Agenda item

10.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Minesh Parekh, and formally seconded by Councillor Ben Miskell, that this Council:-

(a)      believes that too many places across the country have had nothing but crumbs from the Government’s table in the latest round of ‘levelling-up’ funding;

(b)      notes that many communities in great need have lost out in the recent round of funding, and believes that the way this funding is distributed pits communities against one another, forced to compete in a contest where Whitehall Ministers pick winners and losers;

(c)      notes that the total cost of work producing bids for levelling-up funding for councils in England is at least £27 million, with the vast majority seeing no return on this spending;

(d)      notes that of the 80 successful bids to the second round of levelling-up funding in England, only half are in the 100 most deprived areas of the country;

(e)      notes that, compared to the first round of funding, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen its share drop by 5.3%, the West Midlands drop 4.1%, the East Midlands by 3.5%; and the North East’s share drop 0.7%;

(f)       believes South Yorkshire’s transport offer is being badly let down by this Government, noting that both bids to the Levelling-up Fund from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for support for the bus network have been rejected, and from March, Government bus cuts could see a third of services lost;

(g)      believes that this is unacceptable, and notes that this Council has called for bus franchising to be enacted as quickly as possible to bring buses under greater public ownership, and that the Labour Group is committed to seeing Sheffield buses and trams under full public ownership;

(h)      believes it takes extraordinary arrogance from the Government to expect gratitude for their failed ‘levelling-up’ policies and the marginal funding associated with this, when they have decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care;

(i)       notes that the Council has had to endure huge cuts for thirteen years; with the annual grant the Council receives from the Government now £288m less in real terms than in 2010, with a staggering £2.1billion being lost, in real terms, over the same period, which is around £9,000 per household in Sheffield;

(j)       notes the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee calls for the Government to take steps to level up cultural opportunities and production across the country, and explicitly incorporate support for local arts and culture into the Government's First Statement for Levelling-Up Missions; and believes support for cultural industries must be included in levelling up efforts;

(k)      believes that Britain isn’t working - after 13 years of virtually no growth our cherished public services are strained, our high streets are still boarded up, transport is getting worse, crime is on the rise and work simply doesn’t pay sufficiently for many;

(l)       believes that the Government’s only answer is an ineffectual system of short-term, competitive pots of money that pits communities against each other, and believes that this is the kind of sticking plaster politics that the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, has promised to end;

(m)     notes that the Labour Party has proposed the biggest ever transfer of power out of Westminster through the Take Back Control Act, so local leaders can harness the skills and assets in their area to drive growth, and believes that this Council should support this as a means of not only providing a greater say for our communities, but delivering essential support to public services and bringing vital economic growth;

(n)      believes that the Labour Party’s proposed Take Back Control Bill would help deliver real economic growth and a redistribution of power to communities from Whitehall, and that the Council must proactively plan as to how we can best utilise this;

(o)      believes, however, that we cannot simply wait for a change of government and must continue to do what we can, right now, at a local level to deliver clean, inclusive economic growth, supporting both old and new industries;

(p)      further believes as part of this, that we must consider how best to safeguard and strengthen our city’s economic drivers;

(q)      notes that Sheffield’s economic power was initially built on the back of the steel industry and believes Sheffield still occupies a unique position as the heart of Britain’s steel industry, and can set the course for its own future;

(r)       notes that Governments around the world have committed to their domestic industries with long-term strategic investment in green steel production, but believes the UK Government has failed to invest in the transition, have attempted to weaken safeguards that protect our steelmakers from being undercut by cheap steel imports, and have splashed tens of millions on imported steel to build British schools and hospitals;

(s)      believes that climate justice is indivisible from social and economic justice; that employing a ‘just transition’ approach to decarbonisation - protecting the livelihoods of those working in polluting industries, and transitioning these workers into well-paid, green jobs - is essential to ensure a green transition does not harm workers and their communities;

(t)       supports, therefore, TUC calls for the Government to set-up a national Just Transition Commission, to provide a worker-centred transition to a low carbon economy; with a Just Transition Commission helping to coordinate investment, boost learning skills agenda, support local manufacturing, and to work closely alongside local authorities in delivering this;

(u)      supports further, TUC Yorkshire and Humberside’s calls for a regional Just Transition Commission to coordinate investment, learning skills agenda, changing procurement rules to support local manufacturing, and regional leadership on climate targets, as well as the work by the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission in supporting the just transition agenda; and

(v)      believes that we need a radically different approach in the country to provide not only economic growth, but inclusive clean growth that benefits everyone, and secures a prosperous future for industries old and new.

10.1.1

(NOTE: With the agreement of the Council and at the request of the mover of the Motion (Councillor Minesh Parekh), the Motion as published on the agenda was altered by the addition, in paragraph (t) of the Motion, of the word “carbon” between the words “low” and “economy”.)

10.2

Whereupon, it was formally moved by Councillor Tim Huggan, and formally seconded by Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the deletion of paragraphs (g) to (n), and the re-lettering of paragraphs (o) to (q) as new paragraphs (g) to (i);

2.       the deletion of paragraphs (r) to (v); and

3.       the addition of new paragraphs (j) to (r) as follows:-

(j)       believes that Sheffield’s steel industry only grew to such heights due to strong trading and export links, and that to rebuild green industry will similarly require a strong private sector and positive trading relationships;

(k)      believes that governments since 2016 have weakened the UK’s trading position in the world through pursuing a disastrous hard Brexit and protectionist trade barriers, and believes that the UK must take immediate action to rebuild trade links with our European neighbours;

(l)       believes that Sheffield has an enormous opportunity to contribute to reaching the net zero target and creating a circular economy, but that this can only be achieved through resolving the UK’s chronic low productivity and slow growth;

(m)     condemns the decision by the Government to award no money to local authorities that had received funding from Round One of the Levelling Up Fund, and believes that not publishing this decision during the bid process led to a significant waste of officer resources;

(n)      believes that this Council must practice what it preaches when it comes to local decision making, and that it cannot decry the hoarding of power in Whitehall while seeking to hoard power in the Town Hall;

(o)      reaffirms its commitment to ensuring the success of the Local Area Committees, welcomes the good work that has been done locally across the whole city, and believes that truly local politics will be essential to building a circular economy;

(p)      believes that Local Area Committees have improved local decision making power for communities, and have made great progress on schemes which are tackling fly tipping and antisocial behaviour, beautifying local communities, and addressing the cost of living crisis;

(q)      believes that the LACs require significantly more powers in order to successfully deliver for their communities, including powers on local transport initiatives, parks and leisure, and social care, and believes that increasing the power of the LACs will go a significant way towards ensuring the success of the Committee system; and

(r)       believes that if localism is to be fully embraced, LACs must be empowered to make decisions which run contrary to the Town Hall’s wishes.

10.3

It was then formally moved by Councillor Ruth Mersereau, and formally seconded by Councillor Paul Turpin, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (w) to (cc) as follows:-

(w)      believes that a proportional voting system is necessary to truly "Take Back Control" by making all votes matter, noting that since 1935 not one of the single party majority governments elected by our current First Past The Post voting system received a majority of the votes;

(x)      notes that under First Past The Post voting system the amount of votes taken to elect an MP differs by party, and this historically favours the Conservative Party: the Green Party received 866,000 votes in the 2019 general election and elected one MP, the Liberal Democrat Party received 336,000 votes per MP elected, the Labour Party received 51,000 votes per MP elected and the Conservative Party only had to receive an average of 38,000 votes to elect an MP;

(y)      believes that under the current system the largest two parties appeal to voters in "swing seats", taking votes in "safe seats" for granted, and notes that proportional representation weighs all votes equally - if a party received 20% of the votes then they would receive approximately 20% of the seats;

(z)      believes that an electoral system returning results that match how the electorate voted is not only key to taking back control from Whitehall, but to democracy;

(aa)    notes that 40 out of 43 European countries use a form of proportional representation to elect MPs, with UK and Belarus the only countries using First Past The Post;

          This Council resolves:-

(bb)    to support proportional representation and the Councils For PR campaign; and

(cc)     to request that the Chief Executive writes to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, and the Leader Of The Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP, requesting the Government changes to use proportional representation in local, national and regional elections, attaching a copy of this motion.

10.4

The amendment moved by Councillor Tim Huggan was put to the vote andwas carried, but in part. Paragraphs (j) and (l) to (r) in Part 3 of the amendment were carried, and Parts 1 and 2 and paragraph (k) in Part 3 of the amendment were lost.

10.4.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 27 Members; AGAINST - 42 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  Although Labour Group Members voted against, they voted for paragraphs (j) and (l) to (r) in Part 3 of the amendment. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted for, he voted against paragraphs (k) to (m) in Part 3 of the amendment.)

10.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Ruth Mersereau was then put to the vote and was carried.

10.5.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 36 Members; AGAINST - 34 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.)

10.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)

believes that too many places across the country have had nothing but crumbs from the Government’s table in the latest round of ‘levelling-up’ funding;

(b)

notes that many communities in great need have lost out in the recent round of funding, and believes that the way this funding is distributed pits communities against one another, forced to compete in a contest where Whitehall Ministers pick winners and losers;

(c)

notes that the total cost of work producing bids for levelling-up funding for councils in England is at least £27 million, with the vast majority seeing no return on this spending;

(d)

notes that of the 80 successful bids to the second round of levelling-up funding in England, only half are in the 100 most deprived areas of the country;

(e)

notes that, compared to the first round of funding, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen its share drop by 5.3%, the West Midlands drop 4.1%, the East Midlands by 3.5%; and the North East’s share drop 0.7%;

(f)

believes South Yorkshire’s transport offer is being badly let down by this Government, noting that both bids to the Levelling-up Fund from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for support for the bus network have been rejected, and from March, Government bus cuts could see a third of services lost;

(g)

believes that this is unacceptable, and notes that this Council has called for bus franchising to be enacted as quickly as possible to bring buses under greater public ownership, and that the Labour Group is committed to seeing Sheffield buses and trams under full public ownership;

(h)

believes it takes extraordinary arrogance from the Government to expect gratitude for their failed ‘levelling-up’ policies and the marginal funding associated with this, when they have decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care;

(i)

notes that the Council has had to endure huge cuts for thirteen years; with the annual grant the Council receives from the Government now £288m less in real terms than in 2010, with a staggering £2.1billion being lost, in real terms, over the same period, which is around £9,000 per household in Sheffield;

(j)

notes the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee calls for the Government to take steps to level up cultural opportunities and production across the country, and explicitly incorporate support for local arts and culture into the Government's First Statement for Levelling-Up Missions; and believes support for cultural industries must be included in levelling up efforts;

(k)

believes that Britain isn’t working - after 13 years of virtually no growth our cherished public services are strained, our high streets are still boarded up, transport is getting worse, crime is on the rise and work simply doesn’t pay sufficiently for many;

(l)

believes that the Government’s only answer is an ineffectual system of short-term, competitive pots of money that pits communities against each other, and believes that this is the kind of sticking plaster politics that the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, has promised to end;

(m)

notes that the Labour Party has proposed the biggest ever transfer of power out of Westminster through the Take Back Control Act, so local leaders can harness the skills and assets in their area to drive growth, and believes that this Council should support this as a means of not only providing a greater say for our communities, but delivering essential support to public services and bringing vital economic growth;

(n)

believes that the Labour Party’s proposed Take Back Control Bill would help deliver real economic growth and a redistribution of power to communities from Whitehall, and that the Council must proactively plan as to how we can best utilise this;

(o)

believes, however, that we cannot simply wait for a change of government and must continue to do what we can, right now, at a local level to deliver clean, inclusive economic growth, supporting both old and new industries;

(p)

further believes as part of this, that we must consider how best to safeguard and strengthen our city’s economic drivers;

(q)

notes that Sheffield’s economic power was initially built on the back of the steel industry and believes Sheffield still occupies a unique position as the heart of Britain’s steel industry, and can set the course for its own future;

(r)

notes that Governments around the world have committed to their domestic industries with long-term strategic investment in green steel production, but believes the UK Government has failed to invest in the transition, have attempted to weaken safeguards that protect our steelmakers from being undercut by cheap steel imports, and have splashed tens of millions on imported steel to build British schools and hospitals;

(s)

believes that climate justice is indivisible from social and economic justice; that employing a ‘just transition’ approach to decarbonisation - protecting the livelihoods of those working in polluting industries, and transitioning these workers into well-paid, green jobs - is essential to ensure a green transition does not harm workers and their communities;

(t)

supports, therefore, TUC calls for the Government to set-up a national Just Transition Commission, to provide a worker-centred transition to a low carbon economy; with a Just Transition Commission helping to coordinate investment, boost learning skills agenda, support local manufacturing, and to work closely alongside local authorities in delivering this;

(u)

supports further, TUC Yorkshire and Humberside’s calls for a regional Just Transition Commission to coordinate investment, learning skills agenda, changing procurement rules to support local manufacturing, and regional leadership on climate targets, as well as the work by the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission in supporting the just transition agenda;

(v)

believes that we need a radically different approach in the country to provide not only economic growth, but inclusive clean growth that benefits everyone, and secures a prosperous future for industries old and new;

(w)

believes that Sheffield’s steel industry only grew to such heights due to strong trading and export links, and that to rebuild green industry will similarly require a strong private sector and positive trading relationships;

(x)

believes that Sheffield has an enormous opportunity to contribute to reaching the net zero target and creating a circular economy, but that this can only be achieved through resolving the UK’s chronic low productivity and slow growth;

(y)

condemns the decision by the Government to award no money to local authorities that had received funding from Round One of the Levelling Up Fund, and believes that not publishing this decision during the bid process led to a significant waste of officer resources;

(z)

believes that this Council must practice what it preaches when it comes to local decision making, and that it cannot decry the hoarding of power in Whitehall while seeking to hoard power in the Town Hall;

(aa)

reaffirms its commitment to ensuring the success of the Local Area Committees, welcomes the good work that has been done locally across the whole city, and believes that truly local politics will be essential to building a circular economy;

(bb)

believes that Local Area Committees have improved local decision making power for communities, and have made great progress on schemes which are tackling fly tipping and antisocial behaviour, beautifying local communities, and addressing the cost of living crisis;

(cc)

believes that the LACs require significantly more powers in order to successfully deliver for their communities, including powers on local transport initiatives, parks and leisure, and social care, and believes that increasing the power of the LACs will go a significant way towards ensuring the success of the Committee system;

(dd)

believes that if localism is to be fully embraced, LACs must be empowered to make decisions which run contrary to the Town Hall’s wishes;

(ee)

believes that a proportional voting system is necessary to truly "Take Back Control" by making all votes matter, noting that since 1935 not one of the single party majority governments elected by our current First Past The Post voting system received a majority of the votes;

(ff)

notes that under First Past The Post voting system the amount of votes taken to elect an MP differs by party, and this historically favours the Conservative Party: the Green Party received 866,000 votes in the 2019 general election and elected one MP, the Liberal Democrat Party received 336,000 votes per MP elected, the Labour Party received 51,000 votes per MP elected and the Conservative Party only had to receive an average of 38,000 votes to elect an MP;

(gg)

believes that under the current system the largest two parties appeal to voters in "swing seats", taking votes in "safe seats" for granted, and notes that proportional representation weighs all votes equally - if a party received 20% of the votes then they would receive approximately 20% of the seats;

(hh)

believes that an electoral system returning results that match how the electorate voted is not only key to taking back control from Whitehall, but to democracy;

(ii)

notes that 40 out of 43 European countries use a form of proportional representation to elect MPs, with UK and Belarus the only countries using First Past The Post;

That this Council resolves:-

(jj)

to support proportional representation and the Councils For PR campaign; and

(kk)

to request that the Chief Executive writes to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, and the Leader Of The Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP, requesting the Government changes to use proportional representation in local, national and regional elections, attaching a copy of this motion.

10.7

On being put to the vote, the Substantive Motion was carried, except for paragraphs (m) and (n) which were lost.

10.7.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 68 Members; AGAINST - 1 Member; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  Although Labour Group Members voted for, they voted against paragraphs (ee) to (kk) of the Substantive Motion. Although Liberal Democrat Group Members voted for, they voted against paragraphs (g) to (n) and (r) to (v) of the Substantive Motion. Although Green Group Members voted for, they voted against paragraphs (m) and (n) of the Substantive Motion. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted against, he voted for paragraphs (j), (p), (q), (s) to (u), (w) and (z) to (dd) of the Substantive Motion.)

10.8

Accordingly, the resolution passed by the Council was as follows:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)

believes that too many places across the country have had nothing but crumbs from the Government’s table in the latest round of ‘levelling-up’ funding;

(b)

notes that many communities in great need have lost out in the recent round of funding, and believes that the way this funding is distributed pits communities against one another, forced to compete in a contest where Whitehall Ministers pick winners and losers;

(c)

notes that the total cost of work producing bids for levelling-up funding for councils in England is at least £27 million, with the vast majority seeing no return on this spending;

(d)

notes that of the 80 successful bids to the second round of levelling-up funding in England, only half are in the 100 most deprived areas of the country;

(e)

notes that, compared to the first round of funding, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen its share drop by 5.3%, the West Midlands drop 4.1%, the East Midlands by 3.5%; and the North East’s share drop 0.7%;

(f)

believes South Yorkshire’s transport offer is being badly let down by this Government, noting that both bids to the Levelling-up Fund from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for support for the bus network have been rejected, and from March, Government bus cuts could see a third of services lost;

(g)

believes that this is unacceptable, and notes that this Council has called for bus franchising to be enacted as quickly as possible to bring buses under greater public ownership, and that the Labour Group is committed to seeing Sheffield buses and trams under full public ownership;

(h)

believes it takes extraordinary arrogance from the Government to expect gratitude for their failed ‘levelling-up’ policies and the marginal funding associated with this, when they have decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care;

(i)

notes that the Council has had to endure huge cuts for thirteen years; with the annual grant the Council receives from the Government now £288m less in real terms than in 2010, with a staggering £2.1billion being lost, in real terms, over the same period, which is around £9,000 per household in Sheffield;

(j)

notes the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee calls for the Government to take steps to level up cultural opportunities and production across the country, and explicitly incorporate support for local arts and culture into the Government's First Statement for Levelling-Up Missions; and believes support for cultural industries must be included in levelling up efforts;

(k)

believes that Britain isn’t working - after 13 years of virtually no growth our cherished public services are strained, our high streets are still boarded up, transport is getting worse, crime is on the rise and work simply doesn’t pay sufficiently for many;

(l)

believes that the Government’s only answer is an ineffectual system of short-term, competitive pots of money that pits communities against each other, and believes that this is the kind of sticking plaster politics that the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, has promised to end;

(m)

believes, however, that we cannot simply wait for a change of government and must continue to do what we can, right now, at a local level to deliver clean, inclusive economic growth, supporting both old and new industries;

(n)

further believes as part of this, that we must consider how best to safeguard and strengthen our city’s economic drivers;

(o)

notes that Sheffield’s economic power was initially built on the back of the steel industry and believes Sheffield still occupies a unique position as the heart of Britain’s steel industry, and can set the course for its own future;

(p)

notes that Governments around the world have committed to their domestic industries with long-term strategic investment in green steel production, but believes the UK Government has failed to invest in the transition, have attempted to weaken safeguards that protect our steelmakers from being undercut by cheap steel imports, and have splashed tens of millions on imported steel to build British schools and hospitals;

(q)

believes that climate justice is indivisible from social and economic justice; that employing a ‘just transition’ approach to decarbonisation - protecting the livelihoods of those working in polluting industries, and transitioning these workers into well-paid, green jobs - is essential to ensure a green transition does not harm workers and their communities;

(r)

supports, therefore, TUC calls for the Government to set-up a national Just Transition Commission, to provide a worker-centred transition to a low carbon economy; with a Just Transition Commission helping to coordinate investment, boost learning skills agenda, support local manufacturing, and to work closely alongside local authorities in delivering this;

(s)

supports further, TUC Yorkshire and Humberside’s calls for a regional Just Transition Commission to coordinate investment, learning skills agenda, changing procurement rules to support local manufacturing, and regional leadership on climate targets, as well as the work by the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission in supporting the just transition agenda;

(t)

believes that we need a radically different approach in the country to provide not only economic growth, but inclusive clean growth that benefits everyone, and secures a prosperous future for industries old and new;

(u)

believes that Sheffield’s steel industry only grew to such heights due to strong trading and export links, and that to rebuild green industry will similarly require a strong private sector and positive trading relationships;

(v)

believes that Sheffield has an enormous opportunity to contribute to reaching the net zero target and creating a circular economy, but that this can only be achieved through resolving the UK’s chronic low productivity and slow growth;

(w)

condemns the decision by the Government to award no money to local authorities that had received funding from Round One of the Levelling Up Fund, and believes that not publishing this decision during the bid process led to a significant waste of officer resources;

(x)

believes that this Council must practice what it preaches when it comes to local decision making, and that it cannot decry the hoarding of power in Whitehall while seeking to hoard power in the Town Hall;

(y)

reaffirms its commitment to ensuring the success of the Local Area Committees, welcomes the good work that has been done locally across the whole city, and believes that truly local politics will be essential to building a circular economy;

(z)

believes that Local Area Committees have improved local decision making power for communities, and have made great progress on schemes which are tackling fly tipping and antisocial behaviour, beautifying local communities, and addressing the cost of living crisis;

(aa)

believes that the LACs require significantly more powers in order to successfully deliver for their communities, including powers on local transport initiatives, parks and leisure, and social care, and believes that increasing the power of the LACs will go a significant way towards ensuring the success of the Committee system;

(bb)

believes that if localism is to be fully embraced, LACs must be empowered to make decisions which run contrary to the Town Hall’s wishes;

(cc)

believes that a proportional voting system is necessary to truly "Take Back Control" by making all votes matter, noting that since 1935 not one of the single party majority governments elected by our current First Past The Post voting system received a majority of the votes;

(dd)

notes that under First Past The Post voting system the amount of votes taken to elect an MP differs by party, and this historically favours the Conservative Party: the Green Party received 866,000 votes in the 2019 general election and elected one MP, the Liberal Democrat Party received 336,000 votes per MP elected, the Labour Party received 51,000 votes per MP elected and the Conservative Party only had to receive an average of 38,000 votes to elect an MP;

(ee)

believes that under the current system the largest two parties appeal to voters in "swing seats", taking votes in "safe seats" for granted, and notes that proportional representation weighs all votes equally - if a party received 20% of the votes then they would receive approximately 20% of the seats;

(ff)

believes that an electoral system returning results that match how the electorate voted is not only key to taking back control from Whitehall, but to democracy;

(gg)

notes that 40 out of 43 European countries use a form of proportional representation to elect MPs, with UK and Belarus the only countries using First Past The Post;

That this Council resolves:-

(hh)

to support proportional representation and the Councils For PR campaign; and

(ii)

to request that the Chief Executive writes to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, and the Leader Of The Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP, requesting the Government changes to use proportional representation in local, national and regional elections, attaching a copy of this motion.