Administration, for securing the future of the project at a time of intense public spending reviews;

(d)       thanks the Coalition Government for its £1.2bn contribution to the project, in addition to investment in Sheffield’s trains, trams and buses, particularly when public finances are tight as a result of the previous Government’s record budget deficit;

(e)       believes investment from this project should be spread fairly across the City, and will oppose any attempt to deliver one level of standard for the Administration’s ‘favoured areas’ and a lower standard for local residents elsewhere in the City; and

(f)         therefore calls upon the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste and Streetscene and the Chief Executive to sign a “First Street, Last Street” public pledge, which will guarantee that the last street and road, and all those before, will be of the same quality as the first street and road to benefit  from the Project.

(b)       therefore wholeheartedly supports the decision of the previous Government to invest in securing the repair of the whole of the highway infrastructure in Sheffield including the entire highways network, footways, bridges, grass verges, and street signage;

(c)        fully supports the Streets Ahead project and believes that this ambitious scheme is hugely welcomed by local people;

(d)       regrets that the smallest opposition group continue to oppose the project which will transform Sheffield’s road network and they would reject the offer of over £1 billion of Government investment into Sheffield supporting the Council to achieve this;

(e)       welcomes action taken by the present Administration to ensure that the project will start in 2012 after significant delay by the previous Administration and cuts in funding by the present Government;

(f)         further welcomes the action taken by the present Administration to ensure the scheme provides maximum value for money for council taxpayers through saving £50 million in the financing of the scheme without making any changes to the specification;

(g)       confirms that as part of the Streets Ahead project with AMEY a specification has been agreed ensuring that roads across all of the City will be fixed and maintained to standard throughout the lifetime of the contract;

(h)        therefore acknowledges the present Administration have already ensured that a universal standard will be met in delivering the Highways PFI for all streets and roads across the City;

(i)         confirms that the plans for roll out have been determined by ensuring the most prudent delivery of a £2 billion project and not based on political motivation;

(j)         further confirms that the only favoured area of the present Administration is the whole of Sheffield; and

(k)        welcomes the fact that the present Administration are implementing the Highways PFI with work currently due to start in August and looks forward to the improvements to Sheffield’s road network that come with it.

(At the request of the mover of the amendment (Councillor Jack Scott) and with the consent of the Council and the seconder, Paragraph (e) of the amendment, as published in the list of amendments submitted to the Chief Executive, was altered by the replacement of the words “years of” by the word “significant”.)

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

It was then moved by Councillor Robert Murphy, seconded by Councillor Jillian Creasy, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (c) to (f) and the addition of new paragraphs (c) and (d) as follows:-

(c)        notes that the cross party Treasury Select Committee's report of 19th August 2011 found that PFI funding is now an ‘extremely inefficient’ method of financing projects and does not provide taxpayers with good value for money; and

(d)       is concerned at the massive increase in liabilities to Sheffield City Council which will burden future council tax payers, and by the Cabinet decision to reduce the budget contribution in the early years of the Highways PFI contract compared with later years.

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

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

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       regrets that Sheffield is home to some of the worst roads in the country and rightful owner of the ‘pot-hole city’ title;

(b)       therefore wholeheartedly supports the decision of the previous Government to invest in securing the repair of the whole of the highway infrastructure in Sheffield including the entire highways network, footways, bridges, grass verges, and street signage;

(c)        fully supports the Streets Ahead project and believes that this ambitious scheme is hugely welcomed by local people;

(d)       regrets that the smallest opposition group continue to oppose the project which will transform Sheffield’s road network and they would reject the offer of over £1 billion of Government investment into Sheffield supporting the Council to achieve this;

(e)       welcomes action taken by the present Administration to ensure that the project will start in 2012 after significant delay by the previous Administration and cuts in funding by the present Government;

(f)         further welcomes the action taken by the present Administration to ensure the scheme provides maximum value for money for council taxpayers through saving £50 million in the financing of the scheme without making any changes to the specification;

(g)       confirms that as part of the Streets Ahead project with AMEY a specification has been agreed ensuring that roads across all of the City will be fixed and maintained to standard throughout the lifetime of the contract;

(h)        therefore acknowledges the present Administration have already ensured that a universal standard will be met in delivering the Highways PFI for all streets and roads across the City;

(i)         confirms that the plans for roll out have been determined by ensuring the most prudent delivery of a £2 billion project and not based on political motivation;

(j)         further confirms that the only favoured area of the present Administration is the whole of Sheffield; and

(k)        welcomes the fact that the present Administration are implementing the Highways PFI with work currently due to start in August and looks forward to the improvements to Sheffield’s road network that come with it.

(Note: 1. The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley) and Councillors Simon Clement Jones, Clive Skelton, Shaffaq Mohammed, Rob Frost, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Keith Hill, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Janice Sidebottom,Anders Hanson,  Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob Mccann, Katie Condliffe, Alison Brelsford and Trevor Bagshaw voted for Paragraphs (a) to (d) and (f), (g), (i) and (k) and against paragraphs (e), (h) and (j) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

2. Councillors Robert Murphy and Jillian Creasy voted for Paragraphs (a), (g), (h), against Paragraphs (b) to (d), (e), (f) and (k)  abstained on paragraphs (i) and (j). )