Agenda item

(a)       praises the excellent MADE festival for entrepreneurs, which has brought an estimated £500,000 to the City;

(b)       notes with disappointment reports that the scope of the festival has been reduced in 2013;

(c)        regrets that the reported failure to deliver a festival of similar scale has led to further criticism of the Council as ‘anti-business’;

(d)       recalls that this latest criticism follows a string of dressing-downs by business groups and business leaders;

(e)       calls upon the Administration to drop its ‘anti-business’ rhetoric that is driving jobs and investment away from Sheffield; and

(f)        hopes that the MADE events to be held in 2013 will be a success and recommends that the festival returns to full strength in 2014.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Leigh Bramall, seconded by Councillor Neale Gibson, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (b) to (f) and the addition of new paragraphs (b) to (f) as follows:-

(b)       therefore wholeheartedly welcomes the new partnership agreement with BE Group for the next three years which will take the MADE festival to the next level and is excited about the future and the pivotal role MADE can play in developing the next generation of entrepreneurs;

(c)        notes that in November a series of high profile MADE events will take place during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, with successful entrepreneurs sharing their experience and knowledge with the business leaders of the future and a major Festival programme is already being lined up for autumn 2014;

(d)       is committed to doing everything possible to support small businesses who are central to Sheffield’s economy and therefore welcomes the following programmes of the present Administration to support local businesses:-

(i)         breaking down the barriers for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access the Regional Growth Fund;

(ii)        the RISE Graduate Scheme which supports local SMEs employ graduates;

(iii)       the export project supporting local SMEs in the export market;

(iv)       the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme;

(v)        Skills Made Easy designed by Sheffield City Council, in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to put the purchasing power for training for the first time, in the hands of businesses in the Sheffield City Region (SCR);

(vi)       Business Summits;

(vii)      the small business loan fund;

(viii)     up to 50% reductions in off street parking charges;

(ix)       the Chapel Walk scheme;

(x)        the Digital Direction Programme; and

(xi)       securing a Start Up Loans for Young People, the only Council to have done so;

(e)       supports the recent policy proposal by the Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband MP to cut business rates which will provide much needed support to businesses across Sheffield and contrasts this with the Government’s damaging decision to delay the review of business rates which will hit many small businesses; and

(f)        regrets that the only anti-business rhetoric in the City comes from the main opposition group who continue to talk Sheffield down.

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

(Note: Councillors Jillian Creasy and Robert Murphy voted for paragraphs (b) and (c) and abstained on paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of the amendment and asked for this to be recorded.)

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

RESOLVED: That this Council:-             

(a)       praises the excellent MADE festival for entrepreneurs, which has brought an estimated £500,000 to the City;

(b)       therefore wholeheartedly welcomes the new partnership agreement with BE Group for the next three years which will take the MADE festival to the next level and is excited about the future and the pivotal role MADE can play in developing the next generation of entrepreneurs;

(c)        notes that in November a series of high profile MADE events will take place during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, with successful entrepreneurs sharing their experience and knowledge with the business leaders of the future and a major Festival programme is already being lined up for autumn 2014;

(d)       is committed to doing everything possible to support small businesses who are central to Sheffield’s economy and therefore welcomes the following programmes of the present Administration to support local businesses:-

(i)         breaking down the barriers for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access the Regional Growth Fund;

(ii)        the RISE Graduate Scheme which supports local SMEs employ graduates;

(iii)       the export project supporting local SMEs in the export market;

(iv)       the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme;

(v)        Skills Made Easy designed by Sheffield City Council, in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to put the purchasing power for training for the first time, in the hands of businesses in the Sheffield City Region (SCR);

(vi)       Business Summits;

(vii)      the small business loan fund;

(viii)     up to 50% reductions in off street parking charges;

(ix)       the Chapel Walk scheme;

(x)        the Digital Direction Programme; and

(xi)       securing a Start Up Loans for Young People, the only Council to have done so;

(e)       supports the recent policy proposal by the Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband MP to cut business rates which will provide much needed support to businesses across Sheffield and contrasts this with the Government’s damaging decision to delay the review of business rates which will hit many small businesses; and

(f)        regrets that the only anti-business rhetoric in the City comes from the main opposition group who continue to talk Sheffield down.

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