Agenda item

That this Council:-

(a)       is appalled that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in this Government has announced he is planning to make £10billion of further cuts to the welfare budget;

(b)       is concerned that the impacts will be felt greatly by hard working low income families, and that Northern cities including Sheffield will bear the brunt of the cuts, having huge detrimental impacts on local residents, the Council’s services and the local economy with an estimate of £180 million less coming into the City’s economy annually;

(c)        worries that the system is not fit for purpose, noting that analysis of the new system for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, by the University of Portsmouth and the Centre for Social and Economic Inclusion, has raised serious concerns about the administration of Universal Credit and potential outcomes and they believe that “while some would see improvements to their finances, the report concludes, not everyone will benefit and some could be worse off on universal benefit than under current arrangements…our research has found the actual roll-out could unintentionally trap people in poverty and hardship";

(d)       is concerned that the proposal of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, MP) to only give child and work related benefits to the first two children is attacking poor low paid families in an attempt to paint welfare recipients as ‘takers’ who should have to “cut their cloth like everyone else”, and believes that the move is ill thought out and would only save £200million;

(e)       is worried that recipients of disability benefits are going to be worse off under Universal Credit, noting that £9billion has already been cut from the budget since this Government came to power with further cuts planned and many people will have to be reassessed and will find their benefits reduced, and that the Hardest Hit Campaign believes these further cuts will put disabled people at risk of poverty, debt and isolation;

(f)         is concerned that the bedroom tax is likely to affect approximately 6-7000 residents in Sheffield, and that many residents will have to leave family homes as they will be unable to pay the tax to stay put, and that this also puts a further strain on the Council as there is a shortage of housing in the City;

(g)      opposes the Government’s cuts to Council tax benefit which will see many families in Sheffield being hit with increased Council tax bills, putting a further strain on their finances at the same time as this Government are giving tax cuts to millionaires;

(h)       worries that the cumulative effect of welfare cuts is going to have a huge detrimental impact on the most vulnerable people in society and cause further poverty, force people into using debt and burden frontline services that are already being cut; and

(i)        urges this Government to wait a year before implementing Universal Credit and believes that there are too many questions that have yet to be answered and such significant changes to welfare should wait until they can be implemented properly. 

It was moved by Councillor Jayne Dunn, seconded by Councillor Clive Skelton, that this Council:-

(a)       is appalled that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in this Government has announced he is planning to make £10billion of further cuts to the welfare budget;

(b)       is concerned that the impacts will be felt greatly by hard working low income families, and that Northern cities including Sheffield will bear the brunt of the cuts, having huge detrimental impacts on local residents, the Council’s services and the local economy with an estimate of £180 million less coming into the City’s economy annually;

(c)        worries that the system is not fit for purpose, noting that analysis of the new system for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, by the University of Portsmouth and the Centre for Social and Economic Inclusion, has raised serious concerns about the administration of Universal Credit and potential outcomes and they believe that “while some would see improvements to their finances, the report concludes, not everyone will benefit and some could be worse off on universal benefit than under current arrangements…our research has found the actual roll-out could unintentionally trap people in poverty and hardship";

(d)       is concerned that the proposal of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, MP) to only give child and work related benefits to the first two children is attacking poor low paid families in an attempt to paint welfare recipients as ‘takers’ who should have to “cut their cloth like everyone else”, and believes that the move is ill thought out and would only save £200million;

(e)       is worried that recipients of disability benefits are going to be worse off under Universal Credit, noting that £9billion has already been cut from the budget since this Government came to power with further cuts planned and many people will have to be reassessed and will find their benefits reduced, and that the Hardest Hit Campaign believes these further cuts will put disabled people at risk of poverty, debt and isolation;

(f)         is concerned that the bedroom tax is likely to affect approximately 6-7000 residents in Sheffield, and that many residents will have to leave family homes as they will be unable to pay the tax to stay put, and that this also puts a further strain on the Council as there is a shortage of housing in the City;

(g)      opposes the Government’s cuts to Council tax benefit which will see many families in Sheffield being hit with increased Council tax bills, putting a further strain on their finances at the same time as this Government are giving tax cuts to millionaires;

(h)       worries that the cumulative effect of welfare cuts is going to have a huge detrimental impact on the most vulnerable people in society and cause further poverty, force people into using debt and burden frontline services that are already being cut; and

(i)        urges this Government to wait a year before implementing Universal Credit and believes that there are too many questions that have yet to be answered and such significant changes to welfare should wait until they can be implemented properly. 

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Diana Stimely, seconded by Councillor Denise Reaney, 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 substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       recalls the previous Government’s inability to handle public finances, increasing the national deficit year-on-year from 2001 onwards, reaching a total of £43bn prior to the economic crash;

(b)       believes that, with the cost of welfare representing roughly a third of Government expenditure, refusing to make changes to the benefits system would only ensure cuts to other areas of Government spending – such as the NHS or education;

(c)        welcomes statements from the Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary that reform of welfare is needed but questions his rhetoric, which was criticised in the national media, as “playing to the Right-whinge gallery”;

(d)       however, notes that Her Majesty’s Opposition are still yet to bring forward any concrete and costed proposals for reforming the current welfare system;

(e)       broadly supports the Government’s plans to reduce the welfare bill but still holds significant concerns over specific measures, in particular, the proposed bedroom tax and reduction in Council tax benefit;

(f)         welcomes reports that Liberal Democrats in Government will block plans to restrict child and work related benefits to the first two children within a family, and reminds Members that the £10bn of further cuts in the welfare budget is Conservative Party not Coalition Government policy;

(g)       believes at a local level the Council should seek to mitigate the impact of benefit cuts and welcomes new powers to tax empty and second homes introduced by the Coalition Government; and

(h)        therefore, calls upon on the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources to bring forward a report to Cabinet on the introduction of new taxes on second and empty homes, following the example of councils in Barnsley and Rotherham.

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

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

1.         the deletion of original paragraph (g);

2.         the addition of new paragraphs (g) and (h) as follows:-

(g)       therefore requests the Cabinet to urgently make an accurate assessment of how many households will be affected and the capacity for downsizing within the City's affordable rented sector, in order to plan a response and provide data to support a campaign on this issue;

(h)        opposes the Government's cuts to Council tax benefit, which are being made at the same time as it is giving tax cuts to millionaires, but requests the Cabinet to pass on the cut in the fairest possible way by ensuring that the City as a whole shares the burden, not just the poorest 60,000 households currently in receipt of Council tax benefit;

3.         the relettering of original paragraphs (h) and (i) as new paragraphs (i) and (j).

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

After a right of reply by Councillor Jayne Dunn, the original Motion was put to the vote and carried, as follows:-