Agenda item

(a)       recalls the 10,000 signature petition presented to this Council, which opposed the closure of community libraries;

(b)       notes with dismay the Administration’s plans, which could see sixteen community libraries closed;

(c)        believes these closures could be avoided if the Administration did not continue to waste money on costly pet projects and notes the main opposition group’s budget  amendment, which presented fully-costed measures to protect the libraries’ budget within 2013/14; and

(d)       opposes the Administration’s disastrous proposals.

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

1.         the deletion in paragraph (c) of the words “believes the closures could  be avoided if the Administration did not continue to waste money on costly pet projects and”;

2.         the addition of a new paragraph (d) as follows:-

“(d)      notes also the smaller opposition group’s budget amendment which proposed funding libraries in 2013/14 via a 2.95% increase in council tax, subject to endorsement in a local Council tax referendum, which equates to 48p extra a week for the majority of households”;

3.         the re-lettering of original paragraph (d) as a new paragraph (e); and

4.         the addition of a new paragraph (f) as follows:-

“(f)       believes that full financial transparency of the library service is necessary for community groups to form successful partnerships and that the books should be opened to the public as soon as possible”.

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

(Note: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe and David Baker voted for Paragraph 4 and against Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 and asked for this to be recorded.)

It was then moved by Councillor Mazher Iqbal, seconded by Councillor Karen McGowan, 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)       opposes in the strongest possible terms the devastating cuts imposed on the Council by the Government which are impacting on libraries and services across the Council and notes figures from the latest Medium Term Financial Strategy confirms that the Council has a £78 million budget gap for the next two years in addition to the £182 million that has been saved over the past three years;

(b)       regrets that due to the Deputy Prime Minister’s complete inability to offer any plausible defence for the decisions this Government is making to impose unprecedented cuts to Sheffield City Council at the same time as wealthier councils receive just a fraction of the cuts, the Deputy Prime Minister and main opposition group have resorted to publically spouting factually inaccurate untruths about Council spending and recalls the letter from the Chief Executive explaining the facts on these issues and is appalled at the irresponsibility of the Deputy Prime Minister and main opposition group;

(c)        regrets that at the same time as the Government have imposed devastating cuts to local government, they have cut the high rate of income tax, wasted billions of pounds on the damaging NHS re-organisation and are now proposing to spend money on a tax break for some married couples which is expected to cost around £600 million;

(d)       notes that by 2015/16, the Council will have had an overall reduction in Government formula funding by 50% and, with the scale of the cuts the Council is facing, all services will face significant reductions meaning that the Council has no option but to do things differently;

(e)       notes that under the proposals, the Council has pledged to keep 11 libraries running with a further five as community-led libraries and the rest may become independent libraries, should enough interest be generated from people;

(f)        welcomes that the present Administration are working with local communities to do everything to keep libraries open despite the reductions to the libraries budget and praises the spirit of local communities who have come forward with 27 registrations of interest from a wide variety of organisations ranging from individuals to community groups and businesses;

(g)       recalls that whilst the previous Administration were still in control, the Council had commissioned work to find £1.3 million of savings from the libraries budget, and is therefore appalled at the cynical hypocrisy of the main opposition group claiming that they would not have made reductions to libraries; and

(h)       resolves to do everything possible to support local communities to keep libraries open through finding alternative ways of delivering the service. 

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

The votes on the amendment were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

For the amendment (56)

-

The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Peter Rippon) and Councillors Julie Dore, Jack Scott, Roy Munn, Clive Skelton, Ian Saunders, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Bryan Lodge, Denise Fox, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Stuart Wattam, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Talib Hussain, Mohammad Maroof, Geoff Smith, Mary Lea, Harry Harpham, Mazher Iqbal, Joyce Wright, Steven Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Sheila Constance, Chris Weldon, Alan Law, Steve Jones, Tim Rippon, Cate McDonald, George Lindars-Hammond, Robert Johnson, Janet Bragg, Pat Midgley, Terry Fox, Tony Downing, David Barker, Isobel Bowler, Nikki Bond,Qurban Hussain, John Campbell, Martin Lawton,Peter Price, Tony Damms, Leigh Bramall, Gill Furniss, Richard Crowther, Philip Wood, Neale Gibson, Nikki Sharpe, Ben Curran, Adam Hurst, Alf Meade, Jackie Satur, Mick Rooney and Ray Satur.

Against the amendment (18)

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Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Robert Murphy Jillian Creasy, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe and David Baker.

Abstained on the amendment (1)

-

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley).

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

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)       opposes in the strongest possible terms the devastating cuts imposed on the Council by the Government which are impacting on libraries and services across the Council and notes figures from the latest Medium Term Financial Strategy confirms that the Council has a £78 million budget gap for the next two years in addition to the £182 million that has been saved over the past three years;

(b)       regrets that due to the Deputy Prime Minister’s complete inability to offer any plausible defence for the decisions this Government is making to impose unprecedented cuts to Sheffield City Council at the same time as wealthier councils receive just a fraction of the cuts, the Deputy Prime Minister and main opposition group have resorted to publically spouting factually inaccurate untruths about Council spending and recalls the letter from the Chief Executive explaining the facts on these issues and is appalled at the irresponsibility of the Deputy Prime Minister and main opposition group;

(c)        regrets that at the same time as the Government have imposed devastating cuts to local government, they have cut the high rate of income tax, wasted billions of pounds on the damaging NHS re-organisation and are now proposing to spend money on a tax break for some married couples which is expected to cost around £600 million;

(d)       notes that by 2015/16, the Council will have had an overall reduction in Government formula funding by 50% and, with the scale of the cuts the Council is facing, all services will face significant reductions meaning that the Council has no option but to do things differently;

(e)       notes that under the proposals, the Council has pledged to keep 11 libraries running with a further five as community-led libraries and the rest may become independent libraries, should enough interest be generated from people;

(f)        welcomes that the present Administration are working with local communities to do everything to keep libraries open despite the reductions to the libraries budget and praises the spirit of local communities who have come forward with 27 registrations of interest from a wide variety of organisations ranging from individuals to community groups and businesses;

(g)       recalls that whilst the previous Administration were still in control, the Council had commissioned work to find £1.3 million of savings from the libraries budget, and is therefore appalled at the cynical hypocrisy of the main opposition group claiming that they would not have made reductions to libraries; and

(h)       resolves to do everything possible to support local communities to keep libraries open through finding alternative ways of delivering the service. 

(Note: Councillors Robert Murphy and Jillian Creasy voted for paragraphs (a) to (e) and (h) and abstained on paragraphs (f) and (g) of the Substantive Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)