Agenda item

6.1

Urgent Business

With the permission of the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Safiya Saeed), Councillors Penny Baker and Douglas Johnson asked the following questions relating to urgent business, under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.6:-

Councillor Baker - The South Yorkshire Mayor recently announced that there is a £65 million hole in the budget of South Yorkshire Police due to a “significant error in the accounts”.

1.       When will we know more about the impact this deficit will have on police services?

2.       Who are the external auditors that will be conducting the independent inquiry ordered by the Mayor?

3.       What is the proposed timescale of the inquiry ordered by the Mayor?

4.       What representation has been made by the Mayoral Combined Authority or the Mayor to the Government regarding this issue?

Councillor Johnson –

1.       Given that £65 million is 20% of the entire annual budget of South Yorkshire Police and more than the whole of the policing precept paid by Sheffield residents on council tax bills, what initial assessment has been made of the probable impact on front-line policing in Sheffield?

2.       What assessment has been made of the likely impact on council services?

In response, Councillor Tom Hunt (the Leader of the Council and the Council’s representative on the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority) confirmed that the safety and security of communities in South Yorkshire would remain the first priority of the South Yorkshire Mayor, and of South Yorkshire Police.

Councillor Hunt explained that the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) had identified potential accounting errors and a report, which was made public by the MCA the previous week, had set out a number of practical steps which were underway and ongoing.  He added that this would include engagement with the MCA Audit Committee (whose membership included Members of this Council) and with the external auditors, to notify them of the issue and of the intent to work with them.

Councillor Hunt reported that there would also be engagement with external stakeholders, including the MCA Board, the Police and Crime Panel (whose membership included Members of this Council), and with the Government, to notify them of the issue, and of the MCA’s intent to work with them on a way forward.  Also, a review would be commissioned to understand what had happened.

Councillor Hunt emphasised that until those steps had been concluded, it was not possible to provide further information, and he would not pre-empt ongoing conversations. He advised that South Yorkshire Police and the MCA would provide further information in due course.

6.2

Written Questions

6.2.1

A schedule of questions, submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 16, and which contained written answers, was circulated.  Members of the Council are able to ask the Leader of the Council, or any Policy Committee or Sub-Committee or Regulatory Committee Chairs, or Members appointed by the Council to serve on the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, or any other external body or joint committee, questions on matters within the functions of those Bodies.

6.2.2

Supplementary questions, under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.5, were asked by the Members who had submitted the original questions and were answered by the relevant Member, until the expiry of the time limit for Members’ Questions (in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 16.7).